Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara, New Zealand. A Walk on the other side of the world.

It’s only sitting at home, a few weeks after my return from New Zealand that I have time to reflect on just how special my walk on Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara was. Sitting off the southern tip of New Zealand Ulva Island is a predator free paradise of unspoiled temperate rainforest and footprint free beaches where the waves of the Southern Pacific Ocean break rhythmically onto golden sands. Human interference has been kept to a minimum on the island and a rich variety of flora and fauna has been allowed to flourish naturally. I don’t think I’m likely to have the privilege of walking in such a pristine environment again. It also happens to be the furthest south I am ever likely to travel. When I discovered the handy website ‘antipodesmap’ and put my home town in, it took me to the ocean about 300 miles South East of Ulva Island. As you can’t walk on water I’m going to say that I have literally walked on the other side of the world.

Every journey starts with a first step, or in this case a short boat ride on the Ulva Island Ferry from Golden Bay Wharf. Gwen and I had missed the regular boat because we had been Kiwi spotting until the early hours. Thankfully, the lady in the tourist office rang Rakiura, who runs the ferry and was able to persuade him to make an unscheduled trip across the bay in his small water taxi. Ten minutes later and we are walking down the jetty at Post Office Cove and into a sanctuary of dense green, unadulterated rainforest.

The trail around the island is only two and half miles, too short to be described as a hike, or even a walk for that matter. Walking on Ulva Island though isn’t really about the walking, it’s about the experience. Experiencing a New Zealand as it was 200 years ago before the foreigners arrived and introduced predators that destroyed most of the ground nesting birds and native species. Experiencing an island that has never been built on, cultivated, mined, logged or farmed. An island as pure as nature intended it to be, teeming with life. It’s more a sensory experience than a simple walk.

After getting our bearings we head up from the bay to the viewpoint at Flagstaff Point to get a tree top view of our surroundings. The island sits inside Paterson Inlet and is part of Rakiura National Park. All around us are the still blue waters of the bay and the dense canopy of treetops and foliage. The only sound to be heard is birdsong and waves lapping on the shore.

From the viewpoint we head back into the rainforest and follow the trail through trees, bushes, ferns and mosses of every shade of green imaginable. After twenty minutes or so we emerge out into the sunshine at Boulder Beach, a long crescent of golden sand with the forest encroaching onto its shores. We sit awhile and take some time to admire the scenery, transfixed by the noise and rhythm of the gently lapping waves and the peace and tranquility of the beach.

From Boulder Beach we head back onto the forest track where we see our first people, a couple who had caught the earlier boat. A chorus of birdsong serenades us as we walk along. There are plenty of South Island Robins about, familiar to us from the Milford Track where they used to eat the bugs kicked up by our feet. Further on we see four South Island Saddlebacks. Most of the birds though are heard but not seen, either too quick or hidden in the Dense foliage.

Further on we bump into a man who had been with us on the Kiwi trip the night before. He tells us he had not long seen a Kiwi, a very rare sight in the day. We wait for an age at the spot he indicated but the elusive bird, the national emblem of New Zealand sadly does not appear for us.

At the far end of the island is West End Beach, which is about as far removed from the ‘West End’ as you could imagine. We have the beach to ourselves apart from what looks like a Sea Lion at the far end of the beach lying on the sand. We heed the advice to steer well clear of these large creatures who come onto the island to rest up.

From West End Beach the trail heads back to Post Office Cove and we head slowly in that direction. Away from the waves, walking through the quiet stillness of the rainforest, it instills a quiet stillness in me. I know forest bathing has become a bit of a ‘thing’ but I have long been an advocate to the calming effect of a good walk through the woods, especially ancient woods such as these.

Although we couldn’t identify any of them, we enjoy the final leg of our journey walking through the innumerable variety of trees plants, flowers and bushes and just before the cove we come across a Stewart Island Weka which makes up a little for not seeing a Kiwi.

Back at the cove, whilst waiting for the ferry back to Stewart Island we sit on a bench and look out onto the blue waters of Paterson Inlet, thankful to have been able to visit and spend time in a place of such unadulterated natural beauty.

For a map and route details about this walk please click on ‘Learn more’ below