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Today heralds our last day on Stewart Island and its up for grabs what we might do with our last hours in this paradise. With our bags already packed our choices will be limited. The Museum has been checked out. The Bunkhouse Theatre doesn’t open until the end of December. Will we head to the Rakiura National Park Visitor Centre and check out the multitude of videos they have available to watch? The problem I see there is how we’d chose what to watch. The list they have on the wall appeared very long to me. About fifty or so options if my guess is correct. I’d like to see one of the dozen on birds of Stewart Island. My menfolk would probably prefer a fishing or hunting video. Or perhaps we could settle on a video about the Department of Conservation’s continuing attempts to eradicate the pests here. I learned in yesterday’s tour that Stewart Island has only rats, possums, hedgehogs and feral cats to contend with. Or perhaps while waiting to board the ferry we could just sit in the sun at Halfmoon Bay and listen to the birds.

Our Short Visit

Our visit to Stewart Island has been different from what we had imagined. With our son being so sick, we have stayed pretty close to our accommodation but that hasn’t meant we’ve been deprived of the feeling of what being on an island is all about. Life seems so peaceful here. Of course with only a few kilometres of roads and very few motor vehicles travelling  around them, the noise of what many of us feel are essentials for living, do not even exist here. Instead of the roar of traffic and horns and sirens filling our ears, on Stewart Island it is the singing of song birds most likely heard. I cannot wait to visit again. I will probably do very little different. Just close my eyes and wallow in the quiet beauty of this place. Come and visit. It is truly a unique destination.

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