We had good and bad weather on Stewart Island. It rained on the first full day we were there but was sunny and warm the next day. The last day was also sunny and warm which gave us a nice ride back to Invercargill on the ferry.
During our last 2 ½ days we took in a narrated bus tour of the area. We went for a fairly strenuous hike, visited the local museum and in general just enjoyed the small town atmosphere. We discovered that Stewart Island has 400 local inhabitants and the main industry is fishing and tourism. The only settlement is called Oban and is located in Halfmoon Bay. There are 27 kilometers of road and the water source for the island comes strictly from rainfall. It rains 265 days a year.
The people like the rest of the New Zealanders are friendly, easygoing and always in a good mood. They enjoy the solitude of the island and don’t miss the amenities that you would get in a bigger city. There is no doctor but there are two nurses on the island. They have a volunteer fire department, a recreational center and one gas station. Diesel gas is pumped from a Diesel Gas Truck that is brought over from Invercargill. They replace it when it is empty. There are no banks or ATM facilities on the island.
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| Halfmoon Bay |
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| Community of Oban |
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| Community of Oban |
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| Community of Oban |
We thoroughly enjoyed our time on Stewart Island. Whether it was the bus trip, the hiking or playing with the Kaka’s it was all pretty amazing.
The Bus Tour
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| Kiwi Kathy |
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| The Museum |
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| Lee Bay |
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| Golden Bay from Observation Rock |
The Hike to Golden Bay
The Kaka’s
We had a lot of fun with these birds. They are certainly not shy and will take a peanut right out of your hand. They were around the hotel and would land on the railing outside your room. If you weren’t showing any inclination to come out and feed them they were not shy about knocking on your door.
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| Knock, Knock |
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| Feeding Time |
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| Gently |
All too soon our time was up in Stewart Island. We boarded the ferry for the trip back to Bluff where we collected the van and headed for Invercargill. We had planned to spend the night here before heading north towards Dunedin.
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