Stewart Island/Rakiura

WOW! Just simply WOW. Neither of us had been to Stewart Island before and so we were really keen to go as we were so far down on the South Island. We decided to fly over and this is absolutely THE way to get there. You fly in a 9 seater propeller plane from Invercargill and 20 minutes later, land softly on Stewart Island where you are whisked into the main town of Oban.

We were stayed at the Stewart Island Backpackers http://stewartislandbackpackers.co.nz which is just a short stroll from the beach. We had our own double room – just as well as we were probably the oldest people there! Staff there were super helpful and really lovely to chat to. We discovered The Snuggery https://www.facebook.com/TheSnuggeryRakiura/ a wonderful cafe where we had coffee on three of the four days we were there. It wasn’t four as they close on Mondays! Staff are just so kind and lovely. Their flat whites were superb as were the muffins and yes – the Cheese Rolls. It is snug and like sitting in your favourite aunties 1970 living room – fab! We also enjoyed the South Sea Hotel http://www.southseahotel.co.nz/ where we had dinner, lunch, beers, breakfast and joined in the pub quiz on Sunday which was great fun.

We made good use of the glorious weather on the day we arrived and we went out on the Ranui with Peter who gives you a tour around the bays of Halfmoon Bay. He has lots of Island stories to share and helps you spot the bird life as you sail around. We saw some Little Blue penguins and a rather magnificent Mollymawk. A trip to Lee Bay to see the other end of the Anchor Chain that we’d seen in Bluff meant that we got to see some Fuchsia Trees with their flaky bark as well as some Oyster Catchers. We cheated a bit by taking a taxi there and then walked the 5km back to Halfmoon Bay.

Oban is a lovely town. Great views out to the bay. Some lovely places to eat – The Snuggery, South Sea Hotel and the Kai Kart where we had Blue Cod. There is also a weather station which if you are a bit geeky (like me!) is very interesting. We had a visit to the Museum https://www.rakiuramuseum.co.nz/ that has a huge amount of local history and a number of artifacts for you to see.