Coast to Coast on Stewart Island
Most people think that New Zealand has 2 islands, north and south, but actually it has many more, Stewart island is one of the extra islands in New Zealand, in Maori it's named Rakiura meaning glowing night's sky.
The island features many walks with various difficulties, we did the Coast to Coast walk, which walks from the only town on the island to the other, unpopulated, side of the island.
The island features many walks with various difficulties, we did the Coast to Coast walk, which walks from the only town on the island to the other, unpopulated, side of the island.
a deer out side freshwater hut
Before we talk about the walk, in terms of gear we planned on taking enough food for 10 days without resupplies, this fact makes the bag instantly at least 10 kilos heavier, on top of that I also took all of my photography gear, the island is home to a lot of special New Zealand wildlife, and we also packed the rest of what we usually take on hikes.
In total my pack weighed somewhere in the 30 kg mark, I would not advise anyone to carry this much weight to any adventure without being used to carrying these kinds of weights on a regular basis.
In total my pack weighed somewhere in the 30 kg mark, I would not advise anyone to carry this much weight to any adventure without being used to carrying these kinds of weights on a regular basis.
walking on the sand dunes around mason bay
Once we got to the island we were really excited, we wanted to start walking as soon as possible, and we did, we found the trail head and started walking towards North Arm hut, this hut sits on the Rakiura track which is a New Zealand great walk, unfortunately the hut was infected with bed bugs so we didn't take the risk and slept in our tent, the first day's walk is not hard, it's pretty flat and walks on a very well maintained track, because I was carrying a really heavy bag I had a bit of a hard time.
The tent site was lovely, all around we could see Wood pigeons and when night came the skies were clear and weather was lovely, we actually missed sleeping in our tent.
We even heard a Kiwi walking around the tents but could not see it.
The second day was the hardest day, we woke up early knowing there's going to be a long day ahead, expecting a 7 hour walk, soon we realized that the track from the camp onwards only becomes harder, we started walking and soon enough I started feeling the weight of my bag slowing me down and making the already hard and steep terrain even harder, the track crosses a few streams and generally stays at the same sea level height, the only catch with that is that it goes up 20 very steep meters and down 20 very steep meters, this goes on for the whole day until you reach a very steep long climb followed by a very steep long slope, this part of the track is very hard, during this day I fell on my face and on my bum more than once, it's very frustrating. Later we found out that it's one of the hardest sections on the island and very few people actually walk it, which results in very poor maintenance of the track.
At the end of the day it took us around 8 and a half hours, we arrived to freshwater hut, a lovely hut with an incredible view of the river.
The tent site was lovely, all around we could see Wood pigeons and when night came the skies were clear and weather was lovely, we actually missed sleeping in our tent.
We even heard a Kiwi walking around the tents but could not see it.
The second day was the hardest day, we woke up early knowing there's going to be a long day ahead, expecting a 7 hour walk, soon we realized that the track from the camp onwards only becomes harder, we started walking and soon enough I started feeling the weight of my bag slowing me down and making the already hard and steep terrain even harder, the track crosses a few streams and generally stays at the same sea level height, the only catch with that is that it goes up 20 very steep meters and down 20 very steep meters, this goes on for the whole day until you reach a very steep long climb followed by a very steep long slope, this part of the track is very hard, during this day I fell on my face and on my bum more than once, it's very frustrating. Later we found out that it's one of the hardest sections on the island and very few people actually walk it, which results in very poor maintenance of the track.
At the end of the day it took us around 8 and a half hours, we arrived to freshwater hut, a lovely hut with an incredible view of the river.
We decided to stay for a rest day in the hut to rest and take some photos, while staying in the hut and exploring the area around it, we saw some birds, what made me realize that actually the forest we've been walking in is pretty quiet and that the town actually had more birds in it, this made me very sad, both as a nature lover and as a wildlife photographer. We had some meetings with birds but they were few and far apart, they were definitely less than what we expected to see. Anyways, around the hut we also saw a white tail deer that came to graze on the grass.
At night, I went to shoot the stars. It was amazing to see how many stars were in the sky, I felt really lucky to get a clear sky night because this region is known to have a lot of rain and cloudy days.
At night, I went to shoot the stars. It was amazing to see how many stars were in the sky, I felt really lucky to get a clear sky night because this region is known to have a lot of rain and cloudy days.
Freshwater river at night
After our rest day we were ready to continue the journey towards Mason Bay hut, this hut is one of the largest huts on the island, the walk to the hut is relatively easy, it's flat and short. I had blisters on my feet which made the walk a lot harder, painful and slow.
Luckily my girlfriend pulled me and supported me throughout the way, making it easier on me.
Luckily my girlfriend pulled me and supported me throughout the way, making it easier on me.
When we got to the hut we both understood why it is so big, Mason bay is just around the corner and there is an airplane landing strip on the shore, bringing people to the hut, those people after spending some time in the hut and nature, then walk to freshwater hut on the easy route and take a water taxi back to the town, making the coast to coast track a lot easier.
We didn't know about that and were very disappointed, not because of choosing the hard route, but because we were constantly surrounded by people when all we really wanted was to have a unique nature experience on an island.
We didn't know about that and were very disappointed, not because of choosing the hard route, but because we were constantly surrounded by people when all we really wanted was to have a unique nature experience on an island.
We stayed in Mason bay hut for a few days, to get our strength back, to explore the surroundings and to wait out the bad weather that came in.
Around Mason bay we walked on the sand dunes and in the forests, we looked for birds and wildlife, they were there but not in the amounts we thought we'd see.
Eventually we decided to walk back to Freshwater hut and try to book a water taxi back to town.
Around Mason bay we walked on the sand dunes and in the forests, we looked for birds and wildlife, they were there but not in the amounts we thought we'd see.
Eventually we decided to walk back to Freshwater hut and try to book a water taxi back to town.
Mason bay at night
We woke up at 3am and started getting ready. At some point I went to the toilet and could hear something running away from right next to my feet, I turned my flashlight on and there stood a Kiwi!
It was looking around looking for food and got into the bushes, I was so excited.
When we finished getting ready we started walking to Freshwater hut, it was 5am, we walked 5 minutes and we spotted another Kiwi, we froze still, it looked at us, we looked at him, he started walking slowly towards us, our excitement grew with every step, eventually he stopped next to me and started sniffing my leg, I tried to keep it together from all the excitement, then he got bored and walked away, wow, how LUCKY are we!
Two Kiwis in one night and so close to us! We made the right decision.
The walk back was really easy, and seeing the sunrise gave us hope for the upcoming day.
On the way we saw a few New Zealand Robins following us so we befriended them and they sat on us trying to eat our shoelaces.
When we got to the bridge before the hut we spotted a Doe and a fowl grazing next to the hut, we approached slowly to not scare them away and found out there was another fowl, they looked at us and kept grazing, as we got closer they slowly went back into the forest.
It was looking around looking for food and got into the bushes, I was so excited.
When we finished getting ready we started walking to Freshwater hut, it was 5am, we walked 5 minutes and we spotted another Kiwi, we froze still, it looked at us, we looked at him, he started walking slowly towards us, our excitement grew with every step, eventually he stopped next to me and started sniffing my leg, I tried to keep it together from all the excitement, then he got bored and walked away, wow, how LUCKY are we!
Two Kiwis in one night and so close to us! We made the right decision.
The walk back was really easy, and seeing the sunrise gave us hope for the upcoming day.
On the way we saw a few New Zealand Robins following us so we befriended them and they sat on us trying to eat our shoelaces.
When we got to the bridge before the hut we spotted a Doe and a fowl grazing next to the hut, we approached slowly to not scare them away and found out there was another fowl, they looked at us and kept grazing, as we got closer they slowly went back into the forest.
Throughout the day we could see them coming and going grazing the grass and going back to the forest.
We managed to talk with the water taxi driver and book a ride back to town, we had a full day to spare at Freshwater hut and we spent it looking for birds and deer around the hut.
We weren't too excited about the experience we had, we planned on having a quiet time alone with nature and ended up getting something else entirely.
Then we decided to look at all the good things we got from the experience, we went to be with nature looking for birds and that's exactly what we did.
We weren't too excited about the experience we had, we planned on having a quiet time alone with nature and ended up getting something else entirely.
Then we decided to look at all the good things we got from the experience, we went to be with nature looking for birds and that's exactly what we did.
wood pigeon in the forest
Extra: a video about our Stewart Island Journey
