February 17, 2026
Overnight we got a good night's sleep, meaning we didn't hear the penguins unfortunately. We woke up to unchanged weather conditions: raining and windy. We checked out of the house and drove to a viewpoint of Porpoise Bay for one final look around. Porpoise Bay is adjacent to Curio Bay, and it is actually the bay where our rental house was located. It's called Porpoise Bay because a pod of Hector's dolphins resides there. I had seen the dolphins frolicking in the bay on both of our previous visits in 2019 and 2023, but this time I didn't see any. I think the weather and waves were too rough to spot them, or maybe they went elsewhere in those conditions.
We drove to Bluff, where the ferry to Stewart Island was located. We made one brief stop along the drive: Niagara Falls. The below caption and video explain it all.
We arrived early for the ferry, so we did a quick drive up to Bluff Hill. In 2023 we had nice views at the top. This time it was completely fogged in and there was no view. We did get a view when we got beneath the fog layer on the way back down.
We drove to the overnight parking area for the ferry and found the parking lot to be completely full. Even worse, we just missed getting the last spot since a car just ahead of us grabbed it. We found another unsecured 24-hour parking area next to the ferry terminal. We weren't sure if we would be able to use that area for multiple days, so we asked inside at the check-in counter for the ferry. We were told we could use it: the other option was to wait until passengers from the incoming ferry returned and we could grab one of their spots. Since we did not want to wait that long, we decided to use the unsecured area. Then it was another 15 or 20 minutes of fumbling around as we had to download a parking app to our phone, establish a log in, and then pay for the parking using the app on the phone. Not a fun experience, but we got it done.
The ferry allowed one checked bag per person, so we each checked one suitcase, and then we had small carry-on bags to take with us onboard. Then we waited until the incoming ferry from Stewart Island arrived, and we got to say a brief hello to Graham who was on that ferry and on his way back north.
It was a one-hour sailing to Stewart Island, and the ride was a real rock and roll experience since there were lots of big waves with the weather. I didn't take any photos since it was all gray outside and we were just bouncing around in the water.
The ferry arrived at the town of Oban. It's the only town on the entire island, and it's very, very small with all of the amenities located within just a few blocks.
We checked into our room at the South Sea Hotel. We were in the annex building directly behind the main hotel building. Although we had a shared bathroom, it was never busy since only a couple of rooms used it.
In the afternoon I decided to go for a walk. The weather was still overcast, but it was not raining. I climbed up to the Halfmoon Bay Lookout for a view of the ferry area.
I continued on the trail to Bathers Beach. It was a fun walk through a rain forest. The start of the walk went through a tree tunnel. Overhead I got a great view of two kereru birds that flew to a branch close by.
The trail opened up to a nice view of Bathers Beach below. It was low tide, so I descended the bluff to walk the beach.
Then I crossed the road and walked up a hill to a cemetery where there was a view of Bathers Beach from above.
I returned to the room, and then we walked down the street to the Kai Kart takeaway, where we ordered fish and chips for dinner. The half scoop of chips that we shared was huge!
The real fun began later that evening when we went on a kiwi spotting tour with Beaks and Feathers. This was a small group tour with only 10 people. The guide drove us in a van to a private strip of land next to the airport. It was a large grassy area where we could easily walk around. The guide used a bright red light to spot the kiwi, and then she dimmed down the light to give us all a chance to view the kiwi and take non-flash photos and videos.
The kiwi are not disturbed by the red light. In fact, they have very poor vision, but their hearing is excellent. We had to remain as quiet as possible to not disturb the kiwi. We were able to observe seven kiwi that night. It was drizzling rain for the first half of the tour, but then it cleared. The drizzle did not affect the kiwi sighting. The first kiwi that we saw was a juvenile, and he did not like our presence. He ran away after just a few seconds.
Most of the other kiwi that we observed were adults and more tolerant of our presence. I took many videos and photos. The two below are my favorite.
The tour lasted an hour and a half, and then we were driven back to our room. It was a late night, past midnight when we returned, but well worth it.