The last part of my Mason Bay adventure spotlights the Island Hill Homestead initially built by William Walker in 1884, five years after he took up the lease for the 2,500ha of Pastoral Run 419. Walker built his flock of sheep up to 1600 sheep before selling the farm in 1893 to Welles Orton Charlton, who subsequently sold up to Arthur Traill Junior in 1923. George and Stanford Leask, who were farming the Kilbride run, took over Island Hill from Arthur in 1942 and the last owner, Tim Te Aika, bought the lease in 1965 and ran 1,200 merino/romney sheep for 20 years before selling his stake to the Government in 1985. Since the final muster in 1986 the sheep paddocks have been left to revegetate naturally and the Homestead is now a base for DOC operations at Mason Bay and scientists. Down the track 200m stands the southernmost woolshed and sheep yards giving a glimpse of the hardship of farming in such isolation.
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Mason Bay Homestead kitchen - the new gas stove has recently been
installed. The coal range needs to be lit for heating and hot water. |
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| Mason Bay Homestead lounge/dining room |
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| Mason Bay Homestead bathroom |
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| My bedroom |
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| Jen's bedroom |
The woolshed was built in 1953 by Stanford Leask and, each summer, around 1500 sheep were hand shorn. Around 1966 electric clippers, first powered by tractor and later a generator, made the job easier although it was always a challenge to get the wool clip off to market.
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| Mason Bay Woolshed - Jen's looking at the sheep dip |
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| No wire netting here - all done with rope |
We walked back to Freshwater Landing with the wind at our backs. There's several hundred metres of long narrow boardwalk over the Chocolate Swamp, so called due to the colour of the water - I would definitely think twice about walking it in a severe crosswind. There are a couple of wider sections so you can pass trampers coming from the opposite direction but with heavy pack and tramping boots I'm very glad I didn't have to try them out!
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| Boardwalk over the Chocolate Swamp |
Finally, a couple of bikes! The first is Mother Nature's version...
...and the second was a strange discovery we made about an hour's tramp from Freshwater Hut.
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Not sure who added the recent hoodie jacket, the bike has been there
for quite a while! |
