Hi -
We will be in NZ in November, and were wondering if anyone had thoughts on visiting Invercargill and/or Stewart Island. Is there much to see? How many days should we allow? How are the accomodations? How rough is the ferry ride? any thoughts would be appreciated.

Invercargill is a city experiencing a very economic high at present. It services the surrounding farmland. It's very flat but has some interesting old architecture. Bluff is a delight, a fishing village and has a very interesting maritime museum. Stewart Island is beautiful, completely unspoilt, few residents and lots of native flora and fauna. Yes, the crossing could be rough, it more often than not is.

One can fly across as well.

Do you have to make reservations in advance?

For november you could make all your arrangements for Stewart Island in Invercargill, should be plenty of vacancies then.

Should have said bookings shoudn't be necessary for Invercargill.

The ferry ride across Fouveaux Strait can be a bit rough, depending on the weather. The Fouveaux Express catamaran is fast, but moves around a bit in big swells. I think Stewart Island is great and worth the trip to get there. You are not going to find any 4-star (or 3-star for that matter) hotels, but there are several clean B & Bs that are quite nice. This is probably the best place in NZ to see Kiwis (the birds, not the people) in their native habitat. You can book an evening viewing time with the Dept of Conservation (DOC), but they only take a small number, so each trip books up fast.

Another good thing to do is to hire a water taxi to take you to nearby Ulva Island, where there are several fine day-hiking trails. Of course, Stewart Island is home to some famous tramping tracks, the Rakiura Track Great Walk, and the 10-day Northwest Circuit. While both are relatively flat, they can be rough and muddy and not for the faint of heart.