Rakiura/Stewart Island is home to the Rakiura Track, one of the Great Walks on offer along the diverse New Zealand landscape. The 32km, three day circuit (well, almost) is somewhat of an Aotearoa Jurassic Park experience, minus Jeff Goldbloom or witnessing chaos theory in action. What we did see, however, was some magnificent podocarp-hardwood forest, a myriad of green hues, curious wildlife and what many people seek to see in the wild; the kiwi. The Stewart Island kiwi (or tokoeka) is the largest of all kiwi and you’ve got a reasonable shot at spotting one on Rakiura, as there are more kiwi than people on the Island. They also like to pop out to say hello during the day.
You can take a boat over (1 hour of hell) or take the bus with wings attached (aka a small plane, 20 minutes of misery). If you aren’t a fan of mud well tough luck, bud. The dense bush features plenty of deep mud-covered paths, so best to keep your wits about you and ensure you place each foot carefully after the other. Enjoy a swim at the Port William end of the track, the fresh ocean water is great on aching muscles and if you’re lucky, dolphins will play nearby. After that, you can wind down listening to kiwi chatter amongst the ferns and then get confused at 1015pm because it’s still light. It’s got it all, really. Except cellphone reception, but you don’t want that anyway. A bit of admin required to get there. Worth it? Oh, indeed.
