Page 63 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

giant petrel. The mass of birds also makes it more difficult for a

predator to follow an individual back to its nest thus exposing
eggs or chicks. Whatever the logical explanation, the encounter

for us could not have been more thrilling.

What a perfect ending to our visit to Snare’s Island!

Chapter 13. Stewart Island

This island is the third largest of New Zealand, after the North and
South Islands. It is home to about 400 hardy people year around

but is a vacation destination for many mainlanders. After all, 80%
of the island’s 674 square miles is set aside as Rakiura National

Park. The highest point on the island is Mount Anglem at 3210 ft.
So the hiking opportunities here are wonderfully varied and can

be as rugged as bushwhacking up mountainsides and as gentle as
following the beaches on the coast. Fishing is the main industry on

the island and the populace is as independent as fisherfolk usually
are. The island generates its own electricity via a diesel generator
and it is serviced by regular flights from Invercargill and Bluff on

the South Island and there is regular ferry service between Bluff
and Oban, the capital city of Stewart Island.

Remember from the Maori story about the creation of New

Zealand that Stewart Island is the anchor stone for Maui’s canoe
(South Island) from which he and his brothers fetched up their

“great fish” (North Island)? There is an interesting phenomenon
present on Stewart that results from an anomaly in the magnetic
latitude contours that allows frequent observation from this

northern position (relative to the Antarctica) of the Aurora
Australis! Of course, we were not on Stewart at the right time of

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