We had Freshwater Hut to ourselves so were well rested when we woke in the morning. The weather was marginally better and we gathered more firewood before setting off on a day trip to climb Rocky Mountain. It's about a 3 hour return hike but we weren't in any hurry, and with heavy overnight rain we knew that the mud puddles would only be deeper.
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The turn-off to Rocky Mountain summit - the right hand track leads back
to Halfmoon Bay via Thomson Ridge |
The bush walk, before the going gets steep, is really pretty - lots of crown fern and beautiful trees; not a lot of birdsong because we were talking too much! Native birds appear when you are still and quiet, but there weren't many places to sit that weren't under water.
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| Can you see the baby kakapo chick in this pic? |
The track wound upward and we got a glimpse or two of the surrounding area when the low cloud parted. Frequent showers and hail accompanied us but the sun shone briefly which was worth a photo!
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| Yay! Sunshine! |
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| Quite easy climbing but watch out for slippery branches and roots |
It's hot work climbing despite the hail lying on the ground so I'd taken off a layer earlier in the climb. We reached the summit in time for lunch but in the few minutes that we took to put some warmer clothing on and take a GPS waypoint of the cairn marking the track, we realised that we needed to head back into shelter. After a couple of quick photos and a pledge to return on a sunny day, we headed back down the track to eat our lunch.
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| Jen and Owen on Rocky Mountain summit (549m) - Mason Bay is at top left |
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| Looking north over Rocky Mountain summit |
We thought the going down would be harder than what it was - the mud was soft and deep enough to stop us from slipping so we made good progress back. We got some good views in some places - would be stunning on a clear day.
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| Looking back toward Mason Bay |
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| Looking down on Freshwater Flats |
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| Slow and steady down the steep bits |
My camera battery was getting down a bit so I didn't take many photos of the weird and wonderful plant life. I found this ?lichen up near the summit, along with the thick 'goo' that covered most of the branches up there - it looked like a miniature air vent sculpture!
Wood smoke greeted us as we neared the hut and it was great to meet up with the three North West Circuit trampers that we shared Mason Bay Hut with. They spent two nights at Mason Bay and had a wet tramp to Freshwater with the track knee-deep in water in some spots. We got back just in time to catch Martin (from Czech Republic) and Javiera (from Chile) preparing for a swim across Freshwater River; I reckon that maybe 10 days of tramping makes you delusional! Ondrej (also from Czech Republic) decided it was more sensible to stay dry.
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| Javi making it safely across the river |
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| Freshwater River - upstream of the swingbridge |
We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and hearing the stories that go with travelling around the world. It's neat that so many overseas visitors enjoy our tramping tracks and New Zealand lifestyle; what great stories they'll have to tell their families when they return home.
We were joined early evening by 3 more overseas trampers who were also doing the North West Circuit. They had walked from Big Hellfire Hut, stopping only briefly at Mason Bay before heading over to Freshwater Hut in the same day - an impressive distance of 30.5km. We were already in bed when a male kiwi called just before 10pm, and were woken in the early hours of the morning with a kiwi male/female duet just outside the hut - magic!!
Another overcast day dawned and we waved goodbye to the trampers who intended walking all the way out to Halfmoon Bay. The track over Thomson Ridge is some of the trickiest tramping on the island, steep, slippery and climbing up/down tree roots. It's only 11km to North Arm Hut but average time is 6-7hrs, with another 4-5hrs out to Halfmoon Bay.
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| The superfast trampers from New Mexico and France |
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| Javi, Ondrej and Martin heading off to tackle Thomson Ridge |
We felt a tad smug taking the easy way (water taxi) back to the village but we helped out by carrying out the trampers' rubbish. After cleaning the hut we explored part of the Southern Circuit from Freshwater Landing to Freds Camp. It didn't take long as no-one was keen to wade across the chest-deep stream 10 minutes from the hut! Instead we headed back towards Mason Bay for almost an hour before calling it a day and sloshing our way back to the hut for soup and sandwiches before packing for our 1pm water taxi.
If you come to Stewart Island then try to include a trip to Mason Bay if possible. The Coast to Coast is a unique experience and although the kiwi didn't tug at our shoe laces this time, we live in hope that next time they will!
