RAKIURA STEWART ISLAND - PART THREE

 ACTIVITIES

Stewart Island is a hilly little bugger so everywhere you go you have to be prepared to walk uphill, and then downhill at some point. The ups and downs can be quite steep so I took my walking stick hiking pole with me as well as a leg brace for my damaged left knee.

There are lots of walking tracks including the country's longest hiking trail - the North West circuit which is a 10-12 day, 125 km hike. 

It can be quite muddy.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to do this walk. We did however go for daily walks of several hours long, including a 4 hour walk around Ulva Island. We accessed this by ferry which was roughly (rougher on the way back) a half hour journey.

ULVA

Ulva is a bird sanctuary and is pristine and beautiful. The timber has never been milled so there are great examples of old Rimu, Miro, Rata and Totara in a dense bush setting.

We crisscrossed the end of the island where there were approved walking tracks which led to several beaches (golden sand, rocky, black sand, with sealions, without sealions, with weka, without weka), high points at the top of valleys, dense fern plantations full of birdlife, viewpoints and historical locations.

I've got lots of photos but these will give you the idea.

MIDNIGHT KIWI EXPEDITION

We went by boat to a remote island one night and in a guided walk group trekked through bush along the coastline to look for kiwi. This was at night so I was unable to take photographs (except for earlier on at dusk which I will publish under the heading FLORA and FAUNA). It was spectacularly creepy as the bush paths were in pitch darkness. We were issued with very low wattage torches that were to shine at your feet so as not to trip over obstacles. The guides had more powerful torches but these were infrared. When the guides thought that they heard something they stopped still and we all turned our torches off, standing in the dark. The guides would move away into the trees occasionally turning on their red lights. In the stillness the trees cracked and groaned as they rubbed against each other. It was like a scene out of the Blair Witch Project. BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

We didn't see any kiwi but the trip was worth it.

WATERCRESS WALK

The Watercress track was just behind the B&B we were staying in. It went from the crest of the hill above Golden Bay down to another bay. Here there were old boat sheds that apparently sell for upwards of $200,000 since no new ones can be built on the island.

 We walked through bush that had 800 year old Rimu  trees. Beautiful.

GOLF COURSE

Of course I couldn't resist going to play golf. Strange enough The Old Girl decided to stay at the B&B to read. This was a really nice place with views of the bays on two sides and  a huge garden leading down to bush (and the Watercress track).

We didn't have transport on the island so I set off walking to find the golf course. I walked for over an hour  down to Oban village and around Horseshoe Bay before trekking up a gravel road. This was bloody hard work and my knee was just about giving way on me. Here's an old fashioned selfie of me making my way:

On reaching the golf course an hour and a half after I set out I discovered that the 'clubhouse' was closed up (it's only a casual 6-hole course) and green fees could be paid by an honesty box system. That was OK as I am honest and I did have money in my pocket but ........ there was no facility to hire golf clubs. I discovered the next day that clubs could be hired from the visitor centre in town. This was of no use to me as, without transport I wasn't going to lug the bloody things up and down those steep gravel roads again.

The Old Girl is calling me to make a loaf of bread. I have to go.

Part Four will come later.