Ulva, Stewart Island’s wildlife showpiece, is half a world away from its eponymous Scottish namesake in the Inner Hebrides but both Ulvas have at least one thing in common besides the name and sanctuary status - they enjoy a profile out of proportion to their size, Dunedin author Neville Peat writes.
It takes just three minutes by motor launch to cross the sea to Ulva from the much larger Isle of Mull on Scotland's fabled west coast.
The ferry terminal is cutely self-help - a signboard that allows you to summon the "ferry'' by sliding open a red panel. Simple as that, and once you pay the 6 for the return trip you have virtually the whole of Ulva, 12km long and up to 5km wide, to roam far and wide on a network of tracks.
Beside Ulva's petite natural harbour is an ancient two-storeyed stone building, The Boathouse, that serves as a tearooms and information centre, the island's only retail outlet. Roads are scarce, too.
Human history here, based on shell-midden archaeology, dates back an astonishing 5000 years. A little over 100 years ago Ulva had a population of 600 spread around a dozen villages. Besides subsistence farming, the islanders processed kelp ash from seaweed - 25 tonnes a year - for mainland glassmaking and pharmaceutical industries, the kelp being rich in iodine.
Then came the notorious Highland Clearances. From the late 18th century to the middle of the 19th century, feudal land laws in Scotland allowed wealthy landlords to evict smallholders by the thousand in favour of large-scale sheep farming. An exodus of crofters ensued, and many of those who were displaced, including my ancestors, emigrated to New Zealand, Australia and North America.
Today, Ulva has fewer than 10 inhabitants, and the built heritage, as far as a day visitor has time to appreciate, is essentially an old homestead, a church built in 1828, and a low-slung stone cottage with a thatch roof, Sheila's Cottage, which Sheila McFadyen occupied in the early 20th century. She lived at one end of the cottage; her livestock found shelter the other end.
Besides salt-of-the-earth characters like Sheila, numerous celebrities have passed through Ulva over time.
Literary giants like Sir Walter Scott, whose 1815 poem Lord of the Isles is said to have been inspired by Ulva, and the doyen of children's writing, Beatrix Potter, spent time on the island. Keats, Wordsworth and German composer Felix Mendelsshon also passed through.
An Australasian connection is Lachlan Macquarie, the last governor of New South Wales (1809-21), also known as the "Father of Australia'', who was born on Ulva in 1810. His family ruled Ulva for generations.
The island's name is transcribed from "Ullfur'', Old Norse for "Wolf Island'' - an echo of the Norse occupation of Ulva back in Viking times.
Most visitors today explore just the woods and pastures around the landing area before heading back to cars or buses on Mull. But a walk to the island's south coast is invigorating and takes you through mossy forest, past chuckling burns and over purple heathland for sweeping views over a scatter of islets and Staffa hazy in the distance, where lies the fabulous Fingal's Cave, a striking natural basalt formation that inspired a Mendelsshon composition, The Hebrides Overture.
The track to the south coast is an old farm track that passes underneath the island's high point, 313m above sea level.
Scotland's Ulva, roughly oval-shaped like its Stewart Island namesake, is seven times the area of the totally forested Ulva near the entrance to Paterson Inlet. It looks like a remote island farm somewhat gone wild, as an overgrown wooden welcome sign near the harbour suggests. It advertises spectacular bird species but you might not always see them - golden eagle, sea eagle, puffin, Artic tern, woodpecker. You might also spot minke or pilot whales and bottle-nose dolphins. Red deer and otters live here, too.
In October this year came a surprise. Ulva was up for sale! Its owners, the Howard family, put the whole shebang on the market - "offers over 4.25million''. The asking price was equivalent to 2300 ($NZ4100) a hectare.
But the Scottish Government, exercising a measure of devolution, stepped in and put the sale on hold while two community groups assessed the prospects of a buyout (Scotland is still in the grip of large landholdings, with fewer than 500 landowners holding title to more than half of the land).
When the sale was announced, the Government promised to arrange an official valuation and a postal ballot of northwest Mull communities to see what support exists for community ownership. Two groups have indicated an interest and will rely on the Scottish Land Fund for much of the funding. A worldwide appeal for funds is under way. The deadline for concluding a purchase is June 9, 2018. There is a Scottish precedent for communities buying their island from a feudal owner. In 1997, Eigg, 50km to the north of Ulva and slightly larger, was purchased for 1.5 million by a community trust.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's namesake island in Paterson Inlet is not for sale and in no need of an official valuation. A priceless jewel in Rakiura National Park's crown, Ulva is Stewart Island ecotourism's flagship destination.
Set aside as a reserve in 1899, an early example of nature conservation, Ulva still has most of its original forest and the birdlife has benefited from the eradication of rats 20 years ago. The island has become a refuge for a number of threatened species, notably mohua (yellowhead) and South Island saddleback. At 259ha and 4km long, the island is much smaller than the Hebridean Ulva. Thanks to a fleet of water taxis and guided tours, it receives thousands of overseas visitors, especially over summer.
Most of them arrive from Golden Bay on the main island, passing the round inshore island of Iona and islets called the Staffa Rocks - landmark names that continue the Hebridean theme.
If Ulva off the Isle of Mull seems like a step too far, whether you want to invest in it or not, Stewart Island's Ulva is a spectacular alternative option for an out-of-the-way experience.
