Stewart Island

-The plan started without a plan-

After booking our ferry to Stewart Island, the third largest and southernmost island of New Zealand, there was only one thing we were certain we wanted to find there: a kiwi.
We had done some research on possible destinations (mainly the best kiwi spotting spots) on the internet and in conversations with Jane. But one night before we were supposed to leave, we suddenly realized that we had booked an expensive ferry without knowing exactly how we would spend the 5 days there.
Well, it was too late for that now, and in the end, everything turned out differently than expected.

The farewell from the wwoofer family was harder than expected, but after a sweet "I will miss you!" from Conrad, we had to hitchhike our way to Bluff again, because we didn't want to leave our car unattended there for 4 nights.
This time too, everything went smoothly, so we even arrived at the harbor almost 2 hours early.

Unfortunately, it was raining when we arrived on the island. After setting up our "bargain" $18 tent (or €12), we went to the tourist information center and bought the hiking guide for the day trips on site. As it turned out, apart from expensive kiwi-spotting tours, hiking was the main activity on this island.

Well, then let's go hiking. So we walked almost all of the 13 day tracks over the next few days, proudly covering 50 km in 4 days. On the beautiful tracks that meandered through jungle-like forests and paradisiacal coasts, we were always trying to be quiet to see the kiwis (which are only found there) that are active during the day. When we still hadn't spotted one after the 2nd day, we started to get impatient. That's why we read the kiwi spotter book in the backpacker hostel to find out where the other visitors saw their first kiwi.
So the next morning at 5:30, we got up to lay in wait at the nearby rugby field. After two hours, two frightened deer, hundreds of sandflies, and lots of rustling noises and kiwi calls, we had to admit defeat. The next two days, we went there half-asleep and increasingly unmotivated, but unfortunately, we had to accept the fact that the supposedly 10,000 kiwis on Stewart Island, like unicorns, must be a myth of New Zealand. As we found out in the hostel, we were not the only ones who didn't see a kiwi during those days.
In the end, we had to admit that we didn't reach our goal, but the trip was still worth every penny.
Overall, you can describe the island, with its impressive, deserted nature, as another highlight of our trip so far.

However, in retrospect, we should have invested some more money in our tent, as the missing flysheet meant that we woke up every morning (even after dry nights) with dripping wet inner walls. As we later read on the packaging, this tent was obviously not suitable for wet and windy conditions.

Now we are heading up the west coast in the next few days/weeks, where we will discover more beautiful places.
But tomorrow we will first take a boat tour in the Fiordland through the famous Milford Sounds.