Stewart Island (Rakiura)

About this place

Stewart Island, officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, is the third-largest and southernmost inhabited island of New Zealand, about 30 km south of the South Island across Foveaux Strait, with a land area of about 1,746 square kilometres. Most of its 486 residents, counted in the 2023 census, live in the settlement of Oban on the east coast. Rakiura is usually translated as «glowing skies», a reference to the aurora australis that can light up its southern sky. Archaeology shows that Māori settled the island in the 14th century, and Captain James Cook sighted it in 1770. The island is hilly and densely forested, rising to 980 metres at Mount Anglem, and more than 80 percent of it is Rakiura National Park. Its 164 km coastline is cut by deep inlets, the largest being Paterson Inlet on the east side, which opens up in wide views from the hills around Oban. Ferries connect Oban with Bluff on the South Island, and small planes fly from Invercargill. People come for forest walks and birdlife, including kiwi, so book accommodation early in summer and pack for rain and wind.