Simple Pleasures in Spectacular Surrounds

Stewart Island is now home to NZ’s 14th national park – Rakiura, named after the anchor stone of Maui’s canoe (the South Island). A Toronto Star writer visited the rugged outpost and was won over by the fresh food (paua fritters, blue cod and chips), unpronounceable fauna (piwakawaka, ngirungiru and tokoeka) and spectacularly unspoiled landscape. “Stewart Island is NZ’s least farmed, least logged and least built-up region … [It] has a mere 22 kilometres of road but 280 kilometres of walking trails, some right in Oban but one of 181 kilometres that can take two weeks to cover.”