{"id":1002,"date":"2026-02-19T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:47:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:47:36","slug":"2026-day-28-stewart-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/2026\/02\/19\/2026-day-28-stewart-island\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Day 28 Stewart Island"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 19, 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Map: Day 28<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We had a free day to explore Stewart Island since we had no paid tours planned. We considered renting bikes to tour the island but decided against it since some of the places that I wanted to visit were on hiking trails. The weather forecast looked decent until about 3 PM when a band of rain showers was expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We allowed ourselves to sleep in after the late return from the kiwi spotting tour the previous night. We walked over to the hotel restaurant and had a real sit down breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fisherman's Breakfast with local smoked fish, hash browns, and a fried egg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After breakfast we decided to take the walk to Ackers Point. This walk followed the southern coastline of Halfmoon Bay to a scenic lookout. The first part of the walk followed the road which had many scenic views of beaches and bays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Starting the walk southwest from town with views of Halfmoon Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Halfmoon Bay with the town of Oban and the ferry terminal in the distance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We passed Lonnekers Beach which was at low tide, so we walked across the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lonnekers Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lonnekers Beach looking south<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lonnekers Beach looking north<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Continuing up the road we passed Leask Bay which was a private area for the locals and their boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Leask Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Past Leask Bay we climbed the road to a nice view of Halfmoon Bay. The photo below shows the beaches and coastline on the far side of the bay where I would take a hike later that afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Halfmoon Bay with Butterfield Beach, Bragg Bay, and the trail to Horseshoe Point in the distance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The road ended at Ackers Stone House which we would explore later on our return. We took the hiking trail that climbed up to Ackers Point. The weather had been sunny for the start of our walk but then steadily got cloudier, and by the time we reached Ackers Point it was completely cloudy and appeared to be raining in the distance. We could see many of the islands in the Foveaux Strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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