Stewart Island / Rakiura

The Stewart Island (english Stewart Iceland, in the language of Māori Rakiura, Stewart officially Iceland / Rakiura ) is the third largest island of New Zealand. She joins 30 km south of the South Island New Zealand. Their area of 1680 km ² corresponds to 65.4 % of the area of the Saarland.

Geography

The Stewart Island is 1680 km ² and is hardly inhabited; the only settlement is Oban. Oban, located in the Bay Half Moon Bay, has about 600 inhabitants. Thus, the population density of the entire island is 0.36 inhabitants / km ² (compared to Rügen: 72 inhabitants / km ²). The 70 km x 40 km wide island is heavily wooded and mountainous. The highest point is Mount Anglem with 981 m. The southernmost point is the Southwest Cape. The coastline is heavily dissected, in particular by Paterson Bay, which stretches far into the interior of the island. In the Paterson - bay again lie several small islands such as Iceland and Ulva Native Iceland. From the South Island Stewart Island is separated by the Foveauxstraße, which is considered very stormy and in the now uninhabited island is Ruapuke. The climate is due to warm currents that flow around the island, quite moderate for the southern location. In particular, the relatively mild winter fall out. Overall, the climate is unstable, damp and windy.

Animal and plant life

The island is home to the Tokoeka or Southern brown kiwi ( Apteryx australis), one of the five species of Kiwi, the New Zealand coat of arms bird. On Stewart Iceland is also a breeding colony of the rare yellow-eyed penguin.

Already popular in the Māori as a food source was Titi - the chick of the Dark shearwater ( Puffinus griseus ). A warm flow combines Australia's Great Barrier Reef directly with Stewart Island and provides in the shallow waters off the coast of particularly clear, warm water and a rich underwater fauna.

Discovery and colonization

Small traces of a settlement by the Māori can be traced back to the 13th century. In the language of Māori, the island was called out of Rakiura ( Glowing sky) and Te Punga o te Waka a Maui (anchor of Maui's canoe). Overall, they preferred rather the small island Ruapuke halfway to the mainland, as these could be more easily defended. James Cook sighted the island during his first European to sail around the South Island in 1770. Since he assumed Stewart Iceland was connected to the mainland, Cook named it South Cape and held further south.

It was not until about February 1809, on a seal hunt ride to a group of islands off the New Zealand South Island, discovered Captain Eber Bunker ( 1761-1836 ) with the Pegasus, the waterway between the New Zealand South Island and Stewart Island ( Foveauxstraße ) and recognized by the fact that the supposed Peninsula had to be an island. In the contemporary reports but still no name for the island emerges. In August, the ship of the Australian Port Jackson went from the south coast of the then uninhabited island along Stewart, this time under Captain S. Chace. On board was also the first officer William Stewart, after which the island was named later. He charted parts of the south coast, especially Southport, now Port Pegasus, and gave the card to the publisher of the Oriental Navigator. 1816 published the map, which was used for the first time the expression Stewart's Iceland; the card has been used by the British Navy and dealers until 1840. Mistakenly, however, Stewart is sometimes referred to as the discoverer of the island or the Foveauxstraße.

During the 19th century there were some European colonization attempts in the hinterland. Settlements with sawmills and fishing stations were established outside of Oban. They had, however, due to the remoteness, usually only a few decades inventory. As of 1890, at Port Pegasus ( south coast) trying to establish a tin mine. Up to 200 workers were temporarily on site. There were a few shops and a post office. Today, the ruins are only accessible by boat or by an arduous march across the island.

Transport and Tourism

Accessible is from the Stewart Island from the South Island, either of Bluff with a one-hour ferry crossing from Invercargill or by airplane. From Invercargill shuttle bus service to the ferry in Bluff offered. The runway Stewart Island has no terminal building and the transfer to Oban is performed by shuttle buses. In Oban and the surrounding area there are several hotels, a few shops and, now, a 6- hole golf course. Banks, there are none.

2002 were placed under protection with the establishment of the 1570 km ² large Rakiura National Park, approximately 93.5 % of the island. The island can be traversed on several circular walks described. Traces of settlement attempts are often found along the way. Best known is the Rakiura track, that can be accomplished in three to four days. A large proportion of the ways is secured by the park administration with boardwalks, since the means tending to silting, are correspondingly sensitive. Cultivated accommodation there is no outside Oban. The overnight stay is possible either in cabins or on the designated bivouac places. To reach the remote part of the island, you have to calculate from ten days. Few have been circling the island completely on foot. The warm and species-rich shallow waters lure in recent years increasingly to the diving tourism.