Days 158-166, Epilogue 1: Stewart Island

What a way to finish off our tramping in NZ! Stewart Island, or Rakiura, is a small island that lies 30km south of the South Island. Most of it is a national park, and while it does have many of the invasive species that plague the two main islands, the native flora and fauna are much less threatened here (probably due in large part to significant conservation efforts). Over 7.5 days, we did the Northwest Circuit, which is a 125km tramp that goes around the northern half of the island. It is famous for having epic mud and a high rate of kiwi-spotting.


We arrived on Stewart Island after a quick ferry ride, and stopped by the visitor's center to drop some stuff in a locker and check in with the DoC staff there. We got a very intimidating rundown of track from one of the staff - it seemed as if she thought we didn't know what we were getting into, and was trying to dissuade us from going. We heard all about how muddy the track was, how parts were hard to navigate at high tide, and how one stretch was labelled as "6-7 hours... but we've heard of it taking people up to 12!" All of it sounded like par for the course after finishing the TA though.

The first half day was a short roadwalk to the start of the track, and a cruise along a graveled Great Walk track to the first hut. Immediately after that, sh*t got real, and we hit the first of the mud on our way to Bungaree Hut. There was quite a bit of it, although it didn't appear in the epic proportions we had been led to expect.

After some light mud slogging, we reached the hut, and met a couple from Wellington that were just finishing up the circuit in the opposite direction. They hadn't seen a kiwi yet, and seemed pretty bummed out about it, but told us that the rest of the circuit was still fantastic. Luckily, on a trip to the toilet after dark, I spotted a friendly kiwi foraging near the trail, and managed to gather everyone up for a quick glimpse before he disappeared into the forest. Day 1 and already a kiwi sighting!

Last chance to make a call before heading out on the Northwest Circuit

Beautiful sunset from Bungaree Hut

It was worth 2 pictures

Our next day was a short one to Christmas Village Hut. We were expecting a decorated tree to be waiting for us, but unfortunately the hut didn't have any trappings of Christmas whatsoever, or any other info about its strange name. Nevertheless, it was a great hut with a another view out over the ocean. The huts along the whole route were a real highlight - every single one was in an amazing location, and they were all in great condition. There were times where we were really happy to have them to look forward to as we trudged through seemingly endless sections of mud and roots.

River on the beach

Rocky beach in front of Christmas Village Hut

Day 3 was a long one, past Yankee River Hut and on to Long Harry Hut. For the first time on the trip, we forgot our Spot beacon at the hut when we left in the morning, and I had to run back a few kilometers to collect it once we remembered. It worked out in the end - I got to practice some adventure running (I've been inspired by all the mountain races we've intersected with), and while I was gone, Liz spotted a kaka, one of several native parrot species.

A kaka - one of several native parrot species

A heron (?)

Someone took their time building this cairn

Descending over the dunes to Smoky Beach

Misty beach walk

Cool little spiderweb

Picturesque rocks on the way to Long Harry Hut

More very balanced cairns

Wow, what a spot for a hut

At Long Harry, we met Brian & Philip from Auckland, also on the Northwest Circuit. We ended up in the same huts with them for the next 2 nights, and luckily they were awesome and hilarious. It was like hanging out with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from Top Gear. Philip spent 30 years working for DoC, and was able to answer just about every question we had about wildlife and plants.

Day 4 was another short one, and it was through prime kiwi country. Most kiwis are nocturnal, but Stewart Island Brown Kiwis are diurnal and can also be spotted during the daytime. We took our time, hoping to get a daytime glimpse, and maybe even a blurry picture of one. Our effort paid off - we came across a kiwi right next to the trail, and managed to not scare it away. We stood for a good, solid 20 minutes watching it forage for bugs in the dirt. At several points it poked its head out of the bushes and almost joined us on the trail, but thought better of it. As far as the kiwi was concerned, we probably could have watched all day, but eventually we moved on. Amazing experience!

Kiwi!

He's checking me out

After East Ruggedy Hut, we moved onto Big Hellfire Hut. This is easily the most badass hut name we've encountered. The day was mostly in the forest, and, as usual, had a fair bit of mud, but we enjoyed it. Just before reaching the hut, which is located up on a ridge, we encountered a sand dune - 200m above sea level - crossing the ridge. It was bizarre to pop out of the forest and onto the "beach" so unexpectedly. The hut was another gem, and had great views over the interior lowlands of the island. It was also pretty cold, but Philip, master of the fireplace, got a good solid fire going from wet wood, and we managed to dry some of our gear out a bit.

Beach just before East Ruggedy Hut

Rocky dunes

Another of the many picturesque, completely deserted beaches

A great view over the flats from Big Hellfire Hut

Waterfall with an interesting texture

Some shags (cormorants)

Neon moss on the way to Freshwater Landing

From Big Hellfire, we had another big day, past Mason's Bay and through to Freshwater Landing Hut. Mason's Bay is a popular spot for tourists to arrive by water taxi for some kiwi spotting. It was empty when we went through though. We arrived at Freshwater Landing just before dark (the days are getting really short!), and met Josh and Jessica, from Philly. They were travelling with pack rafts, and were planning on paddling out to town the next day. We were a little bit jealous - our next day was supposedly the muddiest, roughest day of the circuit, and by this point I think we were both ready for a bit of a break from the slow, muddy, rooty forest.

The trail had just a bit of mud at times

Ok, it was mostly mud

Day 6 took us up and over Thompson Ridge, and was indeed pretty rough. It also didn't offer anything very novel - it was more of the same forest we'd been through for the past 5 days, and didn't really offer any views. We were mentally prepared for a slog though, so it ended up not being too bad, and we arrived at North Arm Hut on the early side. This hut is on the Great Walk track, which is all graveled and boardwalked, and we arrived to find a few other people already there, looking remarkably clean. Since this is our last real hiking of the trip (aside from 2 days in Tongariro National Park), in retrospect this was our first step back toward normal society, where people are not normally smelly, covered with mud, and excited by the idea of eating a new flavor of instant noodles.

Later, Josh and Jessica showed up at the hut. Turns out their pack rafts didn't work out as well as they had hoped, and they ended up getting off the river, bush bashing their way back to the trail, and heading for the hut. On the way, Josh ended up in chest deep mud. We thought we had seen some pretty impressive mud on the trail, but apparently not.

A tomtit - these were very friendly, but camera shy.
Took me a while to get a clear picture of one, but I managed it on our second to last day.

Our last day was a cruise back to Oban, the only town on Stewart Island. We got some real food, and then caught the ferry back to Invercargill. It was a bit of a windy day, and our second trip across Foveaux Straight was noticeably more rough than our first one.

Now we're back in Invercargill for a few days. We had hoped to run into the Brits here, but it seems we missed them somehow, and probably won't see them before we leave. Bummer! We should see Ben, our German software engineer friend, later today. We're really looking forward to it - it seems like we haven't spent any real time with TA hikers in months, and this is our last chance! In 2 days, we head north to Auckland to meet up with Mark & Margaret, and we can't wait to catch up with them and swap travel stories.

Now that we're back from Stewart Island, the prospect of returning to real life is looming larger. Our flight to Boston leaves in 11 days. I don't have a destination to walk towards anymore. I can't glory in (or even justify) eating the largest, fattiest meal on the menu anymore. The end of this adventure is starting to become real in my mind, and it is a bit sad. I'm trying to focus on all the exciting things waiting for us when we get back - seeing all of our sorely missed family and friends, finding a new job, spending time building a TA wiki with Ben, and finding fun ways to stay in shape (I recently found myself googling for mountain foot races near Boston). For the moment though, those things still seem far away, and the end of the trail feels right behind me!