Rob Brown’s writing and photography has inspired New Zealanders to experience less-explored locations for several decades. He has recently updated one of his most popular volumes, Rakiura: The Wilderness of Stewart Island, with powerful new images and additional insights into the island’s history.

What first drew you to Rakiura?

It was just another wild place I’d always wanted to visit. In 1993, friends and I hitched a ride on a fishing boat, which you wouldn’t do these days. We were dropped off on a rock at Bald Cone, near Port Pegasus at the southern tip – straight in at the deep end, really.

Since that first trip, has Rakiura changed?

There have been increasing efforts towards conservation. An amazing community effort towards trapping around the village has seen birdlife return, even bringing the kiwi right back into the village. Ultimately, I hope I live to see the day when they have all predators off Rakiura.

Why have you updated this book?

When we published the first edition in 2006, the hardcover sold out pretty quickly. I was happy with the writing and most of the photographs but I wasn’t sure we had enough about the village and the history. It was very much a pure wilderness book the first time, whereas the new edition includes the people hanging onto the edge of this place.

So you’re bringing a human element to the spectacle?

We’ve had people clinging onto Stewart Island for a long time, since very early Māori. Some have tried to develop it like the rest of New Zealand, but the forces of nature are pretty powerful down there. The people are tenacious, and at home in big seas. I’ve often asked myself if I could live there and the short answer is probably ‘no’. But I enjoy going there and being jolted out of my normal existence. It’s refreshing.

Do you have a favourite image in the book?

I’m one of those photographers who likes to believe that the best photograph I’m going to make is the next one. Once I’ve made a photograph I’m happy with, it’s there for other people to enjoy.

I’ve always been totally in awe of editor/publisher Robbie Burton’s ability to look at a series of photographs and quickly pull them into a sequence that makes sense. Any writer or photographer who doesn’t think their work should be edited is, in my view, wrong.

Rakiura appears to be a relatively small place of huge physical diversity.

I had been doing quite a lot of climbing in the Southern Alps, so it was a really nice break from that. The southern wilderness area of Rakiura is big and dramatic, but there are other parts that are far more subtle. We’ve got a whole chapter on the sand dunes, one of the last remaining intact moving dune systems in New Zealand.

Tell me a little about your efforts in saving huts through the Back Country Trust.

I’m at a stage of my life now where it’s really satisfying to be able to put something back in.

I raced around the hills quite a lot when I was younger and now I want  to see those places conserved for future generations. And it’s inspiring  to be working with a bunch of amazingly creative, dedicated people in a community effort in which I feel very lucky to be able to do my part.

Rob Brown’s book Rakiura: The Wild Landscapes of Stewart Island is available at the Wilderness store. Subscribers get 10% off.