23rd - 24th March. Stewart Island.

Someone recently said, and I can't remember who, that Stewart Island must look just the same today as New Zealand did when Captain Cook discovered it in the 1770's. That I entirely agree with. It is New Zealand nature in the raw. An amazing place.
Yesterday, Wednesday 23rd we drove from Arrowtown to Bluff. About 220kms. The first part of the journey was very scenic, down the length of Lake Wakatipu to Kingston. The remainder was mainly farmland and we passed through very few villages or towns. We did stop in a small town called Lumsden for coffee, then a break in Winton. We had lunch in Invercargill which seems a very nice place and we may well take a further look around there when we leave here. We arrived in Bluff and found our accommodation. I will not say 'hotel' or 'motel' because it wasn't. It was a very basic Backpackers Hostel. I think adequate describes it. But at least we had a bed for the night.
Bluff seems to be the 'be all and end all' of everywhere. A totally non-descript town which seems to have nothing going for it at all except to be a port and the terminal for the Stewart Island Ferry. There are a few interesting facts about Bluff, one being it was the place where Europeans first settled in New Zealand, and another is that it is the closest port to Australia. Not a lot of people know that! It was lovely at Stirling Point - the very beginning of Highway 1 which goes all the way up to the northernmost Cape Reinga in North Island.

Today, 24th March we caught the 9.30 ferry to Stewart Island. We carried only a small bag each as we were able to leave our suitcases safely (we hope) at the Backpackers. We were able to leave the car there too.
The ferry crossing took an hour and we arrived at this little paradise on earth. After settling into our hotel, right on the seafront of Horseshoe Bay



we met an Australian guy who told us of a 2 hour walk he had just returned from. It sounded good to us so we decided to do it too. It was a glorious walk along a coastal path through native bush. It was quite spectacular. The sun shone and the sky and sea were deep blue. The Oz man said 'there are a few steps'. I must find out the Oz definition of 'few' - there were ruddy hundreds, both up and down! We were quite exhausted at the end but both agree it was a walk well worth taking.








We had pre-booked a guided walk for the evening, and went along to the meeting point at 6pm with some trepidation as to what we had let ourselves in for, especially after such a long walk, probably 6 or 7 kilometres up and down hill (with hundreds of steps) this afternoon. The evening walk turned out to be about 5 kilometres led by a very likeable and knowledgeable nature guide who went to great lengths telling us about the native trees and plants of New Zealand and the conservation and replanting efforts here on Stewart Island. We were so interested in listening to him that we forgot how tired we were.
All in all a beautiful day. Helped no doubt by the glorious weather.


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