Blogs from Stewart Island, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Oban May 6th 2021

After we returned home last night from the pub we were sure the wind had abated or at least in the pitch blackness of Church Hill, Oban, it seemed that way. However, during the night the wind did return with gusto and we assume from a slightly different direction as something metallic was rattling noisily on the roof wanting to take off into the air and land somewhere to the east of us. Sunrise however revealed that the wind had blown itself out and it didn’t look like we would miss out on our boat trip to Paterson Inlet and Ulva Island at midday because of the wind. With time on our hands we lazed around and continued to enjoy the vistas from our Kiwi bach until it was time to head down the hill to ... read more
Mollyhawk on Halfmoon Bay
Akers stone cottage,Halfmoon Bay
Iona Island,Paterson Inlet

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Oban May 5th 2021

We went to bed last night with a starlight sky and calm conditions. At sometime in the dark night all that changed with wind that sounded of storm force speed. The ‘Kiwi’ bach held together although at times as the wind howled we wondered whether we might have to go to the bottom of the cliff over the path up from the village to pick up what might have been left of it. The wind abated a bit when the sun rose and looking out from the deck of the bach the water on the bay below was being flattened out by the stiff breeze blowing over it. One can understand why the early settlers opted to set up their community where they did towards the eastern end of the island. After all we are in ... read more
South Seas Hotel and Four Square store,Oban,Sewart Island
Paterson Inlet,Stewart Island from Observation Rock with Iona Island on the left
Looking back to Oban from Linneker Bay

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Oban May 4th 2021

Waking this morning in Invercargill we had hoped, when we pulled the curtains, to find clear skies and light winds for our short flight to Stewart Island.However, it is not to be, with dark skies in the west and a steady breeze blowing. We opted for a plane ride to Stewart Island as our memory of watching a ferry leaving Bluff pitching and rolling in heavy seas was enough to put us off travelling by ferry on this route for life. As we have discovered there is not a huge difference in the price of the airfare compared to the ferry and so we thought 15 minutes of terror is better than one hour plus plus of rockin’ and rollin’ across the strait. We had a bit of time to fill in before check in for ... read more
Lifestyle properties below
Coastline scene
Passengers in front of us

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Oban April 1st 2018

After my adrenaline overdose, it was time to do some less intense activities. In Queenstown, the party capital of New Zealand, that started with a pub crawl. The highlight of that evening was the ice bar: everything was made of ice, including the glasses (gloves were a must) and they had the most amazing ice sculptures. After a nice sleep in, I met Bianca to take the Gondola up one of the mountains that surround Queenstown. After enjoying a tasty lunch with a view, Mira joined us and we went to ride the luge karts. They are karts without engines so we got our speed from going downhill: so much fun (had to do something that would give me at least a small adrenaline rush to prevent withdrawal symptoms)! After Queenstown, it was time to go ... read more
View from the top of the gondola in Queenstown
Luge karts were a lot of fun!
Mirror Lake

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island November 11th 2016

Well we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset here in Fortrose last night. The weather was strangely warm at 7.45pm it was 24°c and people were swimming and skiing. Quite bizarre after the weather we have had around the Catlin’s. Awoke this morning (Sun 6/11) to an overcast cool windy day, it was time for a short wander around the estuary past the Whitebaiter’s and fisherman to the Harbour entrance. Just inside the harbour here at Fortrose is the wreck of the steamship “Ino”. The Ino grounded here in 1886 and at low tide you can still see some remains. From here we headed down the road to Invercargill for the night and to organise our trip to Stewart Island. The weather forecast is poor for the next 10 days but tomorrow is looking ok to ... read more
Fortrose
Sunset - Fortrose
Fortrose Harbour entrance

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island April 30th 2015

Stewart Island Eine super schöne, friedliche und herzliche Insel. Wenn man die Nord-/Südinsel kennt, dann ist es von allem noch ein bisschen mehr... Jeder kennt sich dort und als Tourist ist man ebenfalls schnell bekannt ;) Die Reise startete in Christchurch mit dem Nakedbus (www.nakedbus.com) Endstation war nach diversen Zwischenstops in Invercargill. Nein die Kleider können bleiben und es handelt sich um einen normalen Busservice - was auch immer normal ist :-) Invercargill ist nach 18.00 Uhr ziemlich ausgestorben und erinnert fast an eine Geisterstadt. Lediglich der Countdown (Supermarkt) hat bis um Mitternacht offen und der MC Donald's 24h. Die Stadt an sich hatte ich schnell besichtigt. Das Wetter zeigte sich nicht von der besten Seite und so habe ich nach dem Heritage Trail und ein bisschen Window Shopping viel Zeit in der Hostel Lodge verbracht ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Oban April 7th 2015

Nous avons atteint la zone la plus au sud de la Nouvelle Zélande, la troisième plus grosse ile en terme de superficie car d’un point de vue démographique, Stewart Island culmine à 380 habitants pour 7 fois la taille de Singapour (nous y reviendrons par la suite). L’ile survit grâce au tourisme ainsi qu’à la pêche et à son indépendance en eau qui lui a coûté 3 millions de dollar pour récupérer et filtrer l’eau de pluie. Une infime partie de l’ile se visite en effectuant une randonnée de 15 jours. Trois restaurants se répartissent les parts de marché, cependant la superette dispose du monopole. Nous y avons malgré tout découvert le meilleur fish & chips de Nouvelle Zélande avec des produits frais, une panure à tomber par terre et une guitoune remarquablement propre. Nous avons ... read more
Stewart Island
Stewart Island
Stewart Island

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Oban July 20th 2014

Dear diary..... JACKPOT ! Vandaag was fenomenaal! We hebben een dag 'opgeofferd' aan rijden om op S.I. te raken, maar we zijn maar wat blij dat we hier waren. We begonnen de dag onder een stralende winterzon. Stevig ontbijt as usual ( eggs and bacon), en daarna naar het visitor centrum om onze route te plannen. We stippelden een route uit langs de kustlijn van het eiland die ongeveer 6 uur zou duren. Een korte stop in de lokale supermarkt en we konden vertrekken. Gewapend met sportdrank - sommigen onder ons hadden wat problemen met dehydratatie ten gevolge van de activiteiten vorige avond - en mongolenstuutjes trokken we de bushes in. Het ging al meteen bergop ! Het hoogste punt van het eiland is slechts 163m boven de zeespiegel, maar het eiland is niet groot en ... read more


Da ich die letzte Geschichte ja mit diesem so furchtbar unerträglichen Cliffhangar beendet habe, kann ich durchaus verstehen, dass ihr in der Zwischenzeit möglicherweise unruhig geschlafen habt, von gelegentlichen Schweißausbrüchen heimgesucht worden seid oder beunruhigendes, wenn nicht gar epileptisches Herzrasen bekommen habt. Da steht er nun, der Backpacker, und man ist sich ungewiss, ob sich sein Pfad dort in der Pampa Neuseelands nun doch noch mit einer barmherzigen Seele kreuzt, die ganz zufälligerweise einen Platz im Auto, in der Kutsche oder auf dem Traktor an ihn entbähren kann. Nun zu unserem Protagonisten: Nach einigem Bangen und einer quälenden Ungewissheit hält ein Auto mit zwei deutschen Touristen an und sagen in wackeligem Englisch, dass ich armes Würstchen hier im Nirgendwo doch verrotten würde und nehmen mich deshalb freundlich in ihrem Auto auf und riski... read more
Die wilde Küste von Southland.
Schulbushaltestelle in Colac Bay.
Windgepeitschte Bäume in Orepuki - so windig ist es dort.

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island February 11th 2013

Woke up this morning to hear the pitter patter of rain!!!! I had already booked to go to Stewart Island so despite the rain and the fact it was really cold I set off to Bluff just outside Invercargill to catch the ferry to Stewart Island. The journey takes about an hour and it was quite rough on the way there. One or two people looked a bit pale but it was ok. Arrived at Stewart Island still raining, but every now and then it would stop so I managed a feshort walks in between the showers. Decided to take the bus tour as it seemed a better option than getting soaked and cold all day. The driver was very informative and told us that there are four hundred full time resident on the island which ... read more
Stewart Island
Stewart Island
In the middle of nowhere




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