Explore Dunedin to Stewart Island
The small but busy fishing town and port of BLUFF, 27km south of Invercargill, occupies a slender-waisted peninsula with its man-made harbour on one side and wild Foveaux Strait on the other. Continuously settled since 1824, Bluff is the oldest European town in New Zealand and it is showing its age a little. Parts look decidedly run-down and most visitors are here to hop on the ferry to Stewart Island, but the place has a great setting, a long history and some fine short walks. Unless you have your own vehicle, seeing the town will involve a good deal of walking, as it spreads along the shoreline for about 6km.
Bluff’s famous oysters are celebrated at the annual Bluff Oyster & Food Festival (third weekend in May; w bluffoysterfest.co.nz), an event the local organizers claim is “unsophisticated and proud of it”.
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Foveaux Strait, Bluff oysters and muttonbirds
Foveaux Strait, Bluff oysters and muttonbirds
Foveaux Strait, between the South Island and Stewart Island, has a fearsome reputation as a rough stretch of water, right in the path of the Roaring Forties with no land east or west until you hit South America. Mostly flat-floored and just 20–30m deep, this causes waves to rear up and further compound the discomfort of ferry passengers and those out harvesting the strait’s bounty.
The best-known foodstuff pulled from the waters hereabouts is the sweet Bluff oysters, a highly sought-after delicacy dredged from April until September then processed in local oyster sheds before being sent all over the country.
Foveaux Strait is also home to a cluster of overgrown rocks known as the Titi or Muttonbird Islands, where local Maori have the traditional right to harvest sooty shearwater chicks in April and early May. These muttonbirds (titi in Maori) are regarded as a delicacy, though the anchovy-duck flavour is something few Pakeha acquire.
