Stewart Island is south of the South Island across Foveaux Strait. The island is home to Rakiura National Park, which helps to protect an enormous variety of indigenous wildlife including New Zealand’s national bird, the Kiwi. Chatham Island and Pitt Island are the only populated islands within the Chatham Islands group. Located over 800 km (500 mi) east of Christchurch (and the east coast of the South Island), the Chatham Islands are the first inhabited islands to greet each day.

Other offshore islands, unpopulated but sometimes accessible via special charters, are the Antipodes Islands, the Auckland Islands, the Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, and the Kermadec Islands.