Right on the southern edge

It is truly surprising how many Southlanders have never set foot on Stewart Island.

I base this observation on conversations with friends and readers since returning from a visit last week. But then who am I to comment – or pass judgment? Forty-five years have passed since my own initial visit, so I can hardly be considered a "regular".

The watery barrier of Foveaux Strait is, in many senses, a mythical one.

Travel to the island has never been so user-friendly or comfortable. It is possible to take a day trip to the island, especially during the summer season, when ferry crossings and flights take advantage of long daylight hours.

Even in winter crossings are regular and rarely suspended.

My childhood memories of Stewart Island were of green margins that came down to the sea.

Oddly enough, I had completely forgotten the often-photographed Halfmoon Bay. Suffice it to say that the bay is the focus of the "inhabited" part of the island and still exudes the practical essence of the fishing industry that remains an integral part of the islanders' economic wellbeing.

Four hundred "mixed nationality" inhabitants form the tapestry of its core. This number swells considerably during the summer.

Gardening on the island is an interesting blend of interpretations.

Working with the climate and natural vegetation and using adaptable exotic plants seems to be the norm.

The microclimate allows for an almost continuous growth of specimens that are unimaginable here in Northern Southland, where hard and continuous frosts make for weeks of winter dormancy.

Stewart Island is cloaked in rain forest. It rims every curve of its coast.

Lowland swamp and heath, rain forest, short and tall sub-alpine scrub and boggy meadowland all contribute to the vegetation.

From the air the overall impression is green, lush and mysterious.

The island's Maori name is Rakiura, which means Island of the Glowing Sky.

It rains a lot, but often the falls are light and misty. Ferns colonise quickly and grow vigorously. This is an advantage where rainfall can erode banks, especially where the ground has been disturbed by building excavation.

Conversations with Stewart Island gardeners threw up some unimaginable problems.

Bird life on the island is prolific.

Their pealing, chiming and chirping are constant. Birds love the bulbs that gardeners lovingly plant in autumn.

My island host, Wendy Hallett, said that not only do birds scratch bulbs from the ground but they consume them voraciously. Planting three dozen or so daffodils in her newly established garden would probably yield very few blooms. Rhododendrons thrive amongst the rainforest, their growth unimpeded by the hard frosts of the mainland.

Stewart Island is unique.

My recent visit will not be my last.

- © Fairfax NZ News