Halfmoon Bay, a.k.a. Oban, ... Stewart Island, although it wasn`t so-named at the time, was first noted by Capt. James Cook in 1770, but he thought it to be part of the mainland.

Either way, you’ll arrive in Stewart by way of Oban, the only major population center to be found throughout the 675-square-mile archipelago.

* Stewart Island Experience (00 64 3 212 7660; stewartislandexperience.co.nz) runs ferry services from Bluff to Oban three times daily. Staying there * Port of Call (00 64 3 219 1394; portofcall ...

Stewart Island, off the south coast of New Zealand, is just 67 square miles and has only 300 to 400 year-round residents, most around the township of Oban, pictured here.

I'm simply riding a water taxi back to Oban, the sole town on New Zealand's third island, at the end of an afternoon of hiking. Animals are hard to dodge here because Stewart Island is a place ...

Twenty minutes after leaving Invercargill the 10-seater plane lands, somewhat hairily in gusting wind, on Stewart Island's short airstrip. We're shuttled to Oban in Stewart Island Flights' van ...

But even at that, Stewart Island remains one of the most-undiscovered attractions in New Zealand. Telling any Kiwi that you’ve been to Stewart Island is like telling them you’ve been to the moon.