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The Secluded Southland-Newzealand

Hike it or paddle it — New Zealand's rugged Stewart Island offers visitors the chance to see rare species and explore untouched primeval landscapes. More than 35,000 kiwis inhabit Stewart Island — the largest of the southernmost islands of New Zealand — where my en­counter took place. Seventy million years ago, it was joined to the South Island by i granite land bridge. Then some radical geological activity severed the link, and in so doing preserved the island's unique cosystem. Nearly every type of native vegetation on the island is different from is counterpart elsewhere in New Zealand, India is usually significantly larger the product of the island's mild climate and nearly 10,000 years of isolation. Large Populations of many of New Zealand's endangered bird species enjoy a peace­ful existence here.

Stewart Island contains some of the country's most rugged wilderness, and many of its place names reflect the reaction of the early explorers to its unforgiv­ing terrain: Little Hellfire Beach, Sinbad's Mistake, Orphans' Rock.

When Joseph Banks, the English natu­ralist who sailed with Captain Cook, passed by the island's southern reaches, he re­corded in his journal "an utter solitude . . . no human beings besides ourselves, for an obvious reason . . . the eye looks in vain for a single foot of soil ... nought but rock, rock, rock."

In fact, despite its small size (only 1680sqkm), the island has a diverse range of landscapes, and it is a great place for wilderness hiking and sea kayaking.

The sheltered waters of Paterson In­let, ideal for paddlers, divide Stewart Is­land nearly in two, with the granite mas­sif of Mount Anlem Hananui 980m to the north and the smaller Mount Rakeahua to the south. Lush, sheltered rainforest gives way to sub-alpine tundra: and fine, white sand beaches are interspersed with towering, rugged cliff faces — all only accessi­ble on foot or by boat. Only a fraction of the 30,000 or so visitors each year actually do am over­night hiking, making the island an attractive proposition for lovers of solitude. The more than 220km of maintained trails tend to be both steep and muddy so rea­sonable fitness is re­quired, but the magnificent scenery more than makes up for any sore muscles.

Stunning View
Our chartered flight from Invercargill brings us low over the west side of Stewart Island, providing stunning views of the bare, craggy peaks of Raggedy Point to the south-east and the nature sanctuary of Whenua Hou Island to the north. The pilot sets us down on the wet sand which runs for 10krn along Mason Bay. "Blown sands, clean seas, heaven's vault and space illimitable, these are the features of [Mason] Bay," is how botanist Herbert Guthrie-Smith describe scene more than 70 year, Nothing seems to have chanted.

A few renegade sheep hide in the muttonbird scrub a reminder a attempt to run a sheep station in 1930s. The old colonial farmhouse re­mains, overlooking a still dark stream and rolling dunes covered in silky roe-toe grass, flax and cabbage trees — an archetypal New Zealand rural landscape. Whale and Sheep bones, near the remains of an old Not alone hiking Stewart Island's Mason Bay introduces visitors to a world of space, solitude and stunning vistas, where they can encounter a unique ecostystem, a thriving kiwi population and many species endangered elsewhere sheep pen, lie under an ancient macrocarpa tree. The sun glints off gigantic waves pounding at the entrance to a horse-shoe bay called The Gutter. Narrow sheep trails offer scrambling access to rocky red cliffs. Three sealions are lazily floating in a deep pool near the shore. Green-lipped mus­sels cling to the rocks and bull kelp sways in the clear green water.

We spot pied oyster-catchers, little blue penguins, molly mawks and sooty shear-waters (called muttonbirds here, they are a local, if dubious, delicacy). The sun is starting to sink as we reluctantly swing on our backpacks and head for the DoC hut at Duck Creek, a three-hour walk down the beach. There is a pink glow in the sky, appropriate considering Stewart Is­land's Maori name, Rakiura — "Is­land of the Glowing Skies".

The next day we spend several hours exploring Mason Bay's gigan­tic sand dunes. Running for up to 2km inland and reaching 150m in height, they support rare and frag­ile grasses, and range from stark-white sandy ridges to granite-based desert dotted with flax, evocative of the American Southwest. The tracks of weka and kiwi, two flight­less native birds, thread between the tussock grass towards the beach. It's a deceptive place: inviting blue ponds of collected rainwater turn out to be surrounded by treacher­ous quicksand and what look like low bushes prove to be the tops of rimu trees which are slowly being buried in sand blown by the prevailing westerly wind.

Freshwater landing
An easy five-hour walk takes us across golden tussock and swamp, through a fair amount of Stewart Island's famous mud — the Chocolate Swamp is well, if euphemistically, named — and through a forest. Yellow bellbirds, glossy black and green tuffs, native wood pigeons, red-crested parakeets and tiny fantails flut­ter amidst the forest's twisted, stark manuka trees. Finally, we reach Freshwater Landing, where another DoC hut sits amongst ancient rimu trees below Rocky Mountain.

The following morning, a wa­ter taxi takes us down the tea-col­oured Freshwater River and into the vast grey expanse of Paterson In­let. At Minors Beach we launch kay­aks for the return journey and fol­low the sheltered northern coast, dotted with small rocky islets and tranquil inlets. Lush rainforest cov­ers the rugged shoreline and native fuschia, orchids and ferns spill out in abundance over the rocks.

We stop in Price's Inlet to ex­plore the preserved site of a former repair base for whaling ships. Enor­mous, rusted, broken propellers are casually piled in a heap at the shore­line, a handy perch for a pair of cu­rious oyster-catchers. Finally, at Golden Bay, we paddle past fish­ing boats and small cottages to our land­ing, and reluctantly exchange our paddles and sprayskirts for a ride down to the Stewart Island Lodge and our first hot shower in five days.

Practicalities

When to go
According to the locals, Stewart Island gets "a little rain on a lot of days". On the south and west coasts, which get up to 5000mm of rain annually, that translates into a lot of rain nearly every day. You can expect to experience, in an average day, sun, rain, wind and calm at different times. How­ever, the temperature rarely drops below zero — even in winter. Winter is the best time to paddle or hike, as you'll enjoy more sunshine, less wind and less company.

Halt at Price's Inlet: kayaking is an ideal way to ex­plore the island's shoreline, where you can come across sealions and blue penguins

Getting there
Air New Zealand has several daily-fights to Invercargill, the nearest town n the South Island to Stewart Island. From Invercargill, take the Foveaux Express -earn (about US$40 return).

Or take one of the daily flights Stewart Island's tiny hilltop airstrip on southern Air's 8-seater aircraft (US$62 return from Invercargill, US$95 return from Dunedin). All the companies arrange transfers and car storage, if necessary.

Accommodation
In Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island's tiny set­tlement of 380 people, choices range from rental cottages to luxurious lodge accom­modation. The South Seas Hotel has comfortable rooms in the heart of 'town' with a good restaurant. The Stewart Island Lodge views, wild birds on your windowsill and gourmet meals. There are also motels and camping facilities.

Other activities
The island, information bureau will provide information on other activities including diving, fishing, walking tracks, nature tours and sites of significatn historical interest. You can also charter a fishing boat, visit a yellow eyed penguin nesting site and walk through 1000 year old primary rainforest. All in one day — but to really enjoy the island it's better if you take a week.