4 minute read
TRAVEL
NATURE AND HISTORY COMBINE ON D’URVILLE ISLAND
Words by John Bishop
WAKING up the first morning our tour party was at the Wilderness Lodge on D’Urville Island I looked out the window to see a family of four weka feeding on the lawn.
They were both oblivious to the humans peering at them and unafraid. Later, they were curious enough to approach, no doubt looking for a feed.
They are part of the joys of seeing wildlife in the wild. On the five days I was on the island and the surrounding waters, we saw king shags, cormorants at sea, seals on rocks, saw and heard robins, kakas and tuis on land, ate plenty of fish, but didn’t spot any deer although they are on the island.
D’Urville is free of possums and rats but there are stoats and their eradication is controversial because some property owners won’t have strangers of any kind walking across their land.
Wilderness Lodge in Catherine Cove set in 200 hectares of regenerated bush is the major accommodation with beach front units and two large baches. Units are clean and comfortable but it’s not a luxury stay.
Meals are provided in the licensed café where Cathy Tatnell, a chef who previously had charge of the kitchen at a Nelson vineyard, presides.
Cathy’s partner Craig operates a water taxi and does fishing charters.
They’ve been here for two years and chose the life because they wanted a business where they could work together.
I am here with Driftwood Ecotours, a Kaikoura based tour operator started in 2004 by Will Parsons who’d previously been a farmer around Blenheim, and his wife Rose whose family connections to the area go back to the 1860s.
D’Urville Island is now their most popular tour and Will tells me he has done it 30-40 times now.
“That kickstarted my passion,” but it was his wife Rose’s idea to turn his passion into a business. “We realized that people needed to know about the lagoon and the beauty it contained.
“We started bespoke tours with one or two people – almost all international tourists passing through the area who took time to go on an interesting walk with us.” Some time later, and now based in Kaikoura, they started Driftwood Ecotours which operate across New Zealand.
D’Urville Island was named by the French explorer, Jules Dumont D’Urville who made two explorations around parts of New Zealand in the 1820s and 1830s – after Cook but before we were claimed as a British colony.
It’s about 30 kms long and 10kms
wide and about 40-50 people live on the island, the population varies a bit according to which of the owners are in residence.
Terry Savage and his wife Sue live here because they like the life including the solitude and the isolation. He’s a seafarer who came ashore and had the place as a holiday home in the days when he was working at the old NZMC factory in Nelson.
Outdoors types like our tour group revel in the connections with nature. Our tour party of eight is mostly over 70 years of age, and for one member this is her 70th birthday present.
The delights of the island for nonecologists are in the people and their stories.
We talk to Becs Forgan who runs a sheep and beef farm at Patuki with husband Gus. Two of their three daughters aged 13,15 and 17 are at boarding school. The youngest is at home.
To live here, she tells the group ,“you have to love yourself.”
It’s a very seductive place. “You get beaten down by the winds, and then they stop, and the sun breaks out and it’s magic.”
GETTING THERE Go by boat, your own or a charter, from Picton, Nelson or Wellington. Cars and foot passengers can cross by ferry from French Pass on the mainland to the jetty at Kapowai on the island.
John Bishop is a Wellington based travel writer. He visited D’Urville Island as a guest of Driftwood Ecotours.
HOSTED NEW ZEALAND SMALL GROUP TOURS
CATLINS/STEWART ISLAND & DOUBTFUL SOUND
02 May 2022 Join us over 8 delightful days travelling to the beautiful southern region of New Zealand, as we discover the unspoilt Catlins, Stewart Island and Doubtful Sound. Revealing a world of native forests, pristine sandy beaches, sparkling bays, and dramatic cascading waterfalls, along with wildlife and native birds. 8 DAYS
Our guests join us for our tours from all corners of New Zealand and you can be rest assured your tour host will always be one of our friendly wellexperienced YOURTours team members, ensuring everything is looked after from start to finish, allowing you to relax and just enjoy your holiday.
OTAGO & CATLINS
(Including Mount Cook) 21 Mar 2022
11 DAYS
ENCHANTING FAR NORTH
10 May 2022 11 DAYS
SOUTH ISLAND WANDERER
15 Oct 2022 8 DAYS
MOLESWORTH & RAINBOW
25 Mar 2022 5 DAYS
SOUTHERN HIGH COUNTRY STATIONS 12 May 2022 7 DAYS
TASMANIA SPRING FLING
23 Nov 2022 10 DAYS
COROMANDEL CAPER
04 Apr 2022 8 DAYS
LAKE TEKAPO/ MOUNT COOK
23 Jun 2022 6 DAYS
WEST COAST ADVENTURE
24 Nov 2022 10 DAYS
EAST CAPE EXPLORER
02 May 2022
7DAYS
SOUTHERN GARDENS & HISTORIC HOMES
05 Oct 2022 9 DAYS
MOLESWORTH/ FAREWELL SPIT
25 Nov 2022 8 DAYS
Contact us today for our full 2022 touring schedule 0800 470 005 or e-mail us tours@yourtours.co.nz
