There are nine Great Walk's in New Zealand and are all run and operated by the Department of Conservation (DOC). They tend to be more expensive but the trails are very well maintained, the huts are exeptional and the number of hikers are limited. We decided to do the Rakiura Track because of its location. This track is on Stewart Island which is a one hour ferry ride south from the NZ south island (to NZ's "third" island). It sees less traffic which is what attracted us and there is a higher chance of seeing Kiwi birds in the wild (the sub-species here are active during the day and night here whereas on the north and south islands they are only active at night).
The track starts 5 km north of the town of Oban and takes three days/two nights for a total of 32 km. The route runs along some beaches (at low tide).
and through the Podocarp forest (what is a Podocarp forest? click here).
We did not see any Kiwi's but I did hear their calls our first night which sounds like "Kee-wee". We did see a lot of other birds though: Bellbirds, Tuis (I think their calls sound like R2-D2 from Starwars - click here for a video), Fantails, Kaka (parrot), Seagulls and Wood pigeons. We did see a few Albatross hanging out at the ferry terminal too. They are the worlds biggest sea birds with a wingspan up to 3.3m long!
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| Kaka |
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| Albatross |
The night sky from here is also very impressive. The stars are so bright and we heard that on a clear night you can see the aurora australis (the southern lights). I waited until about 10:30pm with no luck but Tom went out at 11pm and thinks he saw it; They're pretty faint... We did see phosphorescents in the ocean though, which is always fun to throw pebbles in and watch the green glow of the ripples.
On the second night (at North Arm hut) while on an evening expedition to try to find Kiwi, we bumped into a Possum on the track! Because we had our headlamps turned off, I guess he didn't realize what we were so he actually started walking towards us! Even when we turned our lamps on he didn't really hesitate. It was only when we took a firm step forward did he run into the woods. Tom went out later that night on his own for a bit more kiwi exploring and again found about six other possums! No wonder DOC have traps everywhere; they are serious pests.
When we got back we had some great fish (blue cod & elephant fish) and chips.
Overall the trip to Stewart Island was worth it. It has a very different feel and a lot less tourists. The track was well maintained and not more than 150m of elevation gain at a time. Since they were easy hiking days we ended up at the huts in time for lunch and spent the rest of the days reading, exploring and relaxing.
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