Tuesday 17/03/2026 Golden Bay (Water Taxi) – Paterson Inlet/ Whaka a Te Wera – Post Office Bay – Flagstaff Point – Conservation Walk – Boulder Beach – West End Beach – Post Office Bat Track –
Ulva Island / Te Wharawhara Walking Tracks (including Flagstaff Point Lookout, Boulder Beach Track and West End Beach Track)
Rakiura National Park
Stewart Island / Rakiura
Southland Region, NEW ZEALAND (Aotearoa)
Rakiura Country (Ngãi Tahu people)
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos), Sue Davies (Report)
We took the water taxi from Golden Bay across Paterson Inlet to Post Office Bay on Ulva Island on a mild March afternoon. The forest rose like a dark green wall ahead — stepping ashore, the stillness was broken only by birdsong. The island is a predator-free sanctuary and it shows.
