Stewart Island

I am finally getting around to posting about our big trip to Stewart Island. We had a ton of pictures so I apologize if it seems like overload. Okay, Friday, August 29th: Lexie, Dan, and I left Dunedin at 5 am and headed toward Invercargill. The first half of the drive was dark, and we didn’t really get to look around. Once we got closer to Invercargill the sun was coming up and the pastures and hills of Southland spread out before us. Lambs were bouncing in the fields next to their mothers providing some early morning entertainment. The drive took almost 3 hours. As you can see in the map, Stewart Island is the third and southernmost island of New Zealand. To get there you must cross the Foveaux Strait either by ferry (1 hour, rough seas) or plane (15 minutes, nicer views). We decided to fly.

We were the first people at the Invercargill airport. We actually had to wait a little while before the Stewart Island Flights people were available to check us in. Funny thing is they never ask to see identification or any sort of security at these little domestic airports. The guy checking us in looked about 18 and turned out to be our pilot. They weighed our packs (mine was 19 pounds, Dan’s was around 26 pounds) and then us - to make sure the plane could fit everyone?

The plane we got on was tiny. Only 8 people fit on it and it was “full.”

Dan and I sat shoulder to shoulder on a bench seat with a window on either side of us. Several of the passengers were residents of Stewart Island returning home. The weather was beautiful, sunny and calm, which made the 15 minute flight pretty amazing.
You fly past Bluff, the southernmost town on the South Island, then over the Foveaux Strait and towards Stewart Island. We could have taken the ferry across the Strait but that takes an hour and we’ve heard stories of miserable sea-sickness. The flight was amazing and not too scary.
The landing on Stewart Island was smooth; you land on a small landing strip in the middle of what looks like a rain forest. A van picks you up and takes you to the main settlement on the island which is Halfmoon Bay. Only about 300 people live permanently on the island so the town is quite small. Stewart Island is where you go if you feel too crowded or too modern on the South Island of New Zealand. It feels totally remote, like you're on the edge of civilization which, at least geographically, you are.