Yesterday, however, was anything but normal.
"The place, it came to a standstill . . . It took me five minutes to get to work," South Sea Hotel manager Holger Lachmann said.
"There were people everywhere."
The island experienced its own version of gridlock following the arrival of the cruise ship Volendam, and its 1450 passengers, yesterday morning.
Mr Lachmann, who has lived on the island for 13 years, said the fact there were no footpaths meant tourists were walking all over the roads and locals had "to be very careful".
"It had a bit of a town feeling."
Fewer than half of the passengers are believed to have disembarked from the vessel, but, nevertheless, the number of cruise-ship visitors far outweighed the island's population of 400.
Despite the traffic chaos, the local constable reported no trouble, and no-one in the cells.
"That is if we had any cells."
Stewart Island Promotions chairman Jon Spraggon said the day went smoothly despite a squall which passed through in the morning.
The 61,214-tonne Volendam anchored in Paterson Inlet between Ulva Island and Golden Bay, and the first passengers were transferred ashore by ship tender or lifeboats from 8am, he said.
The museum, bird-watching tours, scooter rides and bus tours along the island's 25km road network were popular activities for the mainly American and Australian visitors, he said.
"There were people everywhere. It was amazing."
Ship To Shore Four Square Supermarket owner Jill Skerrett said the shop had been busy, with many tourists buying wine and personal items.
"Many of them said they would come back to the island in the future, so that can only be good."
