The Chronicles of NZ: Welcome to my Island! (Written 1/11/07)

The day started off with rain and cold wind – not the best start we've had so far. Waking up at about 6am (because my body is now trained for it!) we cooked breakfast (scramble eggs and toast) and then began a race against the clock to Stewart Island. You see the boat for Stewart Island was leaving at 11:30am and Dunedin is at least a 2.5 hour drive to the wharf (which is in Bluff). So when we left Dunedin at around 8am in poor weather conditions, I wasn't the most optimistic person in the world. But Josh was determined to get me to the wharf before the boat left and the further south we went the less it rained (there was still an overcast). Amazingly enough we made it to the ferry at 11am and I was able to book a ticket on the ferry – so Josh came through. I chose to catch the 6:30pm boat back, so that would give me about 6 hours on the island (the boat ride is an hour long one way).

The boat ride over was on a boat called a catamaran it was very low to the surface of the water but was specially made to handle the bumpy trip to Stewart Island. And bumpy it was, I had never been on a boat ride before with so much tossing/turning, ups and down. The boat ride between Upolu and Savaii was never as bad as this trip but I didn't get sea sick because of my many ferry trips between the islands of Samoa. Not everyone was as fortunate as me – one woman threw up and another almost passed out. This journey definitely wasn't for the faint of heart and the fact that everything was covered in fog didn't help because you couldn't see the island come into view. When it finally did come into view it was odd that you could only see the bottom half of the island (the top half was covered in fog, but no rain – only fog and wind). The place  had a "Silent Hill" quality about it because of the fog – no monsters though.

The main (and only) city on Stewart Island is the town of Oban which has a permanent population of about 300 people. There's a real small town feel about the place and with only 20km of road, you can probably understand. Even though Stewart Island is NZ's 3^rd largest island, 85% of it is part of a national park so not a lot of room for the town to grow. But you are able to see birds on SI that you wouldn't find anywhere else in NZ because all the bird predators have been removed from the islands (mainly rats and cats).

As soon as I got to town (which is a 2 minute walk from the ferry – the place defies the world small) I signed up to take a tour of the city and its bays, thought it would be a quick easy way to see the place with as little walking around as possible. The tour only took about 1.5hours but it was great fun, mainly because of our tour guide, Terri, who is a resident of Stewart Island (meaning she was born here, a local is someone who has just lived on the island for a long time). I got to see the chain which signifies the start of the Raikura National Park and a Maori legend about the island. In the 1.5 hours I saw the entire town of Oban – so I got my money's worth out of the tour. Once the tour was over, I did a little walking around by myself just to get a better feel for the place and find some lunch. Unfortunately most of the places were either closed or expensive, so I just bought some items from the local grocery store and had a picnic in one of the bays of the island. It was just an awesome experience having the opportunity to chill on the island that bears my last name – who knew I was such a big deal in NZ! It was just a mind blowing experience for me and yes the weather could have been better, but the memory of this island will last a lifetime. 6:30pm eventually rolled around and it was time for me to depart my special island (they even have a giant chess board on the waterfront – there are smart people on my island!) and get reacquainted with the high seas. While the ride back didn't seem as bad as the ride to the island (no one got sick going back to Bluff), the seas were still tossing the boat around a lot. I got back to Bluff at around 7:30pm and Josh/Kevin picked me up. It was then that I learned that it was only foggy around the Bluff/Stewart Island area, when you headed north towards Invercargill the skies cleared up and you could see the sun again. So apparently the overcast skies are heading south – oh well that just means one day I will return to see Stewart Island in her full beauty. It was still an awesome experience regardless of the weather – one I won't soon forget.

Now we are staying in the city of Invercargill and will head to either Te Anau or Queenstown tomorrow. But with my Stewart Island trip done I have officially done everything I wanted to do in NZ – not to shabby. Now one day I have to visit the next part of my name – Marquesas Islands, you're next!

*Side Notes*

-           Who was Stewart Island really named after? William Stewart who in 1809 began charting the southern coasts of Stewart Island and his work is acknowledged by the island's name.

-           The Maori name for Stewart Island is Rakiura which means "Glowing Skies"

-           Stewart Island is hoe to NZ's 14^th and newest national park, Rakiura National Park.

-           Te Punga o Te Waka a Maui, the original Maori name, places Stewart Island at the heart of Maori mythology. Translated as "The anchor of Maui's canoe", it refers to the part played by this island in the legend of Maui and his crew, who from their canoe (the South Island) caught and raised the great fish (the North Island)

-           The route we took to Invercargill took us through two cities, Clinton and Gore. The name of the highway that connects the two cities is "The Presidential Highway"