It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to go to Rakiura Stewart Island. After a very bumpy crossing of the Foveaux Strait where I tried to calm myself by thinking that the captain also wanted to survive, I arrived a few days before Labour Weekend with one aim: To just be.
I had considered organising a concert there, but decided not to. I needed a little break from everything, but noted on arrival that the pub has a piano.
As expected, I completely fell in love with the place. Being on an island, in a small community, so exposed to the sea and the weather – it’s in my bone marrow. And the stunning nature and wildlife…
There’s a lighthouse on Stewart Island. Well, the current structure is officially a beacon located on Ackers Point. The original lighthouse was a wooden structure placed elsewhere on the island (The Neck), and later moved to Ackers Point when Halfmoon Bay became the main centre. In 2006 the lighthouse was replaced by the current beacon, which is solar powered.
It was a good hour’s walk along the beautiful coastline to get from Oban to the beacon. Very windy and nobody around.
Casually reading the information poster, I wasn’t expecting to learn that the original lighthouse was completed in 1909. The same year as Sula fyr, my lighthouse in Norway.
If this isn’t a sign to go back to Rakiura Stewart Island to play, I don’t know what is.
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