My long service leave holiday to New Zealand has ended, and I’ve been back at work for four weeks now. Having had time to reflect on the trip and sort through the photos, I thought I’d share some of the highlights in this and future updates … places and things that left the greatest impressions on me.

First on the list is Stewart Island. It sits off the south end of the south island, beyond where most tourists go. This 100km long island wilderness is 85% national park, with just a few hundred people scattered around the only settlement. Their website puts it well: “our island offers a special experience – a glimpse into a simpler, slower lifestyle, in rhythm with the sea and the tides, attuned to the natural world of bush and beach.”

Stewart Island is a one hour vomit-inducing (so I’m told) ferry ride from Bluff, or in my case a turbulent twenty minute flight from Invercargill. A short distance, but a world away. A place where nothing feels urgent, where banks and ATMs have yet to appear, where two cars constitute heavy traffic, and where the exquisite forest and most of the wildlife is much as it was before humans came along. I spent five days there soaking up the lush bush and prolific birdlife, and returned to the “mainland” with mental health greatly improved.

Afterwards I felt the dilemma of wanting to tell other travellers of this great treasure, but at the same time wanting it to remain overlooked by the crowds and thus unspoiled … a good indication of a place being special.