I woke early on Saturday and decided to explore an area where I hadn't been. Potirepo/Port William was first an early M
āori settlement, then home to sealers and whalers and in the 1870s it was where a number of Shetland Islanders made their home. It is now the site of one of the DOC huts on the 36km Rakiura Track, one of NZ's 'Great Walks'. The start of the track is at Lee Bay but I decided to turn off a wee bit before then and go up Garden Mound (see label A). Unless you've been here before, my introduction is probably double dutch - here's a map...
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Way up to Port William (solid line), dotted line different route back.
Wooding Bay is Māori Beach |
The Garden Mound track climbs to around 160m above sea level and winds its way through unmilled native forest. The track is normally muddy and slippery but no significant rain for 6 weeks or so means the mud has just about dried up. There are a few view ports from the top (see below) but my best photos were of native bush flowers and trees - definitely a place worth more than one visit!
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| Garden Mound entrance off Lee Bay Road |
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| Old rimu standing sentinel in the unmilled bush |
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View near the top of Garden Mound - Horseshoe Bay just
visible in middle, Halfmoon Bay is next bay up, then
Paterson Inlet at top |
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| New fern koru |
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| Rimu fronds |
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| Rimu trunk with flaking bark |
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| Supplejack |
The Rakiura Track is an all-weather track that is gravelled (well up to Port William, not sure about the rest of it!) and reasonably easy-walking. It was low tide so I could walk along the Little River beach on the way up but had to take the high tide route inland coming back. M
āori Beach is a gorgeous spot - white sands, a long sweeping beach with all sorts of shells on it - there's also a DOC campsite there with water, toilets and a kitchen shelter. I'll tell you more about the M
āori Beach historic site in a later blog. You can see the Port William jetty from the beach if you have good eyesight - or a zoom lens!
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| I've heard of leatherjacket fish but sandjacket?? |
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| Suspension footbridge at end of Māori Beach |
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| Looking back down the beach from the footbridge |
The track then winds north. At 1.6km from M
āori Beach there's the turnoff for North Arm, the other hut on the Rakiura Track. Both huts sleep 24 and they have to be booked in advance; there's also 3 campsites and because it's a Great Walk, there's no freedom camping until you get out of the Rakiura Track area. Just before the hut is the Port William campsite - how's this for a view?
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| View from Port William campsite - hut is a few minutes walk past the jetty |
Port William hut is another 1.9km on from North Arm turnoff but well worth the visit - it's set amongst huge gum trees which were initially planted by the Shetland Islanders.
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| View from jetty - hut is behind the tall gums |
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| Potirepo/Port William Hut |
I had lunch under the gum trees and watched the waves gently lapping at the white sands - what a perfect place although I suspect it's a bit rowdier when 24 trampers turn up :). All too soon, it was time to retrace my steps - it was a quicker walk back as I put my camera away for the most part, had to get pics of Lee Bay though as I bypassed it by going up Garden Mound...
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| Lee Bay |
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| Lee Bay - official start/end of the Rakiura Track |
The walk back home seemed much longer than it did earlier in the day but the thought of a cuppa drove me on. My wee tramp ended up being over 20km so I was early to bed but boy, was it worth it!!
