Stewart Island/Rakiura

Stewart Island/Rakiura

Territorial Authority	Name	Stewart Island/Rakiura
	Population	236
	Land area	1,746 km²
Regional Council	Name	Southland

Stewart Island/Rakiura is the third largest island of New Zealand. It lies 30 km south of the South Island, and is separated from the mainland by Foveaux Strait. Its permanent population is slightly less than 400 people, most of whom live in the settlement of Oban.

History and naming

Captain Cook was the first European to sight the island, but he thought it was attached to the South Island so he named it South Cape in 1770. The Stewart component of the current name recalls Captain William Stewart, a sealer/whaler who in 1809 was the first to accurately chart the island.

The original Maori name, Te Punga o Te Waka a Maui, positions Stewart Island/Rakiura firmly at the heart of Maori mythology. Translated as The Anchor Stone of Maui’s Canoe, it refers to the part played by this Island in the legend of Maui and his crew, who from their canoe, the South Island, caught and raised the great fish, the North Island.

Rakiura is, however, the more commonly known and used Maori name. It is usually translated as Glowing Skies, possibly a reference to the sunsets for which Stewart Island/Rakiura 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 Maori 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 Strait) to the South Island where the cousin lived, only to discover she was recently married. He blushed with embarrassment so the island was called Te Ura o Te Rakitamau.

Geography

The island has an area of 1,746 km². The north of the island is dominated by the swampy valley of the Freshwater River. The river rises close to the island's northwestern coast and flows southeast into the large indentation of Paterson Inlet. The highest peak on the island is Mt Anglem, close to the northern coast, at a height of 979 metres. It is one of the peaks in a rim of ridges which surround the Freshwater valley.

The southern half of the island 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 Mt. Allen, at 750 metres. In the southeast, the land is somewhat lower, and is drained by the valleys of the Toitoi, Lords and Heron rivers. South West Cape in Stewart Island/Rakiura's southwest, is the southern most point of the main islands of New Zealand.

Mason Bay, on the west side of Stewart Island/Rakiura, 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 meteoric impact in the Tasman Sea.

Three large and numerous small islands lie around the coast of Stewart Island/Rakiura. Notable among these are Ruapuke Island, which lies in Foveaux Strait 32 kilometres to the northeast of Oban, Codfish Island, which lies close to Stewart Island/Rakiura's northwest shore, and Big South Cape Island, located off the southwestern tip of Stewart Island/Rakiura. The Titi (Muttonbird) Island groups are located between Stewart Island/Rakiura and Ruapuke Island, around Big South Cape Island, and off Stewart Island/Rakiura's southeastern coast. Other islands of interest include Bench, Native, and Ulva Island, all close to the mouth of Paterson Inlet, and Pearl, Anchorage, and Noble Island, close to Port Pegasus in Stewart Island/Rakiura's southwest.

Settlements

The only town is Oban, which is located at Half Moon Bay.

A previous settlement, Point Pegasus, once boasted several stores and a post office, and was located on the southern coast of the island. It is now uninhabited, and is only accessible by boat or by an arduous hike across the island.

Communications and economy

A regular passenger ferry service runs between Bluff and Oban. There is an air link with Invercargill Airport. Planes also land on the sand at Mason Bay.

Although some tourism, forestry, and farming takes place on Stewart Island/Rakiura, the main industry is fishing. Over 80 per cent of the island is set aside as Rakiura National Park, New Zealand's newest national park.

Government

In local government terms, the island is part of Southland District. However, it shares with some other islands a certain relaxation in some of the rules governing daily activities. For example, every transport service operated solely on Great Barrier Island, the Chatham Islands, or Stewart Island/Rakiura is exempt from section 70C of the Transport Act 1962 (the requirements for drivers to maintain driving-hours logbooks). Drivers subject to section 70B must nevertheless keep record of their driving hours in some form. See New Zealand Gazette 14 August 2003.

On 1 April 2005, TV3's Campbell Live show reported that the New Zealand government planned to sell a large part of the island to the United States, to host an air base supporting their operations in Antarctica. In the following show, the presenter John Campbell said that confused staff at the Prime Minister's office had contacted them after receiving several complaints from the public about these plans. Campbell confirmed that the story was actually an April Fool's Day hoax.

Fauna

There are many species of birdlife on Stewart Island that can thrive because of the isolation and protection from predators. These species include the Kakapo, Weka, Kaka, Albatrosses, Penguins, Kiwis, Silvereyes, Wrens, Flycatchers, and rare Yellowheads.

Geo-Magnetic Anomaly

Due to an anomaly in the magnetic latitude contours, this location is well placed for humans to observe Aurora australis.

Rakiura Sky Images

The top image (red and green) shows a typical auroral display, although taken approx 1,000 km north of the Rakiura locality, at Titahi Bay, Wellington New Zealand.

The lower image was taken at Bluff, NZ, actually looking toward Stewart Island/Rakiura (Rakiura National Park). The Crux (Southern Cross) is clearly visible.

More pics of this area can be found at:

External links

Ecoregions | Islands of New Zealand | Southland, New Zealand

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