We’ve been home for nearly a month getting settled into our new house and schedules, and it already feels like our New Zealand adventure was just some long, elaborate dream. We finally started looking at videos and photos again and are realizing how much we really miss it. I think it’s time to start reminiscing, to update our blog with the photos we couldn’t add on the way, and to continue telling our stories and reflections. At the end of my last blog post, we had finished Te Araroa and spent plenty of lazy days eating, drinking, and resting in the little town of Bluff.
On April 10th, Ben’s birthday, we hopped on a ferry to make the 35ish kilometer trip across the Foveaux Strait to Stewart Island, home to the little town of Oban (pop. 400 or so) and Rakiura National Park. One of the New Zealand Great Walks is here, The Raikura Track, which is a 32 kilometer / 20 mile loop track with 3 super nice huts along the way. We experienced a bit of this track as it shares the same start and end bits with the North West Circuit, the more rugged 125 kilometer loop we planned to do. The recommended number of days to complete the track is 9-11 days. While we knew we could do it faster after hiking the entire TA, we also wanted to be able to take it a little easier than we had been in the final weeks of the TA, so we gave ourselves 7 days for the trek. This would mean a couple of longer days (about 8-10 hours of hiking), as well as a few really short days of hiking (3-5 hours) with plenty of relaxing hut time.
Here’s the DOC site about the North West Circuit, if you’re into that sort of thing.
We debated for a long time whether or not we should go to Stewart Island… we kept hearing about the muddy tracks and thick bush and we weren’t sure it would be worth the expensive ferry tickets for tough, messy tramping that didn’t sound all that spectacular. But as soon as we saw Stewart Island from Bluff, it didn’t feel like we were quite done with our journey south yet. We couldn’t not go. And, you can often see endangered, elusive kiwis on Stewart Island – even during the day! If you’re not familiar, kiwis are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, and are a national symbol. The people of New Zealand have even embraced the nickname ‘Kiwis’ for themselves.
Once actually on the island, we couldn’t believe we ever considered NOT coming. We actually lucked out because the mud wasn’t nearly as bad as we heard (only ankle- to knee-deep in most places!); apparently Stewart Island was one of the few places in New Zealand that had a relatively dry summer season. Also, the native bush was SO cool, and the coastal views were a-MAAAYYYY-zing! Most hiking days included lots of bush-walking, sprinkled with a little beach walk here and there. And while it did end up misting much of the time we were there, it wasn’t very cold, and the clouds made for some dramatic views. And the birds. OH, the bird calls and songs were enthralling.
So, back to April 10th: we caught the 9am ferry and I focused most of my energy on not-vomiting for the next hour. We found a little coffee shop where we had flat whites and Ben had a piece of delicious carrot cake for his birthday. After that, we began the 5k road walk to the start of the Rakiura track. Our packs were heavy with 7 days of food, but we found comfort in the fact that our packs would get lighter quickly — we left our tent and sleeping pads in storage at the backpackers in Bluff since we knew we’d have huts the entire way, as well as other ‘extra’ things we wouldn’t need in the next 7 days.
Once off the road, the first 12 kilometers was Great Walk track, so basically still road compared to what we were used to. Well-maintained, evenly graded, and wide. We walked fast since we got a late start, but still paused to enjoy some really amazing beach views. As soon as the North West Circuit track broke away from the Great Walk track, we found the mud! We started to keep our eyes out for kiwi, even though we knew that we were still a little too close to the populated area of the island for much of a chance. The last stretch of our walk was along a beach, and we could see Bungaree hut from several hundred meters away. As we got closer, we started to see people. Lots of people, and lots of stuff out on the deck. We started to get worried — what if it’s full? WHY didn’t we bring our tent?!
As we finally approached, we were welcomed by a group of 5 men who were calling Bungaree Hut home for the next 9 days while they were on a hunting trip. They had taken a jet boat in, and were totally set up with hunting gear, big cooking stoves, and plenty of beer and alcohol. We then went inside to meet other trampers, including two fellow former TA hikers who weren’t quite sure what to do next so they just kept walking, a Swedish backpacker planning to do an even longer circuit on the island, and a couple of teenage Kiwi (the people, not the bird) boys out tramping during their school holiday. Luckily, there were enough bunks for all of us, and the hunters shared an incredible feast with us! Fresh paua, a New Zealand delicacy (shellfish, known in the U.S. as Abalone) that the two boys went diving for, along with fresh blue cod and fried bread. After dinner, the party continued with a heated game of UNO, music, and fireworks.
We stayed up way later than we were used to, but still got up bright and early, as it was our longest planned day. Unfortunately that meant we missed out on the breakfast feast that the hunters had planned… but fortunately that meant we could eat our own food and make our packs lighter! From Bungaree Hut, the track continued to be pretty slow-going with lots of mud, roots, and little streams that we had to climb down to cross then back up on the other side. The elevation profile can’t even begin to catch all those little ups and downs, so even though it looks like it should be flat, it was tough work! After lunch at Christmas Village hut, we knew we had to make good time to make it to our hut before dark. We had gotten used to having a GPS app so we could always see generally where we were and how far we had to go, and this was our first hike in awhile without that luxury. While kind of freeing, it was also frustrating at times – like when the sun started setting and we knew our hut had to be close, but we just kept walking and walking! We had just put our headlamps on when we finally reached a signpost indicating that Yankee River hut was just 15 minutes away. We excitedly walked fast, almost slipping several times in the mud! We got there in time to chat a bit with three retired Kiwis (again people, not birds!) out doing a 2 week trip around the Northwest Circuit and the Southern Circuit before we quietly ate our trail food in the dark, quiet hut. A nice change from the party the night before!
We woke up the next day to rain. And we walked most of that day in the rain. And Ben saw a kiwi (bird, not person) that morning!!! He was hiking just a bit ahead of me, and when I caught up to him, he had this crazy look on his face and whispered to me to be quiet. He was looking into the bush and finally explained that he came upon a kiwi who was just sitting on the trail. It was pecking into the ground with its long beak and walked right up to Ben. It gave him a sideways look before nonchalantly pecking its way off the trail until it disappeared. I apparently missed it by like 20 seconds! Damn it!
We arrived to the first hut just 3 hours into our hike to find another smaller hunting party of 3 men who have been hunting on Stewart Island for many years. They had the fire going, so it was pretty tempting to stay! However, it was only 11:00 or so, so after lunch we decided to put our wet gear back on and continue. (To explain the many hunters: there are tons of whitetail deer on Stewart Island – the largest population outside North America, we were told. And the week we were there was the week leading up to Easter, when school have a full week off and many people take their final summer vacations before fall really sets in). We arrived to East Ruggedy Hut late in the afternoon and met Hugus, a wonderful French backpacker who we’d be sharing the next few huts with. We swapped stories of our hike so far, and he showed us photos of the kiwis (the birds, not the people) he saw on trail! Everybody was getting to see kiwis but me… Argh!
Ben found some of Stewart Island’s thigh-deep mud!
The next day was probably our favorite day on Stewart Island, full of cool trees, challenging climbs, beautiful beach views, and yes – plenty of mud. We only hiked for about 5 hours, which was good because this was about the time that New Zealand was getting hit with the remnants of yet another tropical storm, so the little bit the Stewart Island was getting came that afternoon. The last little bit of trail had us coming out of the bush to walk about 200 meters across sand dunes, during which I was blown sideways by the wind and getting pelted with some mix of rain and sand. We came upon the seemingly appropriately-named Big Hellfire Hut soon after that, which offered amazing shelter, dry wood for a fire in the wood-burning stove, and what would have been a great view if we could see farther than 2 meters ahead of us. We spent the afternoon listening to the rain, reading, resting, and chatting with Hugus.
We were forced to have a lazy morning the next day (bummer, right?) because the last bit of our short-ish hike that day had to be done at low tide, which wasn’t until late that afternoon. So, we slept in and enjoyed more time relaxing and reading in the warm hut, then enjoyed plenty of breaks throughout the hike through bush and along tough rocky beach sections. While it wasn’t raining, it continued to be cloudy, windy, and periodically misty throughout the day… just as it had been most of the week when it wasn’t actually raining. The last 5k was an easy walk along the beautiful Mason Bay Beach. We were slightly unpleasantly surprised when we arrived to a really full Mason Bay hut… tourists, kiwi (people, not birds!) families, hunters, etc. Again, we realized it was the start of Easter weekend and spring break for many people. Apparently several of them had taken a water taxi or a flight to that hut. There were only two bunks available that weren’t together, so because we share a double-wide sleeping bag and because we knew Hugus was still on his way, we squeezed onto one bunk. Someone kept feeding the fire, neglecting the fact that 21 people in one hut breathing and cooking creates enough heat, so it was super hot in the common area. Thankfully the bunks were in a separate area, but they were so cramped, with lots of people breathing and snoring, and the guy next to me sniffling with a cold all night… it was probably one of the worst nights of sleep we had. It rained all night, but that was definitely a night we wished we had our tent!
Still, no (bird) kiwis.
The next day was really short – about 15 flat kilometers – but really wet. We slogged for about 3 hours before getting to our hut. We would have continued on farther, but the next hut was the Great Walk hut, meaning it had to be booked and paid for in advance. But because it was a really wet day, it was a nice one to be done before noon. It was quiet for a little bit, just us and a French couple, but around 2:00 it filled up, but not by people who were staying. Apparently the water taxi was coming to just near there at 5:00 or so, so people who had walked were waiting inside the hut until then. The hut was way to small for that shit. By the time they all left, another family had arrived (some hiked in, some water-taxied in), as well as a badass Kiwi (human) couple who had spent the past week bush-wacking through the island.
Excitement ensued when we saw a huge blaze outside the window of the hut – the family had tried to light their stove to cook dinner (outside, thankfully) when they realized the fuel canister had a leak. It was too close to the hut’s deck for comfort, but the blaze was too big for anyone to move it. Unfortunately the hut didn’t have any sort of fire extinguisher or fire blanket, so all we could do was anxiously wait for the fuel to totally burn off. Once the flame lessoned, a couple of the guys started piling wet wood chips on top of it to smother the flame. Whew! I’ve heard stories of huts burning down, and now I get how that happens. Again, thankfully they decided to cook OUTside! They later shared their freshly-caught blue cod with us, partly because they had a ton, and probably partly as an apology. We happily accepted – the apology, and the cod!
The next day we left at sunrise to make sure we could make it back to Oban before our 5:00 ferry. We had heard the stretch between Freshwater Hut and North Arm Hut was tough with lots of streams, a couple of river crossings, and lots of little ups and downs. While it was a challenge, it was a really fun and beautiful section. And….
I SAW A KIWI !!!! FINALLY!
I was just walking along, Ben was just behind me, and I was babbling about something. I turned a corner and saw this furry-looking thing bobbing around on the trail ahead, and I stopped in my tracks and gasped my mouth shut. It was so much bigger than I imagined, and it’s feathers looked like some cross between soft fur and porcupine quills. It’s beak was long and it just repeatedly reached it down into the mud looking for food. I slowly and quietly took out the camera to try to get a video. I really slowly sneaked closer, and it really didn’t even pay attention to us at all, and we just watched it for about 5 minutes straight. At some point, it adorably startled a bit and went just a couple feet deeper into the bush, making it harder to see. We knew we still had a long way to go, so we continued on, but I was SO energized! YAY! If only those silly birds knew how much joy they could bring to a person… 🙂
The last section of trail was once again on the Great Walk track, so it was pretty easy-going. We arrived back in Oban with enough time to get a beer, only to find out that we couldn’t just get a beer on Easter Sunday. The bartender politely told us that we needed to order food if we wanted a beer, so we confusedly ordered some wedges. After some quick research, we realized that it’s a law: alcohol sales are banned on Good Friday and Easter, except for dining customers at restaurants. Whaaat? Kind of an unexpected law in what seems like a pretty secular country, but whatever! We enjoyed our wedges and beer, and were glad to have one beer before not being able to buy any to go with our takeaways in Bluff. The ferry ride back was a little smoother than the trip there, and we welcomed a shower and our same cozy room and warm bed at the Bluff Lodge.
tramps, treks, and travels 