Sails Ashore

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Designed by Paul Clarke, built by master craftsman Findlay McCrostie , completed in December '04 "Sails Ashore" perfectly complements the Stewart Island experience. Finished in native Rimu timbers and overlooking Halfmoon Bay, guests enjoy the tranquility and beauty of Rakiura, Land of the Glowing Skies, in comfort and quiet style. And what better way to learn about the Island than over breakfast, chatting to Iris & Peter while enjoying a glorious sunrise and Kaka feeding on our balcony as a distraction. Sails Ashore is packaged with a guided eco-exploration of world renowned Ulva Island open sanctuary and the first night tariff includes this. Our road tours explore the human story of Stewart Island, while visiting beautiful beaches and lookouts. We have lived and worked on the Island for over 38 years as Ranger in Charge, Fishers, District Nurse, Charter Boat owners and professional guides. It is our privilege to share our home and our love of the Island with our guests.

Our "Sails" guided Ulva Island walk looks at the natural history of Stewart Island, with the open sanctuary aspect of Ulva Island being the focus, but also touches on the wider New Zealand scene as well. We try to be as interactive as possible and like lots of feed-back from our guests. The walk is actually very relaxed. Hurrying is not at all part of the thing. Takes a minimum of 3.5 hours. Transfers to and from Sails Ashore are included. Our preference is to visit Ulva in the late afternoon when most people generally are leaving, as we find most visit in the morning and early afternoon. Late afternoon seems to give us better birds as well. We use our own vessel Talisker, so can be quite independent of watertaxi timetables. Party size is generally limited to 6 per guide as we strongly believe that larger numbers seriously degrade guests experience. Tariff is $120 pp. (GST Included). However for guests of Sails Ashore we offer a $25 discount, so $95 pp.

In addition if you would like more time on Ulva we are happy to offer our guests a free return. This is dependent on our actually going across of course, and also that you must keep to our timetable (being ready to leave when we do). This is a great opportunity to "do your own thing" over the three or 4 hours we will be there with a tour. Normally a water taxi will cost you $25 pp.

Ulva Island is a rare chance to glimpse a little of what New Zealand once was, before people came here. My own background as Ranger in Charge (many years ago) helps us walk you through the fascinating New Zealand story, using the Ulva Island experience, with its birds and plants to illustrate it. While our preference is to go in mid to late afternoon, when most are leaving the island, and also the evening birds are starting to stir, we do also look carefully at the weather and also guests own timetable and schedule accordingly.