During the Christmas Summer Holiday this year we made plans to explore the very far south of New Zealand. We had made plans to hike another of the Great Walks, this time on Stewart Island, a small island off of the southern tip of the South Island . After a day to rest and explore southern Fiordland, we would do another multi-day tramp, known as the Hump Ridge Track.
Our journey took us south along the eastern coast of the South Island, and we were able to time our departure so that we were able to stop off in the town of Moeraki for an early dinner. This tiny seaside fishing community is the home of Fleur’s restaurant, one of our favourite finds in New Zealand. We ordered our usual plate of mixed fish which are brought in daily from the local fishing boats.
After a very tasty meal, we continued on down the coast towards the town of Dunedin. We arrived in time to head out for a quick walk around the town before bed. We strolled down to get a closer look at the railway station, which always stands out when driving through Dunedin because of it’s Flemish renaissance style. The building which was started in 1904, took just two years to build and is constructed of local dark basalt and lighter facing stones from nearby Oamaru. The roof however was tiled with terracotta shingles from Marseilles in France!
After admiring the station and surrounding gardens, we stopped by a nearby display containing one of the last steam locomotives used in New Zealand. The JA 1274 train, which was built in the 1950s in the nearby Hillside Workshops still carried passengers until as late as 1970!
The next morning we were up early for the next leg of our journey to the town of Bluff where we were set to board the small ferry across to Stewart Island. Located at the very end of State Highway 1, Bluff is a small town built around the thriving docks. As we waited for our turn to board the passenger ferry we watched a couple of fishing boats coming in.
The Forveaux Straight between the mainland (the South Island) and Stewart Island is known for being very rough, but we were lucky enough to have a smooth crossing. After about an hour we reached Stewart Island and were able to get glimpses of the sandy bays and dense forests. We were met on the small wharf by the owner of the motel where we were staying and after he took us for a quick tour of the tiny town of Oban we left our bags in our room and set out to find some lunch.
The sun had come out and so we took our food over to the small park overlooking the bay. After finishing our lunch we walked the short distance to the Department of Conservation office to pick up our passes for the Great Walk we were starting the next day and to get some ideas for ways to spend the afternoon.
Before setting off on a walking tour of the island we made one more quick stop at the Stewart Island Smoked Salmon shed. Hidden amongst garden implements and other junk in this rather unassuming building was a fridge containing the local smoked salmon. After selecting some salmon for lunch on our tramp the next day, we followed the instructions to pay for our haul and headed back to our hotel.
We had a quick taste of the salmon whilst enjoying our view out over the town, before we set off on the walking tour of the island that the lovely lady in the DOC office had recommended to us.