Te Punga o te Waka a Maui – the anchor stone of the Waka of Maui – may be a more recent name, derived when the shapes of the North and South Island and their relative distances from Stewart Island became known. This may refer to the sunsets, spectacular on long, late summer evenings, or to the aurora australis or Southern Lights which wash the southern sky with modest colour on favoured nights. Stewart Island was also known intermittently as the South Island when the current South Island was Middle Island until as recently as 1900. From 1840 to 1846 Stewart Island was New Leinster when the South Island and part of the North Island were the New Munster Province of the Colony of New Zealand and the rest of the North Island was New Ulster. New Leinster was merged with New Munster in 1846 and the names mercifully disappeared in 1852.

Source: Stuff July 06, 2021 00:00 UTC