- Chapter 12

The time of work has been behind us for over a week now. The next trip took us to Stewart Island. We had already planned this at the beginning of January. So we left our accommodation at our employer's place and headed towards Bluff. From here we took the ferry to Oban.

Wednesday, 29.01.2020: Time to prepare our backpacks for the three-day stay. We followed our packing list, hoping not to forget anything. As it turned out, that was not the case. On the contrary! We had packed too much, of course.

The next day we set off. We parked our car, shouldered our luggage and checked in. Until now we did not know what to expect. So we got on board and looked forward to our trip.

Too soon to celebrate. We had already been warned that the crossing would not be a walk in the park, but this bad? Yes, that bad! Although we had good weather conditions, the ferry was tossed back and forth by the waves. We were relieved when we had solid ground under our feet again. Before we could continue, we had to recover from the nausea that had arisen.

We continued to the DOC Center, where we picked up the ticket for our next accommodation. As well as general information and an overview of the Rakiura Track. We planned to conquer this track and set off.

It led over muddy paths, uphill and downhill. A total of 13km to our destination, the "North Arm Hut". Finally there, we put down our luggage, made our beds in the barracks and were called for the hut briefing.

After this information and our dinner, we went to bed and set an alarm to go on a nocturnal kiwi hunt. However, due to the weather, this was unsuccessful. The night was less calm and relaxed than we had hoped. But what can you expect when 12 people sleep in one room and the wind shakes the accommodation?

The next morning we decided to take the same route back to the town. Since it had stormed and rained all night, the path looked even worse than the day before. We had to constantly watch out not to sink into the mud or slip.

When we finally reached the town and thus the hostel, we were relieved and looked forward to a long, hot shower.
Afterwards, we made ourselves comfortable on the bed before we wanted to go on the trail of the national birds for a second time.

Since they are mainly nocturnal animals, we armed ourselves with red flashlights and set off. We were told at the hostel that the local rugby field was a good place to spot the birds. This was our first port of call. Unfortunately, none of the kiwis decided to come out. From there we went to two more spotting points, but again no luck. So we went back to our room a little disappointed.

The next day was already our last day on the island. Since our ferry did not leave until 5 p.m., we dropped off our backpacks at the luggage drop-off and spent the time exploring Oban. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to discover that had nothing to do with hiking.

The return journey by ferry was fortunately a bit more relaxed than the outward journey. Nevertheless, we were delighted when we were back on land. We drove back to the campsite with our car. There, everything was packed back in its place and the next steps were planned. The next destination should be Milford Sound.