STEWART ISLAND
Stewart Island lies south of the two main islands of New Zealand,
separated by Foveaux Strait, a channel only thirty miles wide; but
usually the sea there is rough, and the passage from South Island
to Stewart Island in a small steam tug an unpleasant one. Stewart
Island is about forty miles long from north to south, and has a
coastline of between five and six hundred miles. In addition to
Stewart Island proper there are numerous small islands, named and
unnamed, scattered round the coast and away still further south.
Stewart Island has two mountains, one two thousand, the other three
thousand feet. The whole island is more or less hilly, and almost
entirely covered with native bush.
There is one township called Oban, and a number of houses and
cottages scattered about throughout the island. The steamer leaves
the Bluff, the port of Invercargill, twice a week for Stewart
Island, and takes passengers and mails to Oban's tiny wharf on
Half-Moon Bay. There are several "accommodation houses" for
tourists in Oban, all packed with people during the holiday season.
The one in which I stayed soon after Christmas was so full that
some of the visitors had to be housed in a small cottage in the
garden, others in a canvas tent, and one in a bathroom. There were
over forty visitors, and the one small drawing-room was so crowded
that we were glad to pack ourselves carefully on a cushioned seat
running all round the room.
The weather is very often wet on Stewart Island: it rained every
day during the eight days I spent there, and though I walked out in
all weathers, it was a pity to see the island so frequently through
torrents of rain.
The usual plan for visitors is to make up a party of twenty or
thirty from one of the hotels, hire a boat, take lunch, and boil
the billy in one of the charming bays which abound all round the
island. The day after I arrived was bright and sunny, just the day
for such an expedition, and a large party of us started gaily in
a motor sailing-cutter on a trip to Glory Bay and Ulva Island. The
sea was calm, with sufficient wind blowing for us to dispense with
the motor engine and trust only to the sails--a much pleasanter way
of travelling than by motor. We had a delightful two hours' run to
Glory Bay, where we anchored, and were all landed in a small rowing
boat on a beach covered thickly with grey pebbles, large and small.
Here we found a convenient fireplace fixed up--two iron supports
firmly fastened in piles of stones, a stout branch of a tree laid
across the uprights, and on the branch iron hooks dangling--all
provided by Government, to prevent any danger of damage to the bush
by careless picnic parties. On the hooks three billies were hung, a
fire of sticks was lighted underneath, and when the water boiled,
tea was sprinkled into each billy. In a few minutes the tea was
ready, and we had cups of it ladled out to us with an enamelled
mug, and sat down on the beach to an excellent picnic lunch of meat
sandwiches, jam sandwiches, and tea. The trees and ferns came right
down to the beach, and we looked across the quiet bay through a
framework of greenery to a wooded island with the open sea beyond.
[Illustration: A SANDY COVE--STEWART ISLAND. _To face page 22_]
To-day I made acquaintance for the first time with the New Zealand
"rata," one of the finest of the forest trees, attaining a height
of fifty to a hundred feet. The rata is a species of myrtle, and
was covered just now with crimson myrtle flowers, which in the
sunlight turned a vivid scarlet, so that in patches the bush seemed
to be on fire.
After lunch we explored the bay in the rowing boat, took snapshots,
then again boarded the cutter, and sailed away for Ulva Island.
This is an island several miles in extent, densely covered with
bush; we landed, and walked for two miles along a very narrow,
mossy track. The bush is very thick here, and shady: tall trees
with ferns and mosses grow everywhere, while on the ground and
over the tree-trunks and among the green moss are little fragile,
white flowers. Even more noticeable than the trees are the
tree-ferns--hundreds of them--with drooping, feathery green fronds
crowning the slender, brown stems, which vary in height from six
feet to forty. They grow in remarkable perfection and abundance on
Stewart Island itself and on the islets round.
Our bush-track ended on a sandy beach. We then walked along a
well-made path for a short quarter of a mile to a post office
and store, kept by a solitary man who is the only inhabitant of
the island, and who apparently lives there very contentedly; he
collects the letters from the settlers on the neighbouring islands,
and sells grocery, thread, stationery and other useful articles. We
had been told that this was the most southerly post office in the
world, but learnt later that in the Auckland Islands there is one
many miles nearer the South Pole. Before we returned to the boat it
began to rain, and rained steadily all the way back to Oban--real
rain, which came down in sheets, and made it impossible to see
anything of the scenery.
This expedition was the only one during my stay on Stewart Island,
for after that, the sea was too rough for the boats to venture out.
So stormy was it that twice within the week the steamer from the
Bluff could not cross, and as the cable was not in working order,
we were completely isolated.
A great part of Stewart Island belongs to the Government of New
Zealand, and the bush is carefully protected, and heavy fines are
imposed on anyone who wilfully damages it by fire or in any other
way. For the benefit of tourists Government has spent some hundreds
of pounds on making tracks in all parts of the island: in places
simply a roughly beaten path, in others a "corduroy" track, formed
of stems of tree-ferns laid side by side. The walks along these
tracks are enchanting, either through dense bush, or skirting
the edge of the forest, with charming views through green ferns
and crimson rata to islands near and far, and the ever-distant
ocean. Often the tracks lead down to some sheltered bay with steep
tree-clad cliffs, whose bases are washed continually by the blue
Pacific. Above one of these beaches stands the most southerly cable
station in the world--an upright post, boarded four-square, through
which the overland wire vanishes, to re-appear at the opposite
station on the Bluff.
There are a number of native birds on Stewart Island. Chief
among these are the "bell-bird" and the "tui." The bell-bird
has a clear, musical call of its own, and can also imitate other
birds. The "tui," is often called the "parson-bird," on account
of two pretty white feathers which hang down under his chin like
old-fashioned Geneva bands; the rest of his plumage is a dark
glossy green; he is about the size of an English rook, bigger than
the bell-bird, and like the bell-bird, sings well and musically.
There are plenty of little birds; the robin, whose breast is yellow
instead of red; tits, wax-eyes, wrens, and others, who dress in
sober colours, and chirp to one another in pleasant, quiet notes.
Round the coast you see penguins perched on the rocks. The smaller
islands are favourite breeding-places for mutton-birds--grey birds
about as big as quails--which are much esteemed by the Maoris as a
delicacy: they are caught by the Maoris in quantities before the
birds can fly, and after they have been plucked and smoked, they
are preserved for future use in bags made of long ribbon seaweed.
Very good fish are to be caught near Stewart Island, as indeed
all round the New Zealand coasts; blue cod is one of the most
delicate, eaten either fresh or smoked, and the Stewart Island
oyster-beds are famous from one end of the Dominion to the other.
The people who live on Stewart Island have the reputation of being
rather lazy. Most of them are English, some of them are Maori
half-castes. Part of the land has been cleared and is used for
sheep runs, while some of the inhabitants are employed in cutting
down timber. The chief business of the place is looking after the
tourists who go in hundreds during the holiday months, and have a
splendid holiday with boating, fishing, bathing and picnicing, or
simply enjoying the mild climate and the lovely scenery.
Oban itself is a small township with a post-office; two small
stores, where you can buy post-cards, caps, boots, pencils or
grocery; and a baker's shop, with a baker who takes great pride in
his home-made bread, and had never heard of German yeast. Of public
houses there are none, as Stewart Island favours local prohibition,
and no intoxicating liquors may be sold. There is an "Athenaeum" or
reading-room, an Anglican Church, a Presbyterian Church, and some
small meeting-houses for religious purposes.
The Athenaeum is used as a public hall for dances and concerts. One
night a large party of us went to a concert there and heard songs
and recitations. The chief item on the programme was the "haka,"
or ancient Maori war dance, which was performed by four half-caste
Maori youths. There was no gliding movement, but much stamping
of feet, gesticulating and shouting, all in unison: it is a most
exhausting dance, and though it was most heartily encored, very
little of the performance was given a second time.
As the weather was so bad, we were very much thrown on our own
resources for amusement inside the boarding-house. Some sang or
recited, or played on piano or violin, and one of the men proved a
most dexterous and amusing conjurer. One night about fifty visitors
joined in progressive euchre--a game which is much played in New
Zealand, and another night we had a games party.
All through we contrived to be merry, in spite of the rain.