Wellington (TAN): Similar in size to Singapore but with only around 450 permanent residents, Stewart Island in the southern tip of New Zealand offers visitors the chance to be close to nature and the country’s culture. And of course, you can see the Southern Lights from here.
Part of the Southland region, Stewart Island is the third-largest and southernmost island in the country. It’s accessed by a 20-minute flight or hour-long ferry trip across Foveaux Strait.
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With an estimated 20,000 brown kiwi – just one of many native bird species living on the island – birds on the island outnumber people many times over. There is more chance to see the flightless bird in its natural environment here than anywhere else in New Zealand.
Oban, the island’s only township, boasts a shop, a pub and plenty of holiday accommodation, and is home to most of the human population. Most of the island is in conservation reserve, forming the Rakiura National Park, an adventure playground for bird watchers or hiking, fishing, hunting and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Stewart Island is steeped in history, says Tourism New Zealand from early Māori to Scandinavian sealers and European settlers. The original Māori name, Te Punga o Te Waka a Maui or “the anchor stone of Maui’s canoe”, refers to the legend of Maui raising a great fish (the North Island) from his canoe (the South Island) and positions Stewart Island at the heart of Māori mythology.
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The island owes its European name to William W. Stewart, first officer on the ship Pegasus, which visited on a sealing expedition from Australia in 1809.
Rakiura, the Māori name for the island commonly used today, translates as “glowing skies” and refers to the brilliant sunrises and sunsets, and to Aurora Australis – the Southern Lights that are most visible in winter skies from March to September.
With numerous walks maintained by the Department of Conservation (DOC), the island has become a hiking Mecca. Stewart Island tracks vary in difficulty and length, from 10-minute strolls and short day walks up to 11-day hikes.
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The most impressive hike is the 37 kilometre (23 mile) Rakiura Track, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, which takes in early Māori settlement sites, saw-milling relics and beautiful forests.
More demanding walks include the Southern and the North-Western circuits, and several short day hikes set off from Oban village.
Boat charters offer sightseeing and deep-sea fishing tours of the rich marine habitat and pristine waters surrounding Stewart Island. Sea kayaks are also available for hire, and anglers or divers are invariably rewarded with some of the world’s freshest and sweetest fish. The island’s eateries serve blue cod, salmon, oysters, mussels, crab and other delicacies caught or harvested locally.
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Bird watchers come from all over the island to enjoy the island’s birdlife. Indigenous species include the Stewart Island brown kiwi and robin, tui, dotterel and kaka. Seabirds abound in the coastal waters due to the rich supply of food.
Ulva Island, a seven-minute water taxi ride from Oban is predator-free and home to many varieties of rare and endangered native birds, and other fauna and flora. In the 1870s, the island was the site of the regional post office, which was built and manned by Charles and Jess Traill. Whenever the mail boat arrived, the Traills raised the mail flag as a signal to Stewart Islanders to sail or row across to collect their letters and parcels.
A small part of the island is still privately owned by Traill descendants, leaving the rest as an open sanctuary with public walking trails, native forest and white sandy beaches.
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Stewart Island, which has New Zealand’s southernmost golf course, enjoys a microclimate that often makes it several degrees warmer than the mainland. Warm weather and very long summer days are big drawcards for cruise ships visiting the island through the summer months.
Another interesting feature of the area is that Great white sharks have used the water around Stewart Island as a nursery for their pups for thousands of years.
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