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Stewart Island Travel Blogs

Background: The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year, the British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances.

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By Ivo is niet thuis
August 16th 2009

Nieuwe foto's Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Rakiura National Park

Voor degenen die graag nog wat foto's willen zien heb ik fotos toegevoegd in het zelfde google album: http://picasaweb.google.nl/Ivo.is.niet.thuis/IvoIsNietThuisMaarInNieuwZeeland?feat=directlink Ik hoop dat jullie ze mooi vinden, zo niet nodig ik jullie van harte uit om zelf een keer hierheen te komen en me te verbeteren! [View Full Entry]

By JennyLynch
August 8th 2009

Dredging for Oysters with Jack and The Nikita Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Rakiura National Park

With a slightly sore head after a few too many "bulmers" last night I made my way down to the warf (pier) this morning to head out searching for oysters with Jack and his crew for the day. It was a beautiful morning, with the sun casting lovely colors over halfmoon bay. I popped down to the warf and wandered about for a few minutes before the boat, the Nikita arrived. I noticed a crate of Speights beer sitting wrapped up on the warf, which seemed strange. I didn't think something like that would survive very long on it's own out [View Full Entry]

By JennyLynch
August 7th 2009

Masons and Matilda Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Rakiura National Park

Kiwi footprints

I'm back after 4 days in the wilderness, chocolate in one hand and coffee in the other as I write this..it's a juggling act I swear! Things didn't really start according to plan on Tuesday morning. Monday night was a nice surprise though! I decided to treat myself to some take away from the pub and ended up chatting to some friendly fishermen as I was waiting on my cod to be cooked. I was going to make some pasta to go with it. Anyway, I was chatting to the fishermen, who were their for a 2 day competition and the [View Full Entry]

By JennyLynch
August 3rd 2009

Rakiura Track - Stewart Island Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Rakiura National Park

Rakiura Track - Stewart Island (36km - 3 days, 2 nights) ** Apologies for the lack of photos with this entry, it's explained in day 3 ** Rakiura Track - Day 1 This was my second attempt at "tramping" a national past-time here in New Zealand and it didn't disappoint! I was a lot more relaxed about heading out this time on my over night adventure, possibly a little too relaxed. This tramp would be different thought, for the first time, I had company! At first the thought of spending long hours climbing hills and possibly being hungry and grumpy with [View Full Entry]

By JennyLynch
July 30th 2009

Ulva Island - Welcomed by the birdy friends! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Rakiura National Park

Arriving at Ulva Island

Jumped on a water taxi for the short trip over to Ulva Island, another refuge island where native birds are protected and wildlife is flourishing. Got chatting to Kevin from the US on the warf (pier) at Golden Bay, which was a little further from Halfmoon Bay than I thought. Thankfully things don't run on time like they do on the mainland!! The majority of the island is a reserve, home to numerous native birds including weka, the stewart island robin, Kaka, Karakiki, Saddleback, Riflemen etc. I decided to visit sydney bay to start and had my first encounter with weka. [View Full Entry]

By JennyLynch
July 28th 2009

Queenstown to Stewart Island - Exposure to the "island folk" Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island

Leaving Queenstown

So after spending a nice relaxing day in Queenstown it was time to head south. I almost missed the bus, not like me to be late! Got chatting to the bus driver Max, which helped the trip pass. At one point I was drifting off and realized that the scenery was far too beautiful to nod off next to. The beautiful lakes and mountains leaving Q'town are really fantastic! Soon we were out on the plains and there were no more spikey mountains. The bus passed through some small town ships en route to Invercargill, not a lot to see. Arrived [View Full Entry]

By stewartgetslost
July 12th 2009

My very own island Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island

Stewart Island

Before I start, an apology to subscribers to my blog. I've just published about 11 entries, which means your inbox has just been clogged up. I've already lost one of you from the ranks because of it, and I like to look after my subscribers, so sorry about that folks. If you're reading this and aren't a subscriber, why not? And now to the main course. Do you remember back in Uruguay, when I went to Fray Bentos purely because of its name? Well I'm at it again. You see, just off the bottom on the South Island exists New Zealand's [View Full Entry]

By cleanpairofeyes
June 3rd 2009

More Tranquil Times Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island

A Weka Bird

Originally I was to spend two maybe three days on Stewart Island then return back to the mainland. How much time would one person need to see such a small island considering that no multi day hikes were to be taken? Well I can't answer that question but today makes it one full week since my arrival and my forecast predicts another day or two. The peacefulness of waking up in the morning and looking out the large windows to see which way the clouds are traveling then deciding for a short walk along the beach or maybe through the forest. [View Full Entry]

By cleanpairofeyes
May 30th 2009

Tranquil Times Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island

More Stewart Island Photos

2 1/2 hours on a mini bus from Queenstown to Invercargill. Then a 4 hour wait, then a half hour bus to Bluff then a one hour ferry ride to reach Stewart Island. I lucked out the water was calm ( I hear it is rough a lot of the time) so the ferry ride in the sunset was great. When we pulled into the dock it was dark, there was two buildings that had lights on and a few street lights. I asked where Bunkers Backpackers was located and a local pointed to the hotel (one of only two buildings [View Full Entry]

By Kyrias
May 27th 2009

Excellent Adventure (Part III) Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Rakiura National Park

NZ-roadtrip with kathleen 161

Day 10: Since Queenstown is the adrenaline rush capital of New Zealand, and probably the world, we figured we’d do something exciting. Last I was here was when I first went bungee jumping, but I thought I’d switch up the activity this time around, so we went sledging. I know, I’ve never heard of sledging either. So basically this sport is pretty much done only in this one river in NZ; it kind of like body boarding. You wear a wetsuit, flippers, a helmet, and basically have this big plastic board thing that you hang onto with your arms while the [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island