Bluff

Image Credits: Derek Smith and Maclean Barker Photography

Bluff, Southland's port, is famous as the base for the Foveaux Strait oyster recovery. The succulent oysters are harvested in a limited season beginning in March. Today the town is well known for the Bluff Oyster and Food festival held every May. Across the water from the town you can see the bulk of the Aluminium Smelter serviced by a lengthy jetty (194m) stretching out into deep water. A shipping service provides a link with Oban on Stewart Island. One of New Zealand's oldest towns, Bluff dates back to 1836 when Jimmy Jones established a whaling station. It is the nearest port to Australia and until 1939 there was a direct ferry service to Melbourne.

The (2009) sculpture on the foreshore at Stirling Point is by Bluff artist Russell Beck. It represents an anchor chain and is matched by 'the other end' of the chain, at the entrance to Rakiura National Park on Stewart Island across Foveaux Strait. In Maori mythology, legendary fisherman Maui who fished up the North Island (Te Ika a Maui) also fished up the South Island (Te Wahipounamu) and anchored it using Stewart Island (Rakiura)

RETURN FERRY TO STEWART ISLAND FROM BLUFF

Hometown New Zealand Photographs by Derek Smith