January 17- Dusky Track

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January 13- Starting the Dusky

The transport company picked us up outside the hostel at just past 8:30AM, where we along with 4 other trampers were taken 45 minutes down a winding gravel road to the boat ramp at Lake Hauroko. Here, we boarded a small boat where our driver assumed the role of boat captain as well. We rode up the long and snaking arm of the lake to the end where the Dusky track begins, miles away from anything. We disembarked and were off to begin a 6-8 day tramp through some of the most remote tracks in terms of accessibility since you need boat transport at both ends of the track.

Immediately from the boat drop we were in the thick forest. The track follows a river through a flat valley for the first few hours before climbing up and around a large gorge, then it goes back down to another valley. After over 6 hours we arrived at the first hut, named Halfway hut, where we resolved to spend tonight instead of continuing the additional 5 hours to Lake Roe hut. A decision that would have mixed consequences.

Sandflies are horrible little creatures, and Halfway hut seems to be their paradise. There is no worse place for them that I have found yet in New Zealand than this part of the country. Halfway hut, being a very old hut, literally has gaping holes in the door and ceiling, which allow the flies to come and go as they please, and they seem to prefer being inside while we're here. So even inside the hut, which generally gives you a refuge from the incessant attempts at biting, we were forced to wear pants tucked into our socks, gloves tucked into our shirt sleeves, and our awesome-looking bug nets over our heads. And yet, despite this and all the bugspray we wore, I received more sandfly bites in one day here than in all my other 6 months of time in New Zealand combined.


January 14- Knee Troubles

We got an early start towards Lake Roe and had been going for about an hour when trouble struck. My knee, which always gives me trouble, but never so early into these expeditions, began to become fairly painful. Doing what I typically do, I just altered how I step to favor it and waited for the pain to pass as it usually does. The pain was relieved briefly, but only for a few moments. Several minutes later as I took another ginger step upward out of a mud pit and onto some tree roots, I swung my leg and felt a searing pain shoot from the outside of my knee through my entire body, nearly causing me to collapse onto the muddy forest floor. So I immediately sat down and stayed there for the next 20 minutes as Nick, Andrew, and I discussed our options.

The pain wasn't constant, only when my knee was in a certain angle and used in a certain motion, but since we were going uphill that motion seemed to happen often, bringing the intense pain every 10 steps or so. Reasoning that going onward would put us farther down the 6 day track and into a much worse position if the pain were to continue or get worse, we resolved to head back in the direction of the start of the track. Then from there we would head to a major town where I could find a doctor to figure out the problem. Once we would get to the track start though we had no way of getting down the lake and out to civilization since the transport boat wasn't scheduled to return to the drop off point again with trampers for another 3 days. But we had plenty of food and decided it was a better course of action than continuing towards the other exit, 4 days away in the forward direction.

So we turned around and headed back down to Halfway hut after I took a substantial amount of anti-inflamatory pain meds to ease the journey. We made it back in about an hour and contemplated whether to spend the night here and go back to the start of the track tomorrow. We had plenty of daylight, I was feeling alright, and the sandflies might be better at the other hut, so we decided to press onward. To be honest, the clouds of sandflies inside the hut alone were enough of a reason to keep going.

7 hours later, after a total day of 9 hours of hiking, we arrived at the Hauroko Burn hut, which sits at the edge of the lake where we started the track one day earlier. The sandflies were every bit as bad here, but the quality construction of the hut allowed us to keep most of them outside, making staying here much more enjoyable. We settled in to the idea that we would be here for 3 nights before the transport boat would be back to charge us another lofty fee for a ride out.

Around 10PM though, our fortunes changed. A small boat arrived carrying a loud bunch of boys in their early 20's and one man in his 50's, a father to one of the boys. They were here for the weekend to fish, hunt, and drink a lot of beer. So after settling into "our" hut, they shared some beer with us, which slightly made up for continually leaving the door wide open and letting in the hoards of sandflies.


January 15- Scary Boat Ride

The guys with the boat decided to give us a lift down the lake today to help us get out to civilization, which was extremely nice especially since the transport company would be charging us $80 per person for the same service. So we packed up our gear and got on the boat around 11AM. They said it was no problem taking us and that they'd just use dropping us off as a reason to visit another hut up a different arm of the massive lake.

The ride was about an hour long and the water was extremely choppy compared to the way in. The small boat slammed up and down over the waves which were sometimes 4 feet in height. We were all crammed onto the already full boat and I got the seat up top next to the driver. The guys had the music playing, which constantly cut in and out with each crash off the crests of the waves. "Brown-Eyed Girl" was playing during the roughest part, with it sounding more like "You my" CRASH! "Brown-eyed" CRASH! "Girl" CRASH! I had visions of having to simultaneously wrestle the other passengers for one of the 3 life jackets onboard (with 9 of us on the boat), while also having to get my satellite locator beacon out of my backpack for the rescue, all while the boat would be sinking into the frigid water of course. This idea seemed like an awful lot of hassle, so I was happy when nothing came of it and we arrived safely at the dock sometime later.

We were dropped off at the boat launch, still 30km down the gravel road from where our car was parked, and we hoped to continue our good luck and get a lift back down the road. But no one was there...and we waited. We tried to pass the time but after nearly 3 hours with not a soul in sight, we were beginning to think we may have to spend the night out in the open since we didn't have our tents or ground pads with us for this tramp. Fortunately for us that would not happen, since just after hope was beginning to fade, a couple from the UK returned from a walk along the lake to their camper van (RV), which was the only vehicle in the parking lot at the boat launch where we were. They offered us a lift down the road and our fears of sleeping shelterless in the woods were alleviated.

Soon we were back in Tuatapere with our car where we checked into the hostel for the night. Tomorrow I will see about finding a doctor in the city of Invercargill, about an hour south of here.

January 16- Invercargill


We drove to Invercargill this morning and had hopes of accomplishing several things there. One, to stop by and see Margaret, a friend of my Aunt Betty, who lives in Invercargill. Two, to find a doctor for me to see tomorrow. And three, to find a bookstore so Andrew can buy the next book in the series he is obsessively reading. We started with the book hunt since apparently the series he's reading is so good that he just can't wait to continue reading it.

The funny thing is that Andrew already owns the next two books in the series, but left them at home because he thought he'd never finish this one while he was here (900 pages). Two weeks in though, and he's done... So I guess there was a slight miscalculation. Poor ignorant Andrew. I rubbed this fact in a bit by telling him that I had taken 8 books along for our time here. We're still friends though.

We got to the bookstore and Nick and I got to see the disappointed look on Andrew's face when he could not find the book he desperately needed on the shelves. The look quickly turned to joy when he looked harder and saw them in another section, but just as quickly turned to outrage when he saw the price of $60 for these paperbacks. But needing to find out what happens next, he paid for them and now own two very expensive copies of books he already owns.

Then we drove around in the rain, seeing some of the "sights" of Invercargill before arriving at Margaret's home, where she invited us to a meal and to stay for the night. She helped us find a doctor whom I will go see tomorrow, so the to-do list for today is finished. Again, I am so grateful to have friends across this country.


January 17 & 18- Doctors Offices and X-rays

I went to the doctor today under coverage by ACC, which is New Zealand's government accident compensation organization that covers people (even foreigners) in case of injury. I had to wait a while in the waiting room to see a doctor, but after a couple of hours I got in. After a few "move your leg" type tests that were completely useless and inconclusive he suggested sending for an X-ray. So several hours later I went for one and scheduled a follow up appointment to see the results tomorrow. Then I rejoined Nick and Andrew at Margaret's house where we enjoyed one more home cooked meal and friendly company.

The next day I went back to the doctor who said the X-rays showed no fractures and all bones were in the right places so it was probably either a small tear in the meniscus, or hopefully only a strain on the muscle up the side of the leg. I got a nice free brace from him (courtesy again of ACC) and he told me that I could return to tramping if I felt up to it and that the best course of action would be to take pain medication as needed and to wear the brace until I felt like I didn't need it. But if things got worse he'd see about getting an MRI scheduled. He and I are both optimistic that things will get better from here.

So now we're heading north again to Queenstown or Wanaka to find a shorter tramp to test out the health of our bodies. Andrew and I also seem to be almost over the flu we had, and Nick seems to have avoided it. Things are bound to get better from here!

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