Stewart Island

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After a brief trip to Wellington and Auckland for weddings and visas, we headed down to Stewart Island with our friends Linda and Gerad to do the North West Circuit.

At the time, it seemed like a good idea to do the Southern Circuit as well. So, once again, we donned huge packs and set to it. (Maybe we are getting a bit lighter, but it seemed easier this time).

Stewart Island is amazing. The North West Circuit skirts the coast in a big loop from Oban (the main township there). The trip is supposed to take around 10 days. The first part was on the great walk, and this was agony in boots with a heavy pack.

Under the pier at Port William, an enormous blue cod swam around, laughing at Ben for forgetting his hand line.

The bush down there is a little different from the mainland. There aren't any beech trees, so the bush is full of rimu, totara, kahikatea etc. There are no mice or stoats either, so there are heaps of birds. We saw flocks of fat Kereru crash land into trees, almost tipping them over. We also spotted two kiwi poking around the track in the evening.

Because we were by the coast most of the time, there were also lots of seabirds. Gerad was lucky enough to spot a yellow eyed penguin.

We indulged in fresh paua (for those at Fishserve, it was legal), straight from the rocks and into the waiting pan. Thankfully, someone had left a fishing line at Christmas Village hut, so the boys spent the afternoon harvesting our dinner. Yum.

Another strange thing about Stewart Island was the golden beaches. I was expecting a rugged windswept coast, with rocks, sea spray and bad hair dos. We kept finding ourselves on sweeping sandy beaches in the hot midday sun. The sea was surprisingly warm too, and the sturdier (or sillier) souls braved a dip.

The sandflies seem to have been improving themselves by natural selection. They developed a taste for Gerad's 80% deet and have worked out how to squeeze through the nets over the windows.

The mud was spectacular. None of Stewart Islands soils appear to drain that well. I was expecting mud, but this was something else. There was every type of mud:
> the 'stinks like socks' mud,
> the 'give me back my boot' ' - walking in this stuff is like being in traction. It stretches the ligaments in the knees, and steals leki poles and small children,
> the 'looks solid to me/goes up to your knee' mud
> the wet and wild - somehow finds its way into your socks
> the jumping jack - leaps into the air, usually into your mouth or eye
> the castaway - leaves you stranded in the middle of a bog hugging a tree crying out for your mother.

I felt a little like I was being trained to be a navy seal. There was some impressive cussing and cursing. I decided I had had enough when I found myself face planted in the mud with my legs trapped behind a log and my arms pinned under my pack. Oh the indignity. As I lay, tasting the sweet earth, I wondered would I be eaten by feral cats if no one came to help me.

At Mason Bay we decided to pike on the Southern Circuit. We told ourselves it was because of Linda's blisters, which were threatening to bond to the sides of her boots. But really, it's because we were lazy and it was raining and we had books to read and food to eat.

I won't say much about the tramp out. The track gets a lot of use, and not much maintenance. It was an 'experience' but that's about the nicest adjective I can think of.

Thank goodness for Oban, blue cod, chips, $3 handles and showers.

Quote of the trip: "Um, has anyone seen Linda's coordination? She seems to have scattered it all over the track."

P.S. Ben would like to note that he did not pike at Masons Bay. Ben does not pike.

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Photos

View from Mt Anglem looking South
This is the highest point on Stewart Island. Nice place to stop, after a grovel through leatherwood trenches

Lowland Forest
Spot the kiwi...

View from Hellfire Pass
The map describes this area as having 'numerous swampy patches'. If you went off track, I'm not sure you would come back again.

Comments

[Pop]

Easy trip.
The young generation cant hack the hard going eh? Ben probably was all talk when it came to the southern loop!

[Mike Sheridan]

Track Construction
I will have you know that I spent a whole summer working on that track out from Masons Bay and Freshwater back to Oban. Building boardwalks over the mud and strems..and it was a piece of great workmanship....Mind you that was 1981 when Stewart Island was controlled by NZFS. Sounds like there has not been much maintenance on the track since then.

[Kat and Ben]

When accountants go bush
Ahh...its all clear now. Great workmanship Mike. Not many of your boardwalks are still standing. (Tho' Gerad found a few with his Leki pole). It has reverted to grand old Stewart Island sludge.

[Tim]

message to fishserve
1. that is definitely a pike ben and 2. there is no way that that paua is of a legal size, shame on you.