The adventure begins with a ferry ride across the Foveaux Strait, which is supposedly the 3rd worse strait to cross in the world. But we were lucky for the waters weren’t to rough, however I heard of stories where almost everyone was sick on the boat because of the waves. The ferry left from Bluff, which is the southern most town on the south island of NZ. Stewart Island was about an hour ferry ride away from the main island. We arrived at Horseshoe bay (Oban) which is the only town on Stewart Island. There are about 600 people that live on the island, which makes it the most sparsely populated island in the world and only has 20 kms of road. BUT miles and miles of tracks!!!
We met up with Liz, who owns a kayak company on the island. We chilled out infront of the hotel (which her mom owns) with her dog Pip and a couple of her other friends. We made plans to get a kayak dropped off for us along the track we were hiking so we could kayak back instead of hiking back. It was really random that we were all chilling in front of the hotel….it was great….everyone was on island time, there was no rushing around or hurrying of any kind! I love it! The longer we sat there the more info she told us about good spots to fish, where to find the good muscles and then she even told us where her key was for their family cabin that happened to be on this little island (Bravo island) that was amongst the other random islands in Paterson inlet. So we were thrilled because this would mean not having to take the tent.
We made arrangements to get a water taxi to drop us off along the track to avoid part of the track which is one of the great walks (you have to pay extra to use there huts and book the track) So we kind of did it the lazy way in, by boat!! HAHAH, all was good so we made it too the first hut in about 2 hours from our drop off point. It was at this hut that I tried to make a woven basket out of Flax leaves…Tried is the key word!! It kind of looks like a basket…but can only fit something the size an egg in it! And it basically looks like a tangled mess!
The next morning we woke up nice and early and headed out on the track. I was lucky to see my first real kiwi (which is another NZ flightless bird that has a really long beak that it sticks in the mud to get grubs and bugs, it actually has nostrils on its beak and smells out its food!) The track was well marked, and there were sections of mud, but nothing that was too crazy! There was magnificent views from the tops and it was actually a really fun track….until the downhill part! I have found that I have a 6 hour limit, after 6 hours I get tired! So the last hour and a bit was tiresome…..especially cuz it was straight down…..my knees were aching! But we made it too doughboy bay, which was a beautiful beach that also contained a hut. We arrived to the hut to meet two other kiwi folk, the plan was to stay an extra day at doughboy, and it turned out the kiwi folk were doing the same.
So Ken, Dave, Steve and I spent the whole next day here on this beautiful beach. It was a cooler day, but didn’t stop us from exploring the beach and finding all sorts of rubbish (garbage) that has been washed up on shore. We also found some quick sand, which was pretty neat and a HUGE sea lion! So if I thought I was scared of some little seals that tired to eat me out of a cave….thank GOD it wasn’t this that came out of the cave, cuz I probably would have really made a mess in my pants for real! He was massive….we were able to get pretty close to him, he didn’t seem to mind to much, he made one grunt and move towards us at one point when we were pushing our luck….but we were pretty respective of the grunt and gave him more space. They are truly amazing animals….I could have sat there all day watching him(I don’t even know if it was a him….didn’t get that close I guess!) but close enough to see his big teeth and hear him delicately scratch his eyes and sides with his flipper!! They are sooo cute! Then he made the move to get back in the water…and that was a site to see. It amazed me how he was able to get all that weight on his four flippers and move into the water!!
The next morning we all got up early and started making our way to the next hut. We left separately, but we ended up meeting up on the track and hiking it together. So it was fun, tramping with other people. We made it down to the beach and decided to take a side trip to a little homestead that use to be in full operation in the 1900’s it was a cute little cabin just off the ocean. We then made our way down the beach to the next hut, it was a long hike across the sand to get to the next hut, but we finally made it! I had my traditional nude dip in the closest river to the hut…it is always the best feeling after a long tramp to just have a nice cold dip and there is nothing better than being one with nature in the nude! It is defiantly not the most flattering exercise for the water is usually freezing but just as you get all your clothes off the sand flies decide to have a feast on you…so it usually consists of a lot of naked running around and then once you get enough nerve to get your whole body in the water….you take the plunge usually by violently moving all your parts as fast as you can while letting out a few cold screams….so as you can see it is quite the process! But well worth it!!! The mason bay hut is a rather big hut and there was quite a few people in the hut. But it is always interesting hearing every ones stories and adventures! Steve was in charge of making dinner this night as I was busy chatting with all the people. Steve then asked me to come over to where he was cooking…and he asked me to smell what was in the pot! It smelled very fruity with a touch of lavender, kind of the same smell as the massage oil that Steve keeps in his toilet bag. Well it turned out that the two bottles the cooking oil bottle and the massage oil bottle look exactly the same. And there seemed to be a little mix up between the two bottles! Opps!! Don’t worry we didn’t eat it…..but our cous cous was lacking flavor as the flavor sachet and dehydrated beef were doused with massage oil!
The next morning we got up and made our way to the next hut which was a super easy walk, but it was located in a really cool spot. It was called Freshwater landing and it had a neat little dock on a river.....so we chilled out and visited with all the people! We had the whole next day at this spot while we waited for our kayak to arrive by water taxi. We awoke in the morning to a beautiful blue sky day, it would have been great to have the kayak earlier but it was also nice to enjoy the weather. I decided to take a day trip and run up a mountain, it was fun not to have a heavy pack weighing you down, and it was nice to have a change of pace. Steve’s foot was bothering him, so I made the trip on my own, it was nice to have some time to myself. I made it too the top and it was amazing panoramic views…I spent close to 4 hours up there….just hanging out on a rock being ‘one’ with nature! I made my way back down to the hut, and met a bunch of new people that just arrived. Steve lucked out, for one of the people that came by was a physiotherapist and he took a look at Steve’s foot and gave him his assessment. It wasn’t long after and our kayak arrived and we were off on our next adventure.
It was getting dark so we had to get a move on, we paddled down this really curvy river that eventually made it’s way into the sea. We paddled our way to the next hut, called Fred’s camp where we stayed the night. We got there right at night fall and made it in just in time! The hut was placed in a really cool place, and I could have spend longer at this hut. The next morning we loaded up the kayak and started exploring all the little islands with in Patterson’s Inlet. We saw a yellow eyed penguin hanging out in the water and we were lucky to catch a few blue cod for supper! We made our way to Ulva island which is a bird sanctuary because it is suppose to be a predatory free zone. It was a neat little place and there really was quite a few birds on the island. Steve took a snorkel in the marine reserve I chickened out for the weather wasn’t the best and the water was freezing! Steve had a really good wetsuit with a hood and gloves he was able to stand the cold… I hung out on the island and walked around listening to birds and then I decided to take a nap in the shelter that was near by. We then made our way to Bravo island where we were excited to see what this cabin looked liked. The key was exactly where Liz explained and it was the cutest little batch ever! It was a little piece of paradise after being all wet and cold from being in a kayak all day. We had a great fire, had a feed of fresh blue cod and enjoyed a nice evening of reading random magazines. The weather really started to turn and it was blowing crazy winds as well as raining a lot. So we were very grateful to be in a warm cabin!
The wind and weather were persistent all night and I woke up to rain blowing in through the windows (they were shut…but obviously not withholding the weather). We tried waiting it out, but it just got worse…so we had to call for a water taxi to get us back to the main land rather than kayak back….knowing Steve and I’s attitude…this was a hard decision…we both wanted to take on the challenge…but I think we made a good choice…for it would have turned into an epic day I am sure of it!!! We made it back to Oban where we set up camp and ate at a really cool fish and chips place….We crossed in the morning by Ferry and our Stewart island adventure came to an end….but we were excited to take on the Dusky track and that was the next adventure!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Dusky track
Our next adventure takes us deep into the Fiordlands to one of the most remote and difficult tracks NZ has to offer……this is the trip Steve and I have been preparing for all summer…the adventure was about to begin.
But first we had to hitch hike to our pick up point Tuatapere which was about 70 some kms away. We headed to the road and stuck out our thumbs….after a series of short rides further up the road and 4 hours later we were lucky to be picked up by a gentleman who actually owned the backpackers in Tuatapere and took us directly there. While hitchhiking we met up with Chi (a Japanese girl we met on another tramp) who was heading the same way to complete the Dusky with us. When we arrived at the backpackers we also met up with Markus (a Swiss guy we met at on Stewart island) we told him we were doing the dusky and so he decided to meet up with us and make a trip out of it!
We were picked up the next day and bused out to our drop off point where we were taking the water taxi across Lake Hauroko (deepest lake in NZ). The water taxi took us to the trail head of the dusky track…and the adventure began!
The first day was pretty easy, it took us 3 hrs to reach the first hut, where we spent the night…Steve was a mad mouse trapper and was on a mission the whole trip to catch as many mice as possible…by his eco-friendly, not so humane mouse trap….needed supplies: 1 glass bottle, dirty sock (dirty is not a requirement…but usually socks left in the hut are not the cleanest), piece of bait(chocolate or bread), bucket of water….. mouse climbs up the bottle with the sock….wonders out to the end for the goodie…slips on the bottle and falls into the bucket of water….tries to swim to stay alive…eventually tires out and drowns(this is the inhumane part of trap)…..but it works…and Steve would have been able to make a nice hat out of his mouse catches…(at least the fur would have been freshly washed). The next day we headed out…the track was a bit muddy in areas and one had to be careful when attempting to cross mud bogs..when in doubt let someone else go first…if they fall in take a different route! We went up and over a mountain pass, but the weather was over cast so we didn’t see much…we made it to the next hut in good timing so we decided to move on to the next hut….good idea at the time…but turned into a really long day for myself……when we hit the 9 hour mark, my legs and feet were telling me to stop! The worse part was the downhill bit…because it was STRAIGHT down…at times you had to turn backwards and work your way down by holding on to roots and sometimes there was a chain attached that you could climb down making it a bit easier….the weather was good, in that it wasn’t raining which met we could make the final river crossing (walk wires…there were 22 of them on this track…CRAZY) to the lock Maree hut. I think this was the most my body has ever been so physically fatigued in a long time….my legs were defiantly feeling the 9 hours of ups and downs..and I was extremely excited to catch some ZZZZZ’s!
The next morning we work up to BLUE skies…..and we were doing a side trip to supper cove, which is a little cove off the ocean. The plan was to stay here for a day off and spend two nights at the hut. It was a pretty easy walk to the hut, with no real crazy parts…there was a ladder at one spot..that was neat and I must say unexpected. We made it too the cove and decided to try and walk across as the tide was going out. We didn’t really know where the hut was…and I don’t think the tide was fully out…for we started to walk across and it wasn’t long before Steve was up and over his chest in water..with pack floating behind him!!! Needless to say we got a bit wet but it was all in the fun! We made it too the hut by finding the track again and it was situated in a really neat place! I am so glad we skipped a hut the other day, for it allowed us this extra day at supper cove and it was sooo worth it!! There were plenty of fishing lines left in the hut and we put them to good use…we caught plenty of fish (Steve was the fisherman out of the group, or he had horseshoes up his butt…one of the two) the first night we were there….as we were fishing off the rocks….a bunch of blue sharks decided to turn up(6 of them)! They were eerie to watch for they just lurked around the rocks and they were about 5 feet long. We tried catching some shark but they were not interested in the fish heads dangling in front of them!(I think they were smarter than we thought!). So that evening we had a fish fry and learned how to play a Swiss card game…which became our staple evening activity for the rest of the trip…it was a partner game and the Japanese/Swiss combo were defiantly the winners over all! The next day, we were all excited to sleep in but at 7:00 am the Keas (mountain parrot) decided to give us a tap dance show on the tin roof of the hut! And then at 7;15 AM a huge fishing boat came into the cove and we thought we were going to be invaded by hunters….but then over the mountain tops came 2 helicopters…it was like grand central station…..there was a major transfer of goods and people from both chopper and boat. We think the boat dropped off a bunch of hunters who were then choppered up to the high country to hunt. We were all up to watch the excitement and then all back in bed by 9:00 am for a nap! We spent the day playing cards and in the evening Markus dove for a feed of muscles and Steve was determined to get us all another fish feed. He was overly successful and caught the biggest cods of this life! So with four huge blue cods to eat and over 25 muscles…we were Spoiled!! It also helped that Markus happened to be the son of a chef…and it was obvious that his dad’s work rubbed off on him..for we had the best fish feed and muscles I have ever had!! Ohhh the hard life of a tramper…..the next day we made our way back to Lock Maree.
The next morning we awoke to rain….which was frustrating because the next part of the track led us up to the tops again. The track became much more muddier and roots became more slippery making the track a bit more of a challenge but nothing that wasn’t doable! There were a couple of points where we were slopping through water up to our hips…but we didn’t have to swim…so all is good! We made it to the hut all looking like drowned rats. It was nice to warm up by the fire and attempt to dry out our clothing…our boots were hopeless….for you have to accept the fact that you will always have wet feet! This was our last night on the dusky track for the next day we were on our way out!
It was just our luck for the next day was a BLUE sky day….I suggested going back up to the tops to check out the sites but the others weren’t so keen…..it would have been nice…but I was also looking forward to the trip out…plus we had a boat to catch! We made it too the end of the track…and were all very satisfied that we conquered the dusky. We all found the track not as hard as everyone was saying, but then again we had good weather. I could only imagine the track with 8 days of rain straight…would have been hip deep in water and mud all day long! The worse part of the whole trip was at the end of the track there is a 45 min. walk down a gravel road to where the Ferry terminal was! But all was good and we made it out safe and sound!
Markus invited all of us to Queenstown where he wanted to treat us to a hotel and a seafood dinner……Steve, Chi and I were then royally spoiled by Markus’s invitation for we stayed at a really nice hotel and ate at probably ‘the best’ seafood place in Queenstown. We drank way to much wine…and ate more then our bellies could handle! Now that is how you end a tramping trip………….
But first we had to hitch hike to our pick up point Tuatapere which was about 70 some kms away. We headed to the road and stuck out our thumbs….after a series of short rides further up the road and 4 hours later we were lucky to be picked up by a gentleman who actually owned the backpackers in Tuatapere and took us directly there. While hitchhiking we met up with Chi (a Japanese girl we met on another tramp) who was heading the same way to complete the Dusky with us. When we arrived at the backpackers we also met up with Markus (a Swiss guy we met at on Stewart island) we told him we were doing the dusky and so he decided to meet up with us and make a trip out of it!
We were picked up the next day and bused out to our drop off point where we were taking the water taxi across Lake Hauroko (deepest lake in NZ). The water taxi took us to the trail head of the dusky track…and the adventure began!
The first day was pretty easy, it took us 3 hrs to reach the first hut, where we spent the night…Steve was a mad mouse trapper and was on a mission the whole trip to catch as many mice as possible…by his eco-friendly, not so humane mouse trap….needed supplies: 1 glass bottle, dirty sock (dirty is not a requirement…but usually socks left in the hut are not the cleanest), piece of bait(chocolate or bread), bucket of water….. mouse climbs up the bottle with the sock….wonders out to the end for the goodie…slips on the bottle and falls into the bucket of water….tries to swim to stay alive…eventually tires out and drowns(this is the inhumane part of trap)…..but it works…and Steve would have been able to make a nice hat out of his mouse catches…(at least the fur would have been freshly washed). The next day we headed out…the track was a bit muddy in areas and one had to be careful when attempting to cross mud bogs..when in doubt let someone else go first…if they fall in take a different route! We went up and over a mountain pass, but the weather was over cast so we didn’t see much…we made it to the next hut in good timing so we decided to move on to the next hut….good idea at the time…but turned into a really long day for myself……when we hit the 9 hour mark, my legs and feet were telling me to stop! The worse part was the downhill bit…because it was STRAIGHT down…at times you had to turn backwards and work your way down by holding on to roots and sometimes there was a chain attached that you could climb down making it a bit easier….the weather was good, in that it wasn’t raining which met we could make the final river crossing (walk wires…there were 22 of them on this track…CRAZY) to the lock Maree hut. I think this was the most my body has ever been so physically fatigued in a long time….my legs were defiantly feeling the 9 hours of ups and downs..and I was extremely excited to catch some ZZZZZ’s!
The next morning we work up to BLUE skies…..and we were doing a side trip to supper cove, which is a little cove off the ocean. The plan was to stay here for a day off and spend two nights at the hut. It was a pretty easy walk to the hut, with no real crazy parts…there was a ladder at one spot..that was neat and I must say unexpected. We made it too the cove and decided to try and walk across as the tide was going out. We didn’t really know where the hut was…and I don’t think the tide was fully out…for we started to walk across and it wasn’t long before Steve was up and over his chest in water..with pack floating behind him!!! Needless to say we got a bit wet but it was all in the fun! We made it too the hut by finding the track again and it was situated in a really neat place! I am so glad we skipped a hut the other day, for it allowed us this extra day at supper cove and it was sooo worth it!! There were plenty of fishing lines left in the hut and we put them to good use…we caught plenty of fish (Steve was the fisherman out of the group, or he had horseshoes up his butt…one of the two) the first night we were there….as we were fishing off the rocks….a bunch of blue sharks decided to turn up(6 of them)! They were eerie to watch for they just lurked around the rocks and they were about 5 feet long. We tried catching some shark but they were not interested in the fish heads dangling in front of them!(I think they were smarter than we thought!). So that evening we had a fish fry and learned how to play a Swiss card game…which became our staple evening activity for the rest of the trip…it was a partner game and the Japanese/Swiss combo were defiantly the winners over all! The next day, we were all excited to sleep in but at 7:00 am the Keas (mountain parrot) decided to give us a tap dance show on the tin roof of the hut! And then at 7;15 AM a huge fishing boat came into the cove and we thought we were going to be invaded by hunters….but then over the mountain tops came 2 helicopters…it was like grand central station…..there was a major transfer of goods and people from both chopper and boat. We think the boat dropped off a bunch of hunters who were then choppered up to the high country to hunt. We were all up to watch the excitement and then all back in bed by 9:00 am for a nap! We spent the day playing cards and in the evening Markus dove for a feed of muscles and Steve was determined to get us all another fish feed. He was overly successful and caught the biggest cods of this life! So with four huge blue cods to eat and over 25 muscles…we were Spoiled!! It also helped that Markus happened to be the son of a chef…and it was obvious that his dad’s work rubbed off on him..for we had the best fish feed and muscles I have ever had!! Ohhh the hard life of a tramper…..the next day we made our way back to Lock Maree.
The next morning we awoke to rain….which was frustrating because the next part of the track led us up to the tops again. The track became much more muddier and roots became more slippery making the track a bit more of a challenge but nothing that wasn’t doable! There were a couple of points where we were slopping through water up to our hips…but we didn’t have to swim…so all is good! We made it to the hut all looking like drowned rats. It was nice to warm up by the fire and attempt to dry out our clothing…our boots were hopeless….for you have to accept the fact that you will always have wet feet! This was our last night on the dusky track for the next day we were on our way out!
It was just our luck for the next day was a BLUE sky day….I suggested going back up to the tops to check out the sites but the others weren’t so keen…..it would have been nice…but I was also looking forward to the trip out…plus we had a boat to catch! We made it too the end of the track…and were all very satisfied that we conquered the dusky. We all found the track not as hard as everyone was saying, but then again we had good weather. I could only imagine the track with 8 days of rain straight…would have been hip deep in water and mud all day long! The worse part of the whole trip was at the end of the track there is a 45 min. walk down a gravel road to where the Ferry terminal was! But all was good and we made it out safe and sound!
Markus invited all of us to Queenstown where he wanted to treat us to a hotel and a seafood dinner……Steve, Chi and I were then royally spoiled by Markus’s invitation for we stayed at a really nice hotel and ate at probably ‘the best’ seafood place in Queenstown. We drank way to much wine…and ate more then our bellies could handle! Now that is how you end a tramping trip………….
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