Because Wifey is not a sailor, we decided to fly to Stewart Island from Invercargill. Check in at Invercargill was quick and easy with friendly helpful staff making life easy. We had booked a mid afternoon return same day but were told if we decided to stay a while longer, there were seats available on later flights. We could make a decision on the island and let the team over there know.

Top Tip: get the front row seats or the co-pilot seat for best views.

Plane was small but didn't feel cramped. Pilot was great. Flight was 20 minutes. Landing was an experience ... the runway is long enough so don't panic.

We took the 90 minute guided bus tour also with Stewart Island Flights. Een though there is only 28 kilometres of roads on Stewart Island, we never covered all of them because the tour took us to the best places anyway. Guide was brilliant and knew all the answers to the million questions we asked.

After the bus tour we did indeed move our return flight back to a much later flight and spend all day exploring more of the island.

Departing the island was quick and easy just like it was in Invercargill. The whole team was brilliant to deal with.

Top Tip: Book a Coast to Coast flight next time. Fly from Invercargill to Mason Bay then walk the 15.5km (4hr) relatively flat trail to Freshwater Hut then get a water taxi to Golden Bay wharf.

Top Tip: book accommodation and stay the night - that's when the 20,000+ kiwis come out to feed.