Stewart Island

After an hour and a half ferry ride across really rough waters we arrived in Stewart Island Sunday evening. Stewart Island is a beautiful island which is mainly a National Park with one small but quaint town on it and is located south of the South Island of New Zealand. We spent our first night on Stewart Island in a hostel in Oban and after having fish and chips for dinner we called it an early night. Monday morning we went to the Department of Conservation (DOC) office to book huts and register with them before we set off on the 3 day tramp  - the Rakiura Track. The first day of the hike was gorgeous and we had beautiful weather as we walked 15 km up along the coast. On the second day we made our way across the island - it was a beautiful yet muddy hike. Thankfully the rain held out until we reached the hut but it poured that night making for a incredibly muddy hike the next day. We set out early on Wednesday morning hoping to see Kiwis on our pre dawn hike, however a few hours into our walk I fell and torn something in my knees which were already hurting from the day before. Justin, Liza and Harald took good care of me and after a slow hike we made it back to town by mid afternoon. We relaxed on the beach and explored town for a few hours that afternoon before catching the ferry back over to Bluff that evening.

day one - and were off 

we made it to the first hut

watching the sun set

day two 

day three

mud, mud & more mud with walking sticks for crutches 

the warning they had posted at the DOC office when we got back for 

the last part of the track we did 

Harald and I playing chess 

downtown Oban the only town on Stewart Island

looking out from town into the Bay