NZ Wind Down

One night of trail recovery at the backpackers in Te Anau with pizza and beer for dinner and we were ready to hit the road again by car. With one week to go in NZ we headed north through the south central area of South Island towards the west coast.

We will revisit the adventure capital of Queenstown when we head back to NZ in Jan.
Of course the weather cleared up once we left fiordland. The views of the mountain around Lake Wanaka were gorgeous.

The relentless ocean breeze along the west coast was quite evident in the wind blown trees along the coastline. We moved rapidly up the west coast and camped again in Okarito so we could check in with our resident kiwi bird expert, Ian, of OkaritoKiwi Tours. He was thrilled for us that we had seen the brown kiwi on the Milford Track. He tantalized us with stories of how to view great spotted kiwi birds further north along the west coast and in the mountains. With no better plan in place, we took his advice and camped just north of Punakaiki at Bullocks Creek.

Punakaiki, also known as Pancake Rocks for obvious reasons, is an area of fantastic layered rock formations right on the ocean edge.

The pounding ocean spray added to the natural beauty of the location.

We were there at mid tide so the blow holes put on only a modearate show for us.

Bullocks Creek was 6 km up a secluded valley via gravel road and we were the only people camped there. The water across the road and the warnings that the road really floods when it rains may have scared off others but not us. The deer hunter left at dark.

We did the old stand in the dark and crane your eyes and ears for kiwi birds. We did hear them in the distance but all we saw was a possum walking up the trail toward us. Once it noticed us, it scurried off into the brush.

Next morning we hiked in to nearby Cave Creek. Doug knew of the location because one of his student groups in ChCh had done their materials project on the Cave Creek Disaster.

On April 28, 1995, 18 people (17 high school students and a DOC ranger) were standing on a viewing platform catilievered 30 meteres above the chasm where Cave Creek emerges from the cave. The platform collapsed, killing 14. The platform has not been replaced but you can still hike down to the creek at the location.

There is a memorial along the trail to the 14 who lost their lives that day.

The second location for kiwi spotting Ian had told us about was at Howden Hut near Arthur's Pass. We stopped at the ranger station in Arthur's Pass and they told us that bad weather (rain and snow) were moving in and that Howden Hut was easily cut off by flooding so we enjoyed the rest of the still gorgeous afternoon exploring the rocks at Castle Hill. By this point we were within a few hours of ChCh so we just headed back there. We used the extra day there at Susan's house and the office to catchup on email and to repack for OZ, the next chapter in our great adventure.

The Finest Walk in the World

Finally, the day we had been anticipating for months arrived. On 28 Oct we joined 37 other independent trampers as the first group on the Milford Track for the '08-'09 season. We waited at the Fiordland Visitor Centre in Te Anau to board the bus for the ride halfway up Lake Te Anau to Te Anau Downs.

There we boarded the ferry for the ride up the rest of the lake to Glade Wharf. We had been told to expect at least on day of rain during the four days on the track. We got four. Fiordland averages over 8 metres of rain annually.

There was quite an assortment of packs on board. Everyone was trying to keep their equipment as dry as possible.

Here we are arriving at Glade Wharf, The trail head for the Milford Track. Coming off the boat we had to step in a detergent solution in the yellow bucket in an effort to control the spread of dydimo, an algae otherwise known as rock snot.

After about an hour on the trail we reached Clinton Hut, our accomodation for the night. The huts have comfortable, spacious bunkrooms and gas burners in the common room for cooking. Everyone also appreciated the wood stove as we were all pretty wet and cold. We were some of the first to arrive at the hut right on the heels of the ranger so we had our pick of bunks. Flush toilets were also very refreshing.

The next day we continued up the Clinton Valley. The weather was best (least rainy) in the early morning and late afternoon so we got an early start. It started to snow just as we arrived at Mintaro Hut. We did not get too wet and were able to warm up pretty quickly. Other trampers were out in the wet and cold for munch longer.

In the late afternoon the ceiling lifted and we we rewarded with fabulous views of the surrounding mountains. Three of the younger (fitter) trampers hiked up to the pass to see sunset.

Here is Doug cooking dinner. We carried our own stove so we did not have to wait for a gas burner in the hut. Hot meals were a blessing.

Everyone tried to get their clothes to dry out as much as possible by hanging them around the wood and coal stove.

We got another early start the next day to get to the summit while the weather was still somewhat clear. About 6-8 centimetres of snow had fallen overnight but the footprints of the three guys from the night before had frozen so the footing was a little slippery. Even so, the snow blanketed everything in a magical way. It was spectacular.

Here I am on the way up with the head of the Clinton Valley behind me.

This is the 12 second drop. I am not particulary comfortable with heights so this was as close to the edge as I was willing to go. I did not want to test out the timing of the drop.









We made the summit of MacKinnon Pass while the weather was still clear.

We had gorgeous views of all the peaks around us as well as the two valleys. We had come up the Cliinton Valley and were headed down the Arthur Valley.

Here is Doug heading down. He made first tracks for a while at the summit. As we started down it began to snow lightly again but not so much as to make the footing too treacherous - or so we thought at the time.

Here are my boots in the snow. The new gators we had purchased in Te Anau worked perfectly to keep our lower legs dry. My boots are not waterproof so that was a moot point.

Some of the steeper sections had wooden staiways built in. Above my right shoulder you can seen a green wooden stoat trap. Stoats are an introduced species that have decimated the native bird populations. They are now being trapped and removed so the bird populations are protected.

At lunch time we saw this helicopter take off from the guided walks lodge. We found out later that it was a medevac copter. One of our group had fallen on the way up the pass and broken his leg. He had to be airlifted out by winch.

We took a short side trip to see Sutherland Falls, the highest falls in NZ.

I got drenched trying to stand so close to the falls.

Because there was still so much snow in the highcountry this early in the season, there were lots of areas where we could not stop.

The main trail was closed due to avalanche hazard and we had to take the detour which switch backed straight down. My shorter legs did not appreciate some of the huge steps. We did hear several avalanche booms as were on the bypass so I guess it was the safer option.

The third and final night we stayed at Dumpling Hut in the Arthur River valley. Here the keas (mountain parrots) were very inquisitive and destructive. They had pecked holes in the roof so there were leaks in the common room that the ranger had not had a chance to fix yet.

The final morning of the tramp we heard kiwi birds calling just before daybreak and decided to take a wlk before breakfast. We walked about 100 metres back up the trail and back and then headed down the trail. Doug was about 10 metres ahead of me. About 100 meters down the trail, a large brown mass hopped across the trail between us. I hissed his name to get his attention and then we saw it in the brush alnongside the trail. The great KIWI BIRD quest had been fulfilled. They are huge - about 40 cm tall (round). And boy can they run. this one took off up the trail and we could not keep up with it. It doesn't look like much in the picture as it was running away but we saw it! Third time was the charm.

The final day as we ambled down the Arthur River Valley, there were waterfalls after waterfalls. This one is McKay Falls.

The last few miles were pretty long but we made it to Sandfly Point. Everyone had warned us about the sandflies but they are nothing compared to Maine black flies.

Milford Sound was pretty well socked in. The top of Mitre Peak was not visible.

The short ferry ride across Milford Sound returned us to get the bus back to Te Anau.











We had completed the Finest Walk in the World. Fiordland is spectacular, even in the rain. If you ever get to NZ, Fiordland must be on your itinerary.

On The Road Again - South NZ Style

Sorry for the long time delay between postings. Computer access has been very intermittent while on the road and I don't like paying for computer time. It takes me a long time to get posts ready.



On 20 October we packed up all of our stuff and left ChCh, heading south along the east coast of South Island. We took only camping gear with us, leaving the rest in storage with a friend in ChCh. The first niht we camped just north of Dunedin at Ross Creek Scenic Reserve.

















The next night we camped at the gorgeous and isolated Purakaunui Bay. We had the place almost to ourselves. Note our blue tent in the foreground. Rob and Leann - a very inebreated couple from Wanaka invited us over to their campfire for wine/beer and shots of the local speciality. They had Cat Stevens playing on the car stereo.

Chilling our requisite bottle of wine in the cool water was challenging as the tidal surge tended to bury the bottle. Luckily, Doug kept track of it and was able to fish it out.

The following morning, the perfectly clear horizon yielded a spectacular sunrise complete with green flash. Yes, it happens at sunrise too. Be sure to watch carefully anytime you see sunrise or sunset over a clear ocean horizon.

We then walked in to the very peaceful Purakaunui Falls just after breakfast.

Doug got me to climb into a hollow tree alolng the path to the falls.

We got our first glimpse of Stewart Island fon the horizon from the southern tip of South Island. Thus began chapter two in the great kiwi bird quest. You see, the brown kiwi on Stewart have to spend so much time foraging for food that they are active during daylight hours. We had high hopes of spotting the elusive critter.

The hour long ferry ride across Foveaux Strait was calm and uneventful.

Oban is the charming little town on Stewart Island. We spent the first night at Jo and Andy's B&B. They were a cool couple to chat with. We had dinner at the Church Hill Cafe. We had blue cod and titi (mutton bird or sooty shearwater or albatross) both local specialities. The titi can only me harvested on several nearby islets by the local Maoris.

We missed seeing the very rare kakapo parrot by one day but saw and heard flocks of kaka, another parrot while walking though the rainforest in town.

The next afternoon we went to the smallest airport ever. We waited in the shuttle van on the side of the air strip and then boarded an eight passenger plane for our flight across the island. The flight had to be timed so we would arrive for the beach landing at low tide.

Here we are unloading gear

and setting off down the beach in the direction of the Mason Bay Department of Conservation Hut. It was a lonely feeling to see the plane departing and knowing that we were going to walk halfway back across the island.

The hut was back off the beach behind the dunes.

We heard kiwi. We saw kiwi scat. We saw kiwi poke holes (where they dig for invertebrates in the mud). We saw kiwi tracks. But we saw no kiwi birds. The drated critters still did not cooperate.

We slogged 14 pretty muddy kilometers across Stewart Island. Some of it was so swampy that there were board walks.

The water taxi picked us up at Freshwater Landing on the Freshwater River for the rest of the journey back to Golden Bay. A short tramp over the hill got us back to Oban.










The ferry ride back across the strait to Bluff was again calm and uneventful. The sign post at the end of highway 1 shows just how far away most things are from NZ.

From here we headed north toward fiordland.