Glowing Skies: New Zealand's Newest National Park

New Zealand’s newest national park has been named Rakiura, which means `glowing skies’. In this part of the world, the sky certainly does glow, with the shimmering lights of the Southern Aurora. If it all sounds like something out of a fantasy novel, remember that New Zealand is the location of choice for today’s fantasy movie makers.

Rakiura National Park really does look like another world, especially at night, when the Southern Aurora fills the sky. But it’s also an ideal place to a down to earth holiday, with walking tracks that take you through some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. Rakiura is situated on Stewart Island, which lies 30 kilometers (about 18 miles) from New Zealand’s south island. Rakiura caters directly for walkers. The Rakiura Track is the `great walk’, taking three days to complete on the island’s 25 kilometers of road (about 15 miles.) But there’s no hurry. There are plenty of hiker’s huts available along the way, so you can rest and enjoy the spectacular views.

Rakiura has one town, Oban, looking out over picturesque Halfmoon Bay, which offers various accommodation, as well as boats and water taxis to take you to more remote places on the island.

Rakiura’s other great attractions, as well as the `glowing skies’, are the many species of birds that still live there, including New Zealand’s national bird, the Kiwi. This is one of the few places in New Zealand where you will have a chance of seeing a kiwi in the wild. You may also see the flightless nocturnal parrot, which has almost disappeared from the mainland.

Rakiura is recommended to bird lovers who want a unique holiday with a chance to see interesting birds in the wild. Special birding charters can be booked that will take you to a number of locations where birds like the kiwi, ruru and weak, and species of albatross, mollymawk and petrel can be enjoyed in their natural habitat.

When you are not walking and bird spotting, there are plenty of other activities in this magnificent national park, such as fishing, cruising, diving and snorkeling. You can browse through the displays at the Empress Pearl centre, or buy beautiful New Zealand artwork and crafts at the Fernery.

The recommended time to visit Rakiura is during the southern hemisphere’s winter months, June, July and August, when the Southern Aurora is at its most spectacular. However, if you visit in the southern hemisphere’s summer, from December to February, you will enjoy long summer days that go on to 11pm, and the sight of little blue penguins wandering around Oban.

The most wonderful thing about Rakiura is that much of it is still untouched and unchanged since primeval times. The island’s ecosystems range from rain forest to wetlands to sand dunes, and care is being taken to preserve them in all their pristine beauty. With only about 400 residents living on the island, many of them direct descendants of early whaling settlers and local Maoris, Rakiura National Park offers an eco experience second to none.

Written by Gail Kavanagh

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