Stewart Island

With summer on an island comes a need for new toys. So, we have invested in 2 surfboards on which we plan to become expert surfers by next year. Okay, we hope to be able to stand up on the board for more than 3 seconds at a time. Anyway, should be fun trying!
Other than that, last week was fairly uneventful and we spent most of it getting ready for our weekend backpacking trip to Stewart Island. The island is just off the coast of the south island of NZ, and has several different tramping tracks. We chose the Rakiura Track because it is one of New Zealand's Great Walks, and only takes 3 days, 2 nights.
We took Friday off and drove down to Invercargill on Thursday after work. Craig took advantage of our hotel's tiny indoor swimming pool for a little while before turning in for the evening. Friday morning, we had a flight to Stewart Island at 8am so we got up early, packed up and went to the airport. The airport consisted of a small building with 2 ticket counters and a little cafe. Gates 1, 2, 3, and 4 all left through the only door. And I knew it was going to be a small plane when the weighed us with our luggage. We were greeted at the "gate" by our pilot who led us and one other couple out to our twin engine propeller plane. I got to sit in the front with the pilot but he wouldn't let me touch anything :(


Small Plane


Katie Riding Copilot

The flight was smooth with nice views over the ocean. Then the landing strip came into sight. It was a small dirt strip, beginning at the edge of a cliff and ending about a quarter of a mile down, where it met the island road. Now, being in the front seat, I unfortunately had a very good view of the entire landing procedure. And from where I was sitting, I was certain that the pilot needed to bring the nose of the plane up and slow down because we were too low and were going to crash into the cliff instead of hitting the runway. Luckily, I was wrong and we had a nice safe landing. Whew!
We were met on the runway by a van driver who took us into the town of Oban where we had to purchase our hut passes at the visitors center. Town was pretty tiny with just a few hotels and small places to eat. But it was on the water and was really pretty. At the visitors center we were pleased to be told there were only a few other people on the track and that there would definitely be room for us in the huts. This meant we didn't have to carry our tent or thermarests with us which lessened our loads considerably.


The Town


Halfmoon Bay

To the track:
We set out from the center and hiked up the road for the first hour or so until we got to the actual Rakiura Track. As soon as we got on the track, it felt like we were deep in the woods and there was nobody else around. The first day of hiking was just over 4 hours of ups and downs in the rainforest with some time walking across various beaches. The trail was dry and the weather was perfect, warm and a bit cloudy so no sunburn. We arrived at the Port William Hut at around 1:30 in the afternoon and had the place to ourselves. The hut had a large sleeping area (room for 24 people) with bunk beds and thin mattresses. Attached was a big kitchen area with a wood burning stove and running water from tanks collecting rain. This hut was recently redone so it was nice and clean. It was situated with the front looking out over the beach and the back facing into the woods. We checked the place out, claimed our beds, and then took a nap, a much needed rest for our feet. Later on, we wandered down to the beach and explored in the woods a bit until dinner time when a few more trampers arrived. There was a really nice guy and his daughter, both from Auckland, a girl from Taiwan, and a Dutch girl. The Taiwan girl was wearing jeans with sweatpants over them, and was carrying a cooler bag and a large purse type bag. How she hiked for 5 hours with all of this and no backpack, I do not know. So I thought that was strange until the Dutch girl showed up. She had a backpack but had hiked the whole way in flip-flops! Crazy! They were all nice people and we chatted with them while cooking our dinner. After dinner, we played cards for a bit until it got dark. Then it was time for Kiwi hunting! Kiwi's are elusive birds in NZ that are fairly common on Stewart Island. They are nocturnal so as soon as it started getting dark, we put on our headlamps and set out into the woods to find one. Unfortunately, we found none. But, when we got back to the hut, we saw one dart across the grass! It was too dark to get a good look but it was definitely a kiwi looking bird. Then it was time to turn in for the night.


Craig on the Track


Katie Hiking on the Beach


Typical Track Views

During the night, I got up and saw a huge white deer outside which scared the heck out of me but was pretty cool.
In the morning, we packed up and set out for day 2 which was 5-6 hours of climbing up and down mostly steps to reach the top at 300 meters and then on to the second hut, the North Arm Hut. There were also 2 crazy suspension bridges to cross and they were fun but scary! Skinny with cables for rails and swingy. And only held one person at a time. Not reassuring for a person afraid of heights!


Suspension Bridge


Looking Down through the Bridge

This was the most difficult day but we made great time and the scenery was awesome. It was great weather again for most of it and when it did start to rain for the last hour or so, it was welcome as we were roasting. We got to the hut at the same time as the Taiwan girl and shortly before the father/daughter team. While resting, another guy showed up and informed us he had run from near the previous hut and was now going to run back. Crazy!


Boardwalk Covered in Chicken Wire
(Boardwalk: decreases erosion, Chicken wire = traction)


Typical Day 2 Track

This hut was really cool. It was nestled in a little nook in the woods, just up from the beach. It was really cozy, had 3 bunking areas and again a large kitchen area with a woodburner. It was rainy on and off for most of the evening so a fire helped dry things out a bit. We hiked down to the beach in between rains and I learned to dig in the sand for shellfish. Really fun! Then we got to cook them up for appetizers. They were surprisingly good but really salty from being in the water I guess. Kiwi hunting after dark was cancelled due to rain which was fine since that meant we got to go to bed early.
Day 3 started out with just a bit of light rain and then it cleared up and was nice and sunny. The hiking was some more ups and downs and took about 4 hours. We made it back to the visitors center by 12:30, told them we made it, and booked a water taxi to neighboring Ulva Island.


Katie Hiking Out


It's Muddy in the Rainforest

Ulva Island is tiny and is known for its bird life so we went to check it out. About 7 minutes on a motorboat got us there and we had about 2 hours to hike around. We saw a lot of really cool birds, including weki, parakeet, stewart island robin, and tui. I'm not a bird person but it was really neat to see birds so different from the ones you see in the States. And again, some cool beaches on the island. By this time, we were pretty tired with sore feet so 2 hours was plenty and we boarded the boat back to the "flight center" where we hopped in a van to the airstrip. The flight was again uneventful and we even had the same pilot. So, we arrived back in Invercargill around 5pm Sunday, hopped in the car and headed back to Dunedin. It was a great weekend and a wonderful first NZ backpacking trip. We can't wait to do some more!


Tui (we think)


Stewart Island Robin


Weki

This week has been uneventful thus far. We're planning a chicken, mashed potato, and homemade stuffing dinner for tomorrow's Thanksgiving. A 14 pound turkey costs $103 and we couldn't find any squash, only pumpkin. So, we improvise! We will be thinking about all of you though, and hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!


Lots of Stewart Island Pictures!