Day 39 – Feb 13 – Stewart Island, NZ

Unbelievably perfect day.  At the dock, I was very fortunate to have met a New Zealander hiker who told me about a track that was doable for me in the time that I had to spend on Stewart Island.  He regularly comes to this remote destination to hike the trails of the National Park.  He suggested a hike that went through a lush forest along the rocky shore, along the way I would see two historic sites and a lighthouse.  I happily tramped through a fishing village, various bays and inlets and finally took a dirt road back into the center of Oban (the major town).  This gave me four hours of the kind of hiking that I was looking for, no summit was reached but many ups and downs along the way.  Enough for me to get a good pace going as I marveled at the foliage and the views out to sea.

  The Golden Bay Track was graveled most of the way and very well marked.

Ship seen from the track.

The Fantail Bird

Check out the huge seaweed.

I was tempted….

Goat tied up along side the road.

Ackers Stone house.  An early settler, William Acker, an American who was a former whaler and his Maori wife lived her with their 9 children.

Former Island transportation.

Leask Bay

Rakiura, the Maori name for Stewart Island means “shimmering sky”

These Australian fisherman asked me for directions!!!

I had a quick lunch in front of the grocery store and had a good time watching the locals, hikers and tourists.  A town of 390 doesn’t require a lot of services.

Kiwis (the birds) outnumber people on this island.

Eventually I had to start heading back to the ship and leave this pristine place of such natural beauty.  However, I took one more track through the rain forest to hopefully keep it all in my memory.

I was so glad to see at the dock once again the nice man who earlier in the day gave me such a wonderful trail suggestion.  His name is Alastair and he lives in Wellington, NZ.

Here’s the map that I followed with the trail marked from Golden Bay to Ackers Point Lighthouse back to the town of Oban