As one backpacker put it, “The boat ride was worth the trip”! Wind gusts up to 45 knots and seas up to 5 meters is very rough sailing but the captain grew up on Foveaux Strait and was obviously more than qualified. The boat, a catamaran measuring 20 meters, was designed to handle such conditions as long as the driver knows what they are doing. The crossing from Bluff on the South Island to Stewart Island takes an hour. Today it was the roughest and most exciting ferry crossing I have ever experienced. No problem with seasickness but I think a little adrenaline may have helped to stave it off. The morning started out clear but the winds were strong. Shortly after leaving the dock at Bluff a squall blew in which intensified already rough conditions.
Stewart Island is mostly national park consisting of temperate rain forest and coastline with beaches. It’s not a place you want to swim as the water is cold, the currents unpredictable, and the world’s third largest community of Great White sharks swim the waters.
The Island gets plenty of rain and lately the weather has been particularly filthy. There is a nice network of hiking trails but current conditions allow for mud up to the waist. Aside of weather and poor trail conditions there are logistical issues with planning a hike. Will and I took the afternoon to sort it out and make a decision. We also checked out accommodation options and chose to camp despite continuing strong winds because the sun came out for awhile. Fortunately, if the weather reports are correct, the next few days should be considerably better.
The plan as of now is to take a water taxi during high tide up to access a section of trail where we can hike to the other side of the Island, camp a couple of days, then retrace our steps to have a water taxi shuttle us out. It allows for 4 nights to either camp or stay in a hut and 3 days to explore, hike, and seek out an elusive Kiwi in the wild. Apparently there are Kiwis all over the Island but they generally come out at night and are not always that easy to spot. We are set to go tomorrow but it depends on the waters being calm enough for the water taxi.
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