Coast to Coast - from Mason Bay Hut to Freshwater Landing

The 15km track from Mason Bay Hut to Freshwater Landing

(map courtesy of Google Maps)

At this time of year it doesn't start getting light until about 7.30am so the first two hours of our tramp were in the dark. The sky was stunningly starlit most of the time; just a few clouds breezing through but luckily no rain. It was cold though and crossing the Chocolate Swamp on iced-over boardwalk was a bit freaky. My new friends, Leanie, Madelane and Ise weren't expecting such a muddy track - they did amazingly well although we were cutting it a tad fine, arriving at Freshwater Landing only five minutes before the water-taxi. Phew! We had taken over 4½ hours (DOC time on signs is 3-4 hours) and whilst I never expect to achieve fast times (I stop frequently to take photos and talk to the birds), I didn't think we were walking that slowly either. Just as well we didn't see kiwi and stop to watch, otherwise Leanie, Madelane and Ise would be spending another night in a DOC hut instead of hot showers and soft beds in Oban.

Yay! We made it - thanks, Leanie, for the photo

I watched the water-taxi leave then climbed over the bridge to Freshwater Hut to have breakfast.

Freshwater Hut and swing bridge

Initially I had planned to climb Rocky Mountain, a 3hr return trip to the top of the hill; I've done it before but it was freezing cold, blowing a gale and visibility was poor. On a clear day the views would be spectacular - right over to Mason Bay on one side and Paterson Inlet on the other.  The frequent showers and low cloud made it a no-brainer to shelve it for another time. Just as well I did as I was treated to a male/female kiwi duet at 10.45am and again at 11.15am. I grabbed my camera and walked 50m up the track...

The track behind Freshwater Hut - wait for it...

What a beautiful female and such a poser!

She walked right past me as I stood on the track and I got the whole close encounter on video. Pure magic!

I spent the next couple of hours cutting firewood. Freshwater Hut is on the cold side of the hill so doesn't get a lot of sun at this time of year. The wood in the woodshed was wet and green and although there's a lot of manuka 'top', there's not a lot of bigger stuff around that keeps the woodburner well-fed. I got enough to keep it burning for a while and also leave enough wood for the next person to use.

Freshwater Hut and rainbow

After lunch I went on a recce along the track I'd be doing the next day; I timed myself up to the first stream crossing and then slow-walked back taking photos so I wasn't tempted to have a slow start in the morning. The track winds around beautiful trees - I couldn't resist taking these shots...

A magnificent rimu with outstretched arms

...or these of the track...

To save battery power I had an early tea and curled up in my sleeping bag shortly after dark. Kiwi calls accompanied my dreams and thoughts of what tomorrow might bring.

Kiwi cruising

This week's cruise ship visitors had a mixed bag of weather; they arrived yesterday morning in bright sunshine and just a gentle breeze - just perfect for wandering around the village.

The Silver Discoverer moored out in Halfmoon Bay

Low tide on Halfmoon Bay - lots of seaweed to collect for the garden

Looking up Main Road - 2km from home!

The wind got up during the night and dawn brought low cloud and drizzle for our visitors' guided tour to Ulva Island. Our choppy ride over in the water taxi was a tad bouncy but the tenders coming from the Silver Discoverer were open zodiacs so a lot more exposed than an enclosed water taxi. With a front moving through at speed there were times we thought the guided tour might be called off but the Weather Gods blessed us and passengers started arriving on Ulva Island - a tad wet in the rain and spray but full of enthusiasm.

Lots of people and narrow paths make for a bit of congestion so I steered my group past a couple of others and we headed off to the Sydney Cove turn-off. Another group got there just before us so we changed plans and took another track; what a turn of luck though as partway along we came across a kiwi! Especially exciting as it's the first kiwi I've seen over at Ulva Island - and also the first Stewart Island kiwi that I've seen in daylight. We watched him/her for a few minutes and I managed to sneak in a quick pic before he/she disappeared into the bush on the other side of the track. Woohoo!

Nigel watching the kiwi cross the track

With huge grins on our faces, and with the sun coming out, we completed our short tour of beautiful Ulva Island. The island was set aside as a nature reserve in 1899 and I reckon it's one of the best examples of temperate rainforest in all of Aotearoa. I love its diversity - not only of the trees and birds, but especially of ferns, mosses, shrubs, lichens, orchids...

Zodiacs leaving Ulva Island jetty on the way back to the
Silver Discoverer on far right

My patch is a heap more modified than Ulva Island but there are still gems to be found when you look closely...



Lobelia angulata (above and below)



Thelymitra venosa orchid (above and below)

Clone required

My blogging has taken a back seat lately and I've lost my grip on remembering which photos I've put up, what my theme was going to be and whether I can recall what I did a fortnight ago! There always seems to be more work than hours in the day - or am I just getting slower? I apologise if the blogs are a bit disjointed as get up-to-date but I'd better get cracking as our tourist season (and longer hours at work) are just around the corner.

The tyre wall is slowly progressing; no more layers but 8½ more tyres were filled over the weekend. The soil I was filling them with has been too wet but I then had the brilliant idea that the soil that needs digging out under the garage would be dry and perfect for the tyres. It's quite satisfying being able to do two jobs at once but it would be even more satisfying if I could find a few clones to do the work with me!

Starting to dig out under the garage on Saturday

Sunday afternoon

Each tyre takes a heaped wheelbarrow's worth of dirt rammed in

My hands and wrists get sore trying to stretch the tyre with one hand and ram the soil with the other. To give them a break I decided to empty the ice-cream freezer that used to have a flourishing rhubarb plant growing. With no foliage to keep the rain out the freezer had filled up with water and was growing rat-tailed maggots (drone fly babies) and starting to smell. Not sure who told the blowflies but it didn't take long before their buzz filled the air and gave me an entertaining time trying to get a good photo of their iridescent blue and purple bodies!

Wet and smelly soil heap - it had a couple of possums buried in it!

Emptied and tipped over to drain - will have to put in some better drainage
before filling it up again

I think this is the native blue blowfly, Calliphora quadrimaculata
- about 12mm in length

Lovely shades of blue/purple in the sunshine

My fun time had to end and it was back to the tyres. I'm getting better at filling them but no matter how tight they feel at the end of the day, there's always soft patches the following morning. I guess the water in the soil evaporates in the sunshine but at this rate I'll be ramming more dirt in for years to come.

I've had a few kiwi visitors lately - lovely to hear them calling during the night or seeing their footprints in the mud.

A kiwi footprint alongside my size 5 gumboot print

These are super-fresh prints



Kiwi on my boundary track

More kiwi

Another week of gorgeous weather with frosty mornings and stunning days; it's easy to see why I love winter down here. Rakiura/Stewart Island generally escapes the snow and extreme chills of the southern half of the South Island and has an average winter temperature of 9.9°C. I reckon it's a great time of year to visit despite some of the tourist businesses being closed.

One of the biggest advantages of this time of year is that you don't have to wait until 11pm for the kiwi to wake up. I was working 'lates' this week and try to rely on my night vision rather than a torch when walking home so I don't disturb the nightlife. Last Monday I was followed down my driveway by a kiwi - I heard the pitter-patter of kiwi feet when I stopped at the woodshed and then watched from the deck steps as it walked past. No doubt the excavations for the tyre wall are an attraction for a bird that loves worms!

A number of different-sized kiwi prints by the tyres

The tyre wall is progressing well; I spent yesterday filling tyres and am now ready to tackle the second layer. Today was firewood day as the neighbour returned to cut the rest of the felled rimu into rounds and I spent the day carrying the cut trunk and branches out of the stagnant pool, up the bank and stacking them up for chopping and trimming. Mark had made a floating 'bridge' from the branches so I could cross the water - of course it didn't take long to step into a gap and fill one gumboot up with muddy water, followed a couple of hours later by the other! Mr & Mrs Ngirungiru were there to enjoy the entertainment...


The male at top left and the female, in more muted
shades at bottom right

Who's the king of the castle? Ngirungiru on horoeka (lancewood)

I've still got the second tree to pick up and bring out of the bush so, weather permitting, will be back out there tomorrow - it would be great to clone myself a couple of times so I could get the wood cleared and the tyre wall built at the same time.

A bank-full of chainsawed rimu to clear

Branches across the pond

Tomorrow's work

Being outside means I notice more than when I'm inside; the beating of kereru (native pigeon) wings, the ducks flying swiftly from A to B - and watching a korimako (bellbird) visit a small divaricating Coprosma bush. I had a closer look after it flew away and discovered a number of green berries that the korimako was feeding on.

The small Coprosma bush

Close-up showing green berries

Another close-up was of a critter that was on a rimu log that was submerged in the water; I thought it was a tadpole at first but on closer inspection I think it's the larval form of a red damselfly.

About 15mm long - had a flattened end to its 'tail'

Underneath

Surprise visitors

Tap, tap, tap! That's the noise I heard last Monday night around 8.45pm; the tv was on and with double-glazed windows I'm surprised I heard it at all. The last time there were noises from the deck it was a possum and with that in mind, I grabbed the torch and headed outside. A quick sweep revealed not one, but two kiwi - one down the bottom of the deck and the other about 5m away probing in the mossy ground. Magic! I quickly turned the torch off, thanked them for visiting and headed back inside, grinning like a Cheshire cat. The kiwi by the deck must have tapped on the decking to let me know they were out there. I am so lucky to be living here!

Maybe the kiwi were admiring my new deck feature that I completed on Sunday. After scrubbing the deck on Saturday, I spent the following day stapling netting to the steps and revamping the ramp at the bottom. The handrail needs finishing off but I need to bolt the post in first.

Netting down, now to attack the rickety ramp

The site supervisor inspecting my work

Hmm, any worms here?



The site supervisor checking me out!

The finished job

Looking from the top - see the ngirungiru on the post

A nice sturdy ramp and handrail post makes for an easier climb

Not a lot of progress on the tyre wall. My expert came round at the weekend and gave me some advice, along with this plan...

My four day weekend started today but so did the rain. I managed to get some digging in before it got too heavy and managed to snap this photo of Mr & Mrs Ngirungiru (male on right, female on left)...

...and this large porina moth caterpillar which was very active, about 70mm in length and due to pupate very soon. The adult moth will emerge from the soil around October-November, mate immediately and lay up to 3000 eggs on pasture during its short life (about 4 days).