Adventure on Stewart Island

Sunday, May 13th:

Brianne and I parted ways with Frank and Chris to continue south and head for Stewart Island. We made it just in time for our 4 pm ferry departure, found some seats and awaited our cruise to Stewart Island. Brianne told me earlier that she didn’t really like traveling over water, but this boat was pretty large and I told her that is couldn’t be too choppy. I was wrong. Foveaux Srait, in between the New Zealand’s South Island and Stewart Island, is the second worse crossing in the world. At first I was quite excited, the 80 foot boat powering over 25 foot waves was like a roller coaster or the log ride at the old Elitches--but there is a reason that roller coaster are usually only a couple of minutes at most. We both got a little sick, but arrived safe and sound on Stewart Island an hour later.

On the Island we immediately met Joe and Andy at their bed and breakfast. We were taken back at the small town feel which was embodied in these two. Joe was a seventh generation Stewart Islander, and for an island of 200 full time residents, that is quite a bragging right. Andy was from Idaho and his burly beard necessarily suggested that he was created for the remote life Stewart Island offered.

It was great to be on Stewart Island in the off season. During the summer months they see as many as a few hundred visitors a day and the town is distinctly marked by tourists. As we strolled around this little town that only took ten minutes to walk across we saw cars with their keys in the ignition, people working on the homes and stores, artists with the crafts sprawled out—the pace was very slow. We met many locals who were excited to talk to us and treated us with hospitality that I’m sure they are unable to show a couple hundred tourists a day. We had dinner at the local hotel, which offered only a bar, that night. Brianne and I enjoyed the company of several slightly inebriated sailors, we ate our fresh muscles and drank our Five Flax as we prepared for the tramp the next day.

Monday, May 14th:

We were awoken by Andy to fresh Muesli, yoghurt, English breakfast tea and toast. At a quick glance outside we noticed that it was raining and a bit windy, but our bags were packed and our spirits were high so we went down to Golden bay to meet Ken who would take us to freshwater landing in his water taxi and there would begin our tramp. Ken, whom the locals refer to as Kentankerous, wasn’t exactly feeling it. The waves were around 15 feet and Kentankerous was less than excited to brave them in his 12 ft water taxi. We convinced him to give it a go and after a while, as I was getting feet of separation from my seat over the larger waves, Ken, Brianne and I decided that it wasn’t the best of ideas. Ken decided to turn that beast around and we headed back to the DOC office to plan another trip on the spot.

Still eager to get out and see more of the island, we decided to go to Port Williams hut, which is along the Raikuara track—the Great Walk on Stewart Island. We departed from the DOC with an hour and a half walk on the road to the trail head, but the first person we stuck our them out to was more than willing to take us all the way there, a few miles out of his way. Stewart Island is known for its dense temperate rainforests and its flourishing birdlife. It was a delight to be among bush, beaches, and birds like those. The rain persisted lightly throughout the hike but we found that rain can be quite beautiful. Water droplets hung like ornaments from huge green leafs. Everything felt so wet, so clean, so alive. Hiking with Brianne was awesome. It was our first backpacking trip together and the setting couldn’t have been any more incredible. We spent the afternoon laughing, enjoying the beauty around us, running around on the beaches, cooking and eating. We had Port Williams hut to ourselves for the afternoon and much time was spent near the window, safe from the rain enjoying the beauty of our surroundings.

We had anticipated having the hut to ourselves that night, but at about 5 pm, only an hour before dark, a few others started to show up at the hut. First, there were two guys from the states, then another couple guys from Europe, then came a group of 14 high school boys and girls from Timaru—only a couple hours south of Christchuch. Suddenly the 20 bunk hut was full. It is funny how things work out though, we ended up quite enjoying the company of the other people there. We shared stories, ate together, talked about where our adventures should be taking us next and encouraged one another in our journeys. Looking back at our full night at Port Williams Hut, I couldn’t imagine it having been any other way.