ports of the world
In New Zealand, Bluff, one of the southernmost ports in the world
Audio 04:03
Stirling Point from Bluff, a landmark that marks the southern tip of New Zealand.
© RFI / Richard Tindiller
By: Richard Tindiller
5 mins
Head to the deep South for this new episode on the ports of the world.
Latitude -46°, southern storms and extreme conditions: Bluff, in New Zealand, faces Antarctica and its capricious weather.
Isolated from the rest of the world, the port was nevertheless one of the first points of departure for European settlers at the beginning of the 19th century.
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From our correspondent in New Zealand,
At the end of
state highway 1
, the road that connects
New Zealand
from north to south, the route ends at
Stirling Point
, the last landmark before civilization fades away, giving way to the ocean. austral which, in the distance, reveals the first coasts of the south pole.
The expression "
end of the world
", which can sometimes be overused, takes on its full meaning here.
Under a constantly cloudy sky, Bluff and its houses eaten away by the wind and the weather, almost gives the impression of being abandoned.
Killer waters
In this city out of time, however, there are still nearly 2,000 residents.
Most are sailors who have to deal with the unpredictable conditions of the ocean.
In this storm, a voice reassures them.
That of Meri Leask.
For almost 40 years, she has been advising and monitoring the boats sailing off the southern coast of New Zealand on a daily basis.
“
I live on the port.
So when the fishermen come out, they walk right past my door.
I have a high frequency radio, a VHF radio and I never leave the house without having a portable radio in my purse
,” she says.
Round-the-clock surveillance is essential, as the waters of Southland, where Bluff is located, are the deadliest.
The number of people missing at sea is twice as high here as in the rest of the country.
“
Twice a day, I report on weather conditions, forecasts.
I check all the boats leaving the port, even those going to Antarctica or the Chatham Islands.
This is very important for the families who stay ashore.
Because everywhere here, when the wind starts to blow and the conditions at sea change, they can get into serious trouble and we have had some really serious situations.
If I hear that the conditions are changing, I tell the fishermen to go straight back or, if it's very bad, to find a coast as close as possible
,” she explains.
A role in the Napoleonic Wars
If the port of Bluff is now animated by fishing boats and various cargo ships, it was nevertheless a strategic point during the wars of coalitions more than two centuries ago.
Michael Stevens is a Bluff-born historian.
He tells how the port saw the very first European ship arrive, following the Treaty of Tilsit, an agreement between Napoleon and Russia to block the British Empire:
“
During the first decade of the 19th century, Napoleon blocked all Russian hemp resources from the British.
Until that time, the British relied entirely on the Russians in order to obtain this strategic resource to manufacture the mooring lines and sails of the boats.
So this large British colonial ship from Australia, which was at the same time in the port of Bluff, had come to investigate the qualities of New Zealand flax plantations.
In particular to assess its quality and to find out if it could replace European hemp.
I think it shows that despite its isolation, Bluff has always been connected to the rest of the world.
»
A few years later, the British ships will come this time with the first European settlers.
Traders, whale hunters and even fishermen join forces with the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maoris, in this region which is very rich in natural resources.
“
It is the closest port to a large convergence zone, one of the only places in the world where the cold waters of Antarctica and the warm waters of the Pacific mix and provide a very productive sea.
There is certainly a lot of wind and rain, which is not hospitable for men.
But there are a huge number of whales, seals, fish.
These maritime resources exist here in large numbers.
So this rich ecology attracts people, first the Polynesians and then the first wave of Europeans who are mostly whalers.
Bluff is one of those places in the world where nature guides, in a sense, human culture.
»
►
Read also: Sea level in New Zealand is rising faster than expected, study warns
From this culture, was born one of the treasures of New Zealand: the oysters of the Strait of Foveaux.
Located between Bluff and Stewart Island, this 150-year-old oyster farm is one of the last natural oyster beds in the world.
Between March and August, Graeme Wright and his teams harvest more than a million oysters each year.
Here, no breeding on the foreshore, but a fleet of eight boats.
“
The oysters are between 30 and 50 meters deep.
Harvesting is only possible by dredging and it is always weather dependent.
We often have southern storms with waves of 6 to 10 meters, but also high tides, because it is a very small strait, not to mention the southerly winds in this part of the world, so it is not always accessible !
But those deep, upwelling Antarctic waters, nutrient-rich waters, make our oysters unique.
" Unique.
Just like the emotion that seizes us when leaving Bluff.
A bustling port, full of life and yet so remote from the rest of the world.
Last civilization before the first ice floes and the frozen desert of the southern continent.
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