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Stewart Island Jan 6-16

by Wayne Stevens

We began the trip by meeting at 7.45am at Invercargill Airport. It was good to see that Johnny was still in one piece after his two week Fiordland trip. We promptly caught the 8am flight to Stewart Island, taking advantage of the half fares offered by flying student standby.

After arriving at Halfmoon bay we had a discussion with the local ranger and obtained a permit to enter the restricted Kakapo study area at the southern end of Stewart Island. We then placed our heavy packs, containing 10 days of food and tentage on our backs and departed for the North Arm hut.

The next day we awoke and left by 5.30am, (real alpine start type stuff) to take advantage of the low tide in North Arm. By leaving at this hour of the morning we were able to cut across the tidal area at North Arm (which is about ½ km wide) and the tidal mudflat - sandy area at Patterson Inlet (about 4km wide) which saved us the day of tramping it would have taken to walk around on the track. That afternoon we made it to Rakeahua hut, with Johnny heading up Mt Rakeahua to take in the view, whilst I indulged in an afternoon snooze.

The following day we rose in fine weather again and set off to travel up onto the Tin Range and enter the Kakapo study area. About ½ hour after leaving the hut Nigel badly gashed his leg on a wire footbridge. That night, after a couple of hours of painful tramping for Nigel, we decided to set up camp on the Tin range.

The next day, after considering the state of Nigel's leg and my lack of fitness, we forgot our plans of bush-bashing on the Tin range and instead travelled to Doughboy Bay. We set off in beautifully fine weather and made good progress, stopping en route to take in the view from Doughboy Hill. That afternoon we made it to Doughboy Bay and decided to stay the night in a large cave in the bay. We spent the afternoon talking to a local fisherman and looking amongst some of the junk washed up on the beach from Japanese fishing boats in the area. Amongst the junk Nigel found half a bottle of Saki, but on trying to drink it he found it to be spoilt by seawater.

The next day we had another lazy day and went across to the Masons Bay where we spent the rest of the day swiming, fishing and catching whitebait. That night, upon hearing Kiwi calls in the surrounding bush we decided to go out and see if we could spot one. After sitting a short period we were approached by one Kiwi which came within an arms length and was about double the size of any previous Kiwi any of us had seen before.

Swimming and fishing were once again the main activities for the following day. We caught three or four fish at the southern end of Masons Bay, but the main attraction of the day was the spectacle I made of myself by falling off rocks whilst catching a fish. An unplanned swim resulted for myself and also a good washing of my clothes, whilst a camera in my pocket was ruined (this wasn't so bad as it gave a good opportunity to claim for it on insurance).

We tramped to the Little Hellfire Biv on the following say and enjoyed the good weather and views on the way. The next day we travelled to Bensons Peak Hut and decidedthe following day to avoid the tourists on the North West tramping circuit by tramping down to Freshwater Landing. The tramp down to the landing was made on a really wet day, with the fine weather that existed from the start of the tramp having apparently come to an end. The trip from Freshwater Landing Hut to North Arm was made this time using the coastal track, and it soon showed why this portion of the track was unpopular with the tourists. We didn't mind the mud which was up to our thighs in places, because a swim and a wash followed at North Arm.

The final day was spent tramping out to Halfmoon Bay and also spent in the local pub whilst we waited for the time until the ferry departed in the afternoon.

Nigel Fitzpatrick (L)

Johnny Mulheron

Wayne Stevens