JEWEL CITIZENSHIP

STEWART ISLAND IS A FLAWLESS MICROCOSM WHERE THE FISH IS FRESH, SEEING A KIWI IS LIKELY AND THE GENUINE WELCOME ALSO MAKES IT SPECIAL

The locals of Stewart Island ( both birdlife and humans) give visitors a friendly welcome

THE SMALL, ISOLATED community of Stewart Island is fueled by the energy of its people. In Oban, its only town, birthdays are announced on a chalkboard outside the Four Square store where there is also a raffle fundraising to buy firewood to keep elderly residents warm as the weather turns from brisk to biting, and a box of pre-loved books is “free to a good home”.

New Zealand’s third-largest island has 380 permanent human residents and approximately 13,000 Stewart Island kiwi (tokoeka). More than two thirds of it is national park (Rakiura) and walking tracks flow like ribbons through the bush. With all that greenness and emptiness, with just birds for company and drizzle on 200 days of the year, it’s a near-paradise for nature lovers who don’t mind using their feet – and getting them wet.

Many families are fourth or fifth-generation islanders, a testament to the lure of the place. Ask if they’ve ever thought of moving and be met with furrowed brows: “Why on Earth would you leave all of this?”

They have a secret though, and that is that most islanders are in fact more widely traveled than the average New Zealander. From November to April, the locals work, and work hard. The same person may serve in the pub, again in the café, and then be spotted cleaning the accommodation. During the tourist season they knuckle down from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week. But come Easter weekend, the doors shut, the ‘closed’ signs go up and they disappear into the horizon on cruise ships and aeroplanes, only to appear again at Labour Weekend, refreshed and ready.