Stewart Island/Rakiura is the third-largest island of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It lies 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) south of the
South IslandThe South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
, across
Foveaux StraitFoveaux Strait separates Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. Three large bays, Te Waewae Bay, Oreti Beach and Toetoes Bay, sweep along the strait's northern coast, which also hosts Bluff township and harbour. Across the strait lie the Solander...
. Its permanent population is slightly over 400 people, most of whom live in the settlement of
ObanOban is the principal settlement on Stewart Island/Rakiura, the southernmost inhabited island of the New Zealand archipelago. Oban is located on Halfmoon Bay , on Paterson Inlet...
.
History and naming
The original
MāoriMāori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
name,
Te Punga o Te Waka a Maui, positions Stewart Island/Rakiura firmly at the heart of Māori mythology. Translated as
The Anchor Stone of Maui’s Canoe, it refers to the part played by the island in the legend of
MauiIn Māori mythology, Māui is a culture hero famous for his exploits and his trickery.-Māui's birth:The offspring of Tū increased and multiplied and did not know death until the generation of Māui-tikitiki . Māui is the son of Taranga, the wife of Makeatutara...
and his crew, who from their canoe, the South Island, caught and raised the great fish, the
North IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
.
Rakiura is the more commonly known and used Māori name. It is usually translated as
Glowing Skies, possibly a reference to the sunsets for which it is famous or for the Aurora Australis, the southern lights that are a phenomenon of southern latitudes.
For some, Rakiura is the abbreviated version of Te Rakiura a Te Rakitamau, translated as "great blush of Rakitamau", in reference to the latter's embarrassment when refused the hand in marriage of not one, but two daughters, of an island chief. According to Māori legend, a chief on the island named Te Rakitamau was married to a young woman who became terminally ill and implored him to marry her cousin after she died. Te Rakitamau paddled across Te Moana Tapokopoko a Tawhiki (
Foveaux StraitFoveaux Strait separates Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. Three large bays, Te Waewae Bay, Oreti Beach and Toetoes Bay, sweep along the strait's northern coast, which also hosts Bluff township and harbour. Across the strait lie the Solander...
) to the South Island where the cousin lived, only to discover she had recently married. He blushed with embarrassment; so the island was called Te Ura o Te Rakitamau.
Captain Cook was the first
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an to sight the island in 1770, but he thought it was part of the
South IslandThe South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
so named it South Cape. The island received its European name in honour of William W. Stewart, who was first officer on the ship
Pegasus, which visited from
Port JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
(
SydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
),
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in 1809 on a
sealingSeal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
expedition. Stewart charted the large southeastern harbour which now bears the ship's name (
Port PegasusPort Pegasus is located at the southern end of Stewart Island in New Zealand. From the 1890s to the 1950s, Port Pegasus was the site of a small fishing community. There was also a small tin-mining boom in the area in the 1890s...
), and determined the northern points of the island, proving that it was an island. He made three further visits to the island from the 1820s to the 1840s.
In 1841, the island was established as one of the three
Provinces of New ZealandThe Provinces of New Zealand existed from 1841 until 1876 as a form of sub-national government. They were replaced by counties, which were themselves replaced by districts.Following abolition, the provinces became known as provincial districts...
, and was named
New LeinsterNew Leinster was a province of New Zealand, consisting of Stewart Island/Rakiura named after the Irish province of Leinster.Governor William Hobson named the North Island New Ulster, the South Island New Munster and Stewart Island/Rakiura New Leinster after the correspondence regions in Ireland in...
. However, the province existed on paper only and was abolished after only five years, and with the passing of the
New Zealand Constitution Act 1846The New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to grant self-government to the colony of New Zealand, but it was never fully implemented...
the province became part of
New MunsterNew Munster was an early original European name for the South Island of New Zealand, given by the Governor of New Zealand, Captain William Hobson, in honour of Munster, the Irish province in which he was born.-Province:...
, which entirely included the South Island. When New Munster was abolished in 1853, Stewart Island became part of
Otago ProvinceThe Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.-Area:The capital of the province was Dunedin...
until 1861 when
Southland ProvinceThe Southland Province was a province of New Zealand from March 1861 until the province rejoined with Otago Province in 1870.-History:When provinces were formed in 1853, the southern part of New Zealand belonged to Otago Province...
split from Otago. In 1876 the provinces were abolished altogether.
For most of the twentieth century, "Stewart Island" was the official name, and that in common use by most New Zealanders.
The name was officially altered to Stewart Island/Rakiura by the
Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, one of many such changes under the
Ngāi TahuNgāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori iwi of the southern region of New Zealand, with the tribal authority, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, being based in Christchurch and Invercargill. The iwi combines three groups, Kāi Tahu itself, and Waitaha and Kāti Mamoe who lived in the South Island prior...
treaty settlement.
Geography
This hilly island with a wet climate has an area of 1 746 km². The north is dominated by the swampy valley of the
Freshwater RiverThe Freshwater River is the longest river on Stewart Island / Rakiura, the third largest of New Zealand's islands. It arises close to the island's northwestern point, from which it is separated by a ridge, and flows southeastward through the Ruggedy Flat for 25 kilometres before reaching the...
. The river rises close to the northwestern coast and flows southeastwards into the large indentation of
Paterson InletPaterson Inlet is a large natural harbour in the eastern coast of Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand, much of which is unspoilt forest.This region was first inhabited by the Māori, who settled at a locale known as The Neck, which is a long peninsula that extends across the mouth of the inlet from...
. The highest peak is
Mount AnglemMount Anglem is the highest point on New Zealand's Stewart Island/Rakiura. It is located northwest of Oban, New Zealand, close to the island's north coast, and rises to an elevation of above sea level....
(979 metres (3,211.9 ft)), close to the northern coast it is one of a rim of ridges that surround Freshwater Valley.
The southern half is more uniformly undulating, rising to a ridge that runs south from the valley of the Rakeahua River, which also flows into Paterson Inlet. The southernmost point in this ridge is Mount Allen, at 750 metres (2,460.6 ft). In the southeast the land is somewhat lower, and is drained by the valleys of the Toitoi River, Lords River, and Heron River. South West Cape on this island is the southernmost point of the main islands of New Zealand.
Mason Bay, on the west side, is notable as a long sandy beach on an island where beaches are typically far more rugged. One suggestion is that the bay was formed in the aftershock of a meteorite impact in the
Tasman SeaThe Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
.
Three large and numerous small islands lie around the coast. Notable among these are
Ruapuke IslandRuapuke Island is one of the southernmost islands in New Zealand's main chain of islands. It lies to the southeast of Bluff and northeast of Oban on Stewart Island/Rakiura. The island covers an area of about . It guards the eastern end of Foveaux Strait...
, in Foveaux Strait 32 kilometres (19.9 mi) northeast of Oban;
Codfish IslandCodfish Island or Whenua Hou is a small island located to the west of Stewart Island/Rakiura in southern New Zealand. It reaches a height of close to the south coast. Following the eradication of possums and weka, it is a predator-free bird sanctuary and the focus of Kakapo recovery efforts...
, close to the northwest shore; and Big South Cape Island, off the southwestern tip. The Titi/Muttonbird Islands group is between Stewart Island/Rakiura and Ruapuke Island, around Big South Cape Island, and off the southeastern coast. Other islands of interest include Bench Island, Native Island, and Ulva Island, all close to the mouth of
Paterson InletPaterson Inlet is a large natural harbour in the eastern coast of Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand, much of which is unspoilt forest.This region was first inhabited by the Māori, who settled at a locale known as The Neck, which is a long peninsula that extends across the mouth of the inlet from...
, and Pearl Island,
Anchorage IslandAnchorage Island is a tiny island located off the southwest coast of Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand and part of Rakiura National Park....
, and Noble Island, close to
Port PegasusPort Pegasus is located at the southern end of Stewart Island in New Zealand. From the 1890s to the 1950s, Port Pegasus was the site of a small fishing community. There was also a small tin-mining boom in the area in the 1890s...
in the southwest. Further offshore
The SnaresSnares Islands/Tini Heke is a small island group situated approximately 200 kilometres south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-south-west of Stewart Island/Rakiura. The Snares consist of the main island North East Island and the smaller Broughton Island as well as the somewhat...
are oceanic islands, a volcano and some smaller islets, that were never connected to the larger Stewart Island.
The climate of Stewart Island is wet with constant rainfall between 1,000mm to 3,000mm per annum depending on elevation and aspect.
Geomagnetic anomaly
Owing to an anomaly in the magnetic latitude contours, this location is well placed for observing
Aurora australisAn aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...
.
Settlements
The only town is
ObanOban is the principal settlement on Stewart Island/Rakiura, the southernmost inhabited island of the New Zealand archipelago. Oban is located on Halfmoon Bay , on Paterson Inlet...
, on Halfmoon Bay.
A previous settlement,
Port PegasusPort Pegasus is located at the southern end of Stewart Island in New Zealand. From the 1890s to the 1950s, Port Pegasus was the site of a small fishing community. There was also a small tin-mining boom in the area in the 1890s...
, once boasted several stores and a post office, and was located on the southern coast of the island. It is now uninhabited, and is accessible only by boat or by an arduous hike through the island. Another site of former settlement is at Port William, a four-hour walk around the north coast from Oban, where immigrants from the Shetland Islands settled in the early 1870s. This was unsuccessful, and the settlers left within one to two years, most for sawmilling villages elsewhere on the island.
For decades, the electricity supply on Stewart Island/Rakiura has come from diesel generators, and as a consequence electric power is around three times more expensive than on the South Island, at $NZ 0.52/kWH in 2008. The Southland District Council has partnered with
Meridian EnergyMeridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...
to develop renewable energy sources for the island, and experiments with photovoltaic and wind generation are in progress.
Economy and communications
Fishing has been, historically, the most important element of the economy of Stewart Island/Rakiura, and while it remains important, tourism has become the main source of income for islanders. There is also some farming and forestry.
ObanOban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
has mainly sealed main roads, and some gravel roads on the outskirts.
Southern Air links Ryan's Creek Aerodrome and
Invercargill Airport- Developing new services :*Air New Zealand spokesman Bruce Parton said the company increased seat capacity into and out of Invercargill by 30% during the past two years and now offered 52 services a week between Invercargill and Christchurch and 29 services a week between Invercargill and Wellington...
and aircraft also land on the sand at Mason Bay, Doughboy Bay, and West Ruggedy Beach. A regular passenger ferry service runs between
BluffBluff is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southern-most town in New Zealand and, despite Slope Point being further to the south, is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country...
and Oban. The only ferry/barge link to the South Island for vehicles is to Bluff.
Oban has a fully functional phone and
broadbandThe term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
(ADSL) network, and connects to the rest of New Zealand via radio to Invercargill. Telecom also supplies mobile coverage using its CDMA &
XTMobile Network Code: 503 05NZ non-geographic prefix: 027The XT Mobile Network is a UMTS mobile network run by Telecom New Zealand. It operates nationwide in the 850 MHz frequency, with 2100 MHz infill in major urban areas....
/3G networks. Due to its radio link broadband speeds are limited.
Government
From 1841 to 1853, Stewart Island was governed as New Leinster Province, then as part of New Munster Province. From 1853 onwards, it was part of the
Otago ProvinceThe Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.-Area:The capital of the province was Dunedin...
. In
local governmentLocal government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
today, Stewart Island/Rakiura is part of the
Southland DistrictSouthland District is a territorial authority in the South Island of New Zealand. Southland District covers the majority of the land area of Southland Region, although the region also covers Gore District, Invercargill City and adjacent territorial waters...
. However, it shares with some other islands a certain relaxation in some of the rules governing commercial activities. For example, every transportation service operated solely on
Great Barrier IslandGreat Barrier Island is a large island of New Zealand, situated to the north-east of central Auckland in the outer Hauraki Gulf. With an area of it is the fourth-largest island of New Zealand's main chain of islands, with its highest point, Mount Hobson, rising...
, the
Chatham IslandsThe Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
, or Stewart Island/Rakiura is exempt from the Transport Act of 1962.
On 1 April 2005, the
TV3TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
Campbell Live TV show reported that the New Zealand government planned to sell a large part of the island to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, to host an air base supporting its operations in
Antarctica. In the following show, the announcer
John CampbellJohn Campbell is the presenter of Campbell Live, a primetime 7.00pm current affairs programme on TV3 in New Zealand.-Early career:...
said that staff members from the New Zealand Prime Minister's office had contacted them after receiving several complaints from the public about these plans. Campbell confirmed that the story was an April Fool's Day hoax.
Flora
Although the clay soil is not very fertile the high rainfall and warm weather means the island is densely forested throughout. Native plants include the world's southernmost dense forest of podocarps (southern conifers) and hardwoods such as
rataSouthern rātā , is a tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 15 m. or more tall with a trunk up to 1 m. or more in diameter. It produces masses of red flowers in summer...
and
kamahiWeinmannia racemosa, Kāmahi, a medium-sized tree of the family Cunoniaceae, is a very common tree in New Zealand, occurring in lowland, montane, and subalpine forests and shrubland from the central North Island south to Stewart Island....
in the lowland areas with
manukaLeptospermum scoparium is a shrub or small tree native to New Zealand and southeast Australia. Evidence suggests that L. scoparium originated in Australia before the onset of the Miocene aridity and dispersed relatively recently from Eastern Australia to New Zealand. It is likely that on arrival...
shrubland at higher elevations. The trees are thought to have become established here since the last
ice ageAn ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
from seeds brought across the strait by seabirds, which would explain why the beech trees that are so common in New Zealand but whose seeds are dispersed by the wind rather than birds are not found on Stewart Island.
Fauna
There are many species of birds on Stewart Island/Rakiura that have been able to thrive because of the absence of the cats, rats, stoats, ferrets, weasels and other predators that man has brought to the main islands. There are even more birds including huge colonies of
Sooty ShearwaterThe Sooty Shearwater is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand it is also known by its Māori name tītī and as "muttonbird", like its relatives the Wedge-tailed Shearwater and the Australian Short-tailed Shearwater The Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) is...
and other seabirds on
The SnaresSnares Islands/Tini Heke is a small island group situated approximately 200 kilometres south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-south-west of Stewart Island/Rakiura. The Snares consist of the main island North East Island and the smaller Broughton Island as well as the somewhat...
and the other smaller islands offshore. The birds of Stewart Island include
wekaThe Weka or woodhen is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where four subspecies are recognized. Weka are sturdy brown birds, about the size of a chicken. As omnivores, they feed mainly on invertebrates and fruit...
, kākā,
albatrossAlbatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
, the flightless Stewart Island kiwi,
silvereyeThe Silvereye or Wax-eye is a very small passerine bird native to Australia, New Zealand and the south-west Pacific islands of Lord Howe, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji...
s,
fantailThe New Zealand Fantail is a small insectivorous bird. A common fantail found in the South Island of New Zealand, also in the North Island as subspecies Rhipidura fuliginosa placabilis, the Chatham Islands as Rhipidura fuliginosa penita and formerly the Lord Howe Island as Rhipidura fuliginosa...
s, and kererū. The endangered
Yellow-eyed penguinThe Yellow-eyed Penguin or Hoiho is a penguin native to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the Little Penguin , molecular research has shown it more closely related to penguins of the genus Eudyptes...
has a significant number of breeding sites here while the large colonies of Sooty Shearwaters on the offshore Muttonbird Islands, are subject to
muttonbirdingMuttonbirding is a seasonal harvesting activity, which may be recreational or commercial, of the chicks of petrels, especially shearwater species, for food, oil and feathers...
, a sustainable harvesting program managed by Rakiura Māori. Meanwhile a small population of the
kakapoThe Kakapo , Strigops habroptila , also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand...
, a flightless parrot that was thought to have become extinct, was found on Stewart Island in 1977 and the birds subsequently moved to smaller islands (
Codfish IslandCodfish Island or Whenua Hou is a small island located to the west of Stewart Island/Rakiura in southern New Zealand. It reaches a height of close to the south coast. Following the eradication of possums and weka, it is a predator-free bird sanctuary and the focus of Kakapo recovery efforts...
) for protection from feral cats. The South Island saddleback is similarly preserved.
Threats and preservation
As the island has always been sparsely populated and there has never been very much logging much of the original wildlife is intact, including species that have been devastated on the larger islands to the north since their habitation by humans. However, although habitats and wildlife have not been threatened by invasive species historically there are populations of cats, rats and
brushtail possumThe Common Brushtail Possum is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, it is native to Australia, and the largest of the possums.Like most possums, the Common Brushtail is nocturnal...
s on the island now and a large population of
white-tailed deerThe white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
has been introduced to coastal areas, which are hunted for meat and sport. There is also a small population of
red deerThe red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
confined to the inland areas. Almost all the island is owned by the state of New Zealand and over 80 per cent of the island is set aside as the
Rakiura National ParkRakiura National Park is a nature reserve park located on Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand. It is the 14th of New Zealand's national parks and was officially opened on 9 March 2002. It covers 1,570 km², which is about 85% of Stewart Island, New Zealand's third-largest island...
, New Zealand's newest national park. Many of the small offshore islands, including the Snares, are also protected.
Claims of independence
Residents of Stewart Island/Rakiura have held a number of promotional fundraising mock events regarding a Declaration of Independence for the island and to have it renamed to its original name of "Rakiura".
In the late 1950s or even the early 1960s they had a local printer
overprintPrivate overprints, in philately, are overprints , usually rubberstamped though occasionally applied by some other method, to postage stamps used by some person or entity other than a government or other official stamp-issuing entity...
“INDEPENDENT RAKIURA” on eight values of some earlier New Zealand
postageA postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
and health stamps. There were also eight different values from one penny to £1
overprintedPrivate overprints, in philately, are overprints , usually rubberstamped though occasionally applied by some other method, to postage stamps used by some person or entity other than a government or other official stamp-issuing entity...
on these stamps as well as having their original values blotted out with small black circles. These were sold to
collectorsStamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...
with the proceeds helping to refurbish the Rakiura Museum.
There was another fundraising effort to raise NZ$6000 for a new swimming pool for the island's school, by selling 50-cent passports for the newly "independent" island. A mock ceremony featured a Declaration of Independence on 31 July 1970 when the new republic's flag was unveiled.
These efforts were not serious attempts for independence as Stewart Island/Rakiura remains an integral part of New Zealand.
Further reading
External links