IV. Foveaux Strait: the sea road to Stewart Island

They say you can get to Stewart Island through either twenty minutes of terror or an hour of torture.The first option involves being bounced around in a tiny plane. The second being driven to sea sickness on the fast catamaran ferry to the island. We chose the second and with amazing good fortune hit a sustained period of high pressure weather. This reduced the ferocious Foveaux Strait to an almost placid millpond. The tide races still raced and the treacherous shoals were sucking and blowing but we were able to stannd outside and enjoy the ride.

The strait is about 130 km long and it widens from 14 km at Ruapuke Island in the east to 50 km at Te Waewae Bay in the west. It also deepens from 20m in the east to to 120 m in the west.

The mix of westerly gales surging into the funnel-like Strait and the tidal and sea currents flowing through it make it a treacherous and turbulent piece of water. Even on a calm day the tide rips flowing over the Polybank and Wairau shoals were clear to see. Between 1998 and 2012 the Strait claimed 23 lives.

Looking back to South Island on the Foveaux Strait.

The Strait is named after Joseph Foveaux. He gained notoriety as the Lieutenant-Governor on the Norfolk Island Penal Colony. Brendon (2008: 67-8) in his Decline and Fall of the British Empire describes Foveaux's sadistic delight in flaying men alive and hand outing 'feelers' of two hundred strokes of the cat 'o' nine tails.

Apparently he also, 'enjoyed subjecting females to the scourge' offering to half their 'Botany Bay dozen' - 25 lashes - if they took them unclothed. Women were the 'slaves of slaves', bought and sold for rum and 'under Foveaux's dispensation forced to perform nude corybantics [wild, frenzied dances] in the soldiers' barracks'). (See here for a different view of Foveaux.)

Immature Takupu/Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator) on the Foveaux Strait. They have a 1.8m wingspan. There were 46,000 pairs in New Zealand in 1980-1.

The mountains of Fiordland on the South Island from the Foveaux Strait.

Immature Takupu/Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator) on the Foveaux Strait. Fledglings from New Zealand fly directly to Australia, and typically do not return to their home colonies until their third year.

Buller's Mollymawk, a small albatross, on the Foveax Strait. — Buller's Mollymawk, a small albatross (Thalassarche bulleri), on the Foveax Strait.

Motonui/Edwards Island in the Foveaux Strait.

A Buller's Mollymawk (Thalassarche bulleri) closing in on the Stewart Island Ferry.

Fish Rock, Foveaux Strait. The shoaling waters of the Polybank Shoal are just visible beyond the rock.

A weak sun over Stewart Island from the Foveaux Strait.

Saddle Point and Mt Anglem/Hananui (980m) on Stewart Island from the Foveaux Strait.

The rocky granite shore of Stewart Island.

Splendid podocarp forest at Bragg Point on Stewart Island. Dead Man Beach is on the far right. — The long sweep of Horseshoe Bay, Stewart Island.

The entrance to Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island.

First blush of sunrise, late summer on Stewart Island.

Four Square Supermarket and police car, Stewart Island. (Late summer, early morning)

Deck hand, Stewart Island Ferry Terminal.

South Sea Hotel, late summer, early morning, Stewart Island.

The sun cracks the night open on the Foveaux Strait (from Stewart Island Ferry leaving Stewart Island).

Believe it or not but these are Blue Penguin swimming out of Horseshoe Bay, Stewart Island (taken from the Stewart Island Ferry). — Believe it or not but these are Korara/Blue Penguin swimming out of Horseshoe Bay, Stewart Island (taken from the Stewart Island Ferry).

Looking toward the eastern, narrow wnd of the Foveaux Strait. Shaped liked a huge funnel storms, currents and tides make it a treacherous place for the unwary.

Fish Rock in different light in the Foveaux Strait.

Southern Diving Petrels (Pelecanoides urinatrix chathamensis) — Southern Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides urinatrix chathamensis)

The immensity of the Pacific Ocean stretching away to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica from the Foveaux Strait.

This Sooty Shearwater powered across the water with absolute ease and oveertook the ferry. They travel immense distances on their circumpacific journeys. (Click on the photo for its flight call)

Sooty Shearwater, Foveaux Strait. (Click on photo for the sound of a pair of Sotties in their burrow)

Oyster Boat (possibly) dredging for the sought-after Bluff Oyster in the Foveaux Strait.

Sooty Shearwaters, Foveaux Strait. — Sooty Shearwaters, Foveaux - they do what it says on the tin and 'shear the water'. (Click here for more Sooty sounds from nzbirdsonline.org.nz)

the mainland hills of the South Island from the Stewart Island Ferry. — The mainland hills of the South Island from the Stewart Island Ferry.

Oyster Boat (possibly) dredging for the sought-after Bluff Oyster in the Foveaux Strait with Stewart Island/Rakiura in the background.

Watchers on the back of the Stewart Island Ferry with the Titi/Muttonbird Islands in the background, Foveaux Strait.

Looking back to Stewart Island from the ferry.

Tide race around one of the North Channel marker poles, Bluff.

Channel marker poles, North Channel, Bluff Harbour in early moring light.

The surging tide race emptying Bluff Harbour.

The Tiwai Aluminium Smelter from the Stewart Island Ferry (still version).

The alumina extractor, Tiwai Aluminium Smelter, Bluff.

Wilfred Chivell, Owner of Marine Dynamics, Gaansbaai, South Africa - a shark cage diving company. Also nd founder of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust. — Wilfred Chivell, Owner of Marine Dynamics, Gaansbaai, South Africa - a shark cage diving company. Also founder of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (Click links to his bio and company).

Wilfred and 'The Principal' talk Southern Diving Petrels ( Pelecanoides urinatrix chathamensis) as the Stewart Island Ferry reaches Bluff.

A smoking cyclist who asked to have his picture taken for his wife, Stewart Island Ferry.

Back to the mainland: the wooden wharves at Bluff.

V. Ulva Island