Ulva Island is a small island lying within Paterson Inlet, which is part of Stewart Island/Rakiura in New Zealand. It's about 25 min. water taxi ride from Golden Bay to Ulva Island. Ulva Island is an important natural resource area. In 1996, the island was declared rat-free, following an eradication program, and extirpated birds have been reintroduced to the island. The birds include the South Island saddleback (tieke), yellowhead (mohua), and Stewart Island robin (toutouwai). Besides birds, the flora in Ulva Island is fascinating, with all kinds of mosses, ferns, orchids, and trees. A big thanks to Furhana, our guide for the Ulva walk and the Kiwi Journey, for her very informative and lively interpretation of the local plant life. It was so interesting, that I was beginning to forget the birds, only reminded by her once awhile that "there was a saddleback calling behind the wood" or "a yellowhead singing above head next to the trail". While the saddleback kept staying behind the wood for the whole time, we did see a group of 4 yellowheads up close.

The Ulva Island walk was the first part of my 3 days advanture organized by Ruggedy Range ( http://www.ruggedyrange.com ). The second part of the program was the "Kiwi Journey" for the following 2 days (next gallery).

The plant names in this gallery are provided by Furhana.