Day #13 Oban, Stewart Island

White Capped Albatross #13

Another fantastic day and another one we had been looking forward to - with two birdwatching tours planned, I was in heaven! Perfect birdwatching weather - around 17 degrees, a mixture of sun and shade and some fresh breezes. 
We started with a short boat ride over to Ulva Island, a small island belonging to Stewart Island and only 2.7 square km. 
We managed to see if not photograph well all 4 "at risk" birds that they have over there in their predator proof environment - the rifleman, or New Zealand wren, the saddleback, the yellowhead and the Stewart Island robin amongst many other birds. A great way to spend 3 hours in the morning. After a quick lunch of crepes, we then headed out on a two hour pelagic bird trip which was one of the most amazing trips I have been on and certainly the best this cruise. 
Now I have seen the odd albatross in my time, and even posted them once or twice, but to see HUNDREDS of them today and three different varieties was absolutely awesome! They were swirling all around the little boat we were on and came in to land with a couple of metres of the back. They apparently think that we are a little fishing boat and are going to drop off our waste fish and give them an easy meal. 
I was in awe of them and took tons of photos and have added a couple in extras - the first is the southern royal albatross trying to take off from the water - this one has a wingspan of 3m and is the biggest in the world along with the wandering albatross. The second one is a pair - the white capped albatross or mollymawk and the most common here in NZ and the back one is the Buller's Mollymawk, which is the smallest albatross, but still mighty impressive. 
Tonight we are off to a French Chef's Table which will hopefully be the icing on the cake today.