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Te Puka (The Anchor Stone)

Stewart Island / Rakiura, New Zealand

A giant chain sculpture that plays on the Māori myth that Rakiura (Stewart Island) is an anchor stone chained to the South Island. 

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Chain Link Sculpture around the Rakiura Track Wellyrunner (Atlas Obscura User)
Left: Chain Link Sculpture around the Rakiura Track Wellyrunner (Atlas Obscura User)
Right: Te Puka A Māui Kristina D.C. Hoeppner / CC BY-SA 2.0
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A 100-meter walk down the Rakiura Track from the car park reveals a giant chain emerging from the tussock and sinking into the sand. This sculpture plays on the idea that Stewart Island (Rakiura) is physically connected to the South Island. There is a matching sculpture on the South Island at Bluff. 

According to Māori folklore, the South Island was demigod Māui’s canoe (te waka a Māui) and Rakiura was the canoe’s anchor stone. The sculpture is formally known as te puka (the anchor stone). 

Know Before You Go

Access is very easy along the gravel, all-weather track. 

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