Stewart Island

I managed to go to Stewart Island with a few friends over Easter break. Stewart Island is NZ’s 3rd largest island.

After departing from our Invercargill early Saturday morning, we headed to Bluff, the small ferry town on the tip of the South Island. We abandoned the car in the car park, and found ourselves anxiously waiting at the ferry terminal. The sky was horrible shade of grey. The Stewart Island Ferry is notorious among travelers of making that one hour trip completely agonizing. Those who have never been seasick in their life have fallen to the rough waters. The boat’s tiny as far as ferries go- only seating 100 people. Sharon, Martin, Christine, and I hesitantly boarded the ferry. Within two minutes of sitting, I found myself in panic mode. No way was I going to survive this….I turned to Sharon. “I can’t do this, I need to sit outside.” Sharon luckily was able to secure two seats on the deck.


I breathed a sigh of relief stepping into the fresh salty air as the ferry pulled out of the terminal. About 15 minutes later we found ourselves surrounded by waves twice as high as the boat crashing onto us. We held on for our dear lives. Inside, I later learned from my travel companions Martin was not so lucky. Within five minutes of departing, he had turned pale. A crew member came up to him and Christine- “Hello my first seasick person!” She cried handing him an extra bag. As the trip progressed and the conditions worsened this designated woman was running around the aisles snatching the white seasick bags and replacing them with new ones. Her voice chimed over the groans and moans- “It’s like Christmas-“ as she tossed new seasick bags around the boat. What a job.


Finally, we pulled into the shores of Stewart Island and within twenty minutes of being on solid ground had managed to recoup from the trip. The Island has one main town, Oban, which has a 4 square supermarket, a fish and chips shop, a café, a restaurant, and assortments of accommodation. Oh, and of course the DOC office. DOC- or Department of Conservation, is NZ’s park service. The reason we had decided to make this trip to Stewart Island was to visit the famous Rakiura National Park. 85% of Stewart Island is National Park. And we had big plans to walk the Great Walk, the three day Rakiura Track. Rakiura is the Maori word for ‘glowing skies.’

It was our first day, we were exhausted and without accommodation, but we managed to find a campsite where we could setup for the night. Rain started to pelt down, and of course stopped as soon as we ran off inside to make lunch. We spent the afternoon on Ulva Island. It’s a significant eco-spot because it’s a predator free island. No dogs, cats, rats, seeds, nothing can go there. It’s a tiny place, a 5 minute (much more pleasant) boat ride. We even saw a blue penguin swimming in the water.

It’s a beautiful and peaceful island and with our bird guidebook we found ourselves spotting robins, Tuis, wekas, bell birds, fantails and more.

Stewart Island is known to be a good place to spot kiwis (the birds). Stewart Island Kiwis are unusual in they are not completely nocturnal and often venture out during the day. I’m afraid our four days on the island didn’t yield any kiwi birds…but we definitely heard them. It’s one of those incredibly recognizable calls: loud and piercing.


We started off the Rakiura Track the next day. It’s a lovely walk with many beaches and an easy trail. We camped our first night on a grassy spot right next to the water. Our next day’s walk was the hardest: sore from our previous day, we had a lot of uphill to climb, and our campsite was well past the hut. A good eight hours of walking, but we made it and set up tent in record time- we were now experts at it. After eating a delicious dinner of potato flakes and dehydrated vegetables, we enjoyed some tequila that we had decided to bring to warm us up on those cold nights. Martin had even brought a lemon, so we could enjoy our jose cuevro in style. (Christine and I had begged him to bring it).


In our final hiking day we continued through the strange flora so unique to Stewart Island, but were relieved to make it back to Oban and enjoy some showers and sleep in a hostel. But our Stewart Island experience was far from over. Sharon, the native Kiwi among us, decided we must taste the famous local cuisine: bluff oysters. We managed to find some at the Fish and chips shop. At $19 NZD for half a dozen, these guys aren’t cheap. You can have them raw or fried. I decided to go raw. Slimy and salty- I absolutely loved them. Martin and Christine weren’t as huge fans. We had dinner at the local restaurant and I tried another delicacy: Stewart Island crayfish. I looked just like a lobster- and even tasted like one. Minus the lack of butter garlic sauce to dip in.


We toasted that night to the wonderful trip. We sipped our wine, enjoying the pleasures of this unique island. And most definitely not thinking about the unpleasant ferry ride back to the mainland tomorrow morning….