|
|
TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
|
|
“as sunset approached the kiwis came out and almost everyone got to see them” |
http://www.doc.govt.nz /Explore/002~Tracks-and -Walks/Great-Walks /Rakiura-Track/index.asp
Back safely! Saturday, Feb. 25th here, Friday, the 24th there! :)
Monday we were hard pressed to leave Te Anau as we so enjoyed the little town, the people, our tramps, and our homestay! The Catlin's Coaster connection picked us up at 8 AM and we wended our way south along the coast to Invercargill. It was a beautiful drive on another "fairly fine" day in New Zealand (which I have come to learn means alternating sun and rain showers). The coach was one of the smaller ones and like a mail run, it dropped things off and picked things up here and there for people all along the way. We really enjoyed the driver too! Quite quaint!
Invercargill is another neat NZ town! Dropped off at the DOC (Department of Conservation) Center/Museum, we spent some time in the really neat museum first (Maori history, gold mining, early saw mills, etc.), enjoyed a great lunch of pumpkin soup and fresh bread, and then went grocery shopping as Oban, the one town on Stewart Island, supposedly only has a small and limited supermarket. Later we went over to Bluff by bus where we caught the one hour ferry. The seas were good to us and we had only small swells and no white caps much to Denny's relief! Mollymawks (albatross) and petrals flew along with us. I was SO excited as I am eager to see albatross and look forward to the conservation area we will visit next week. I think Denny and I recommended the book, Flight of the Albatross, to you all. We both loved it! But back to Stewart Island now...
Oban is located on Halfmoon Bay, a charming little town of maybe 500 people. There are maybe 15 miles of roads, four restaurants, a small supermarket, a DOC office, a tourist center, several excursion places, and it rains on average 275 days of the year. Of course Denny and I LOVE it here! We have tried the Wharfside Cafe (a yuppie place that boasts "no fried foods" in a country of fish and chips); the South Sea Hotel and Pub (a delightful restaurant and bar of the typical downhome sort); the Church Hill Cafe Bar and Restaurant (fanciest, with a location next to the old church at the top of the hill overlooking the bay); and a trailer that serves ALL fried foods with THE BEST fish (blue cod) and chips! Of course we've tried them all by now -- ever heard of Banoffe Pie? TO DIE FOR carmel and banana concoction covered with cream! MMMMMMMMMMMM Ok, so when we are not tramping, we are eating our way across the islands!
Checking into Stewart Island Backpackers, we were pleased to find a fairly spacious room and clean facilities with a warm and friendly atmosphere. We dined at the hotel sitting at the window with a spectacular view and next to two couples who had teased me earlier when I swung my backpack on after the ferry ride. They turned out to be a German girl who just married her New Zealand beau and her parents who came over from Germany for the wedding. They were REALLY celebrating and so we had a fun time! I had a wonderful seafood platter and Denny enjoyed a pasta. Tuesday we organized our tramp arranging for transportation and picking up hut passes. Back at the hostel we ran into a friend from Jackson, Dan, who runs the Mangelson gallery. He's the second person from Jackson we have run into here already! It is a small world! Denny took a little RnR then and I went on a semi-submersible underwater explorer cruise. It is a boat that seats maybe twenty people below decks and below the surface of the sea in a mostly window area. As the boat cruises the bays the passengers experience the sea as if SCUBA diving, weaving around among the many types of kelp and seeing tons of fish (blue cod, which we so enjoy). We saw starfish and seahorses too! It was really fun!
Wednesday morning we packed up and Denny put our duffle into the storage area. A van drove us to the beginning of the track at Lee Bay, over three bays, along a road. We figured we could miss that part of the tramp -- walking on the road! :) We would be walking 36km (24 miles) over the next three days! One starts the Rakiura by walking through a huge chain link sculpture. The Day 1 track is 12 km, three quarters a gravel path with a few mud sections and a couple of beaches plus swing bridges. It was a delight with bellbirds and tuis keeping us company as we tramped around the eastern coastline. Arriving at the Port William hut we found only one other couple, 5 others wandered in over the afternoon. It was fun to be in a small party of nine that evening. The hut warden, Sandra joined us for some good chats through dinner. The others were from Juneau, Alaska via American Samoa, Auckland, NZ, and Stutgart, Germany. We kept a warm fire going to dry us and our clothing out as it was again, a "fairly fine" day.
Thursday, Day 2, was a totally different experience, leaving the first hut we traveled through the bush (rainforest) on a manmade path of wooden planks suspended maybe 4" over the fragile forest floor. There are literally hundreds of steps up and then down and then up again. When the path can not go over tree roots, it stops for a few feet and then starts up again. Climbing up and down through the tree roots is tricky and fun! The track includes a summit where there is a look out tower from which you can see one whole length of the island's coast line. Luckily we were in a "fine" period when we got there and could see out! We ate lunch there and then continued on to the North Arm hut. This hut was overcrowded with not enough bunks for all when a group of 10 coeds from BYU (can you believe it?) came in. It was fun though because everybody scrunched together to make room (there are platforms of mattresses rather than separate bunks) plus as sunset approached the kiwis came out and almost everyone got to see them. Of course Denny and I stayed out the longest and got to see several plus hear two of them have a territory spat. They are THE weirdest creatures! Their call is gaunting! So fun to see and hear in the wild!
Friday, Day 3, was a mostly drizzly day, again on the foot-wide wooden pathways, up and down over the hills between bays on the west coast and back around to Halfmoon Bay. Denny counted 3900+ steps up and down (not steps walking but actual stairs). The mud was deep and we can now do commercials for Merrill as our boots never let either of us get our socks and feet wet from anything but our own sweat! My Marmot raingear also worked perfectly! It was cool and actually surprisingly pleasant! One can get in a real groove tramping! We were walking through the forest so it was more through a mist than a rain. The rainforest is so dense here! Trees are entwined by vines and roots drop down to the forest floor even from the tallest trees of the canopy. And the highlight: we saw two more kiwis in broad daylight and were able to get great views of them and their activites...and even got a picture!
Yes, we were tired, and more than ready to be back, having tramped 4 to 6 hours each of the last three days. Our new room was even more spatious and nice giving us plenty of room to spread out. We collected our duffle bag (YES!), washed clothes, ate huge delicious salads (enough dried foods and muesli bars!) and relaxed. It makes us sad that this tramp is probably our last multiple day one. We have ideas for a few more one-day ones (with day packs), but probably won't be doing another long one as we are starting up the east coast Sunday, only two more weeks here. That depresses us! We are LOVING this trip!
Today, Saturday, we toured the museum here in Oban. It tells the history of the settlement of Halfmoon Bay from Maori through today. The pictures depict the earliest homes and businesses, the families intermarrying with Maories, and all the blessings as well as tragedies. Then we took a water taxi over to Ulva Island, a bird sanctuary. There we took a four hour tramp around the island searching for all the birds they are trying to bring back from the endangered list. Many of the New Zealand birds had become flightless because there were no predators. Europeans however, brought with them rats and stoats which just about did in some species. It was a very peaceful day, walking on a well maintained, flat track so we didn't have to watch our every step and could look into the rainforest and watch for birds. We saw a giant elephant seal, wekas, parrots, parakeets, fantails, robins, kakas, tuis, and my personal favorites, bellbirds. No kiwi sighting though! :( After one more delicious fish and chips dinner from the trailer (entertained by the life and travel stories of a British couple who raised tea in Africa for 40 years) we came back here to write this and then pack up. For tomorrow we are off again! The Catlins are next -- beautiful seashore all along a coastline that boasts yellow-eyed penguins, albatross, and dusky dolphins. Tomorrow night we will be on Porpoise Bay at the Dolpin Lodge! The adventure continues!
previous travel blog entry
Would you like to comment or ask a question?
Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).