well i’m on my way…

Day 101

The sky was dark and low when we woke up.  Naomi and I were both nervous, but mentally prepared becuase all we’d heard about Stuart Island was the rain.  Once we started the 3 day Rakiura Track, the skies started to clear into a beautiful day for us.  The sun was warm on our faces and there were hardly any clouds in the sky as we walked along the coastline into the rainforest-y bush of the island.  After about two and a half hours of walking (with our half full backpacks and unnecessary rain gear on) we decided to peel off some layers and take a lunch break on a beach.  It was just us, some oyster catchers–black birds with incredibly long orange beaks–and nature.  It was amazing.  After we noticed the tide rising, we headed off again into the bush to continue on with our journey to the first hut, another three hours away.  The landscape didn’t change much during our walk-it was mostly palms, low bushes, and tall moss covered trees that only had leaves at the very top.  There were quite a few rivers and could hear, if not see, some distant waterfall constantly.  We got to the hut around 2 and chilled.  

The huts are probably the most basic accomodation one can actually pay for.  It’s an enclosed building with doors and windows, but it’s unfinished on the inside-all the wood used to make the walls, floors, and ceilings had been polyurithaned raw.  The beds were just elongated shelves along the sides of the walls-wide enough to put mats on side by side.  These mats were just that-about 4 inches thick and that’s what they pass as mattresses.  They go in a row side by side so if you turn on your side, you’ll probably be breathing in someone’s face.  The kitchen area has counterspace-but only sinks that offer cold water.  The water is collected rainwater and is stored in massive tanks outside the hut.  It’s basic, but it was sufficient for what we were after.  Being unequipped with electricity, we stayed up until it got too dark to see by sunlight, then retired to our “beds” to read by headlamp.  After the walk that day and carrying my pack, I was exhausted and I think I feel asleep around nine–this must be like what it was like in the olden days!   

After a pretty sleepless night, due to the echoes of every noise made in the room, the sun rose and we were all forced out of bed.  After taking our time getting ready and packing our gear back up we set out for another beautiful day-what luck!  The second day’s scenery was more jungle-like (or what I would imagine to be jungle-like) since it was all inland; no beaches for us today! 

We did cross some rivers on suspension bridges, where once again I was reaffirmed that I am not afraid of heights.  I walked up the bridge made of chain-link fence, metal ladder like steps, and cable without any hesitation and swung it back and fourth as hard as I could.  I decided that from this, it wasn’t going anywhere so I took my time walking across the bridge, taking in the scenery of the sunlight filtering through the canopy on the water.  The rest of the walk was either on boardwalk, which made it easy to avoid the mud and is easy on the joints, up stairs (at one point we went up 454 steps without it plateauing out–yes I counted), or through mud.  The mud on stuart island is more of a peat mud, so it’s stickier than most normal (?) mud.  It was the kind that if you stepped in the right spot, you’d hear a pop when you pulled your foot out from sinking.  It reminded me of one of my painting mottoes:  It’s not fun if you don’t get dirty!  

Since Naomi and I talked pretty much the entire walk on the first day, we were quiet the second so we could take in the noises and silence of the forest.  Whenever a wind would pick up I could hear a creaking noise.  It took me a bit to realize that it was the leafless-except-on-the-very-top trees creaking in the wind.  It was funny but at the same time kind of scary; how much creaking could these trees handle before the creaking turned into a snap? 

There were lots of differnt bird songs to be heard as well-some were nice and another sounded like a dog’s squeaky toy.  Naomi informed me that the curious royal blue and white bird was a Fantail, and I could see why once he started flying around showing off.  His tail normally looks like a stick of blue, but once he opens it up to fly, it’s a beautiful spread of white with a blue stripe in the middle.  He looked fuzzy and I could fit him inside the palms of my hands if I cupped them.  It was this cute little guy is the one making the squeaky-toy noises.  

We arrived at the hut just as it was starting to rain-perfect timing!  The rain didnt’ last but the clouds did, which we didn’t mind since we were inside.  We went to bed early again, but I could not fall asleep.  I’m pretty sure I laid there for a few hours trying to sleep.

Next morning the sun was shining for us again.  Perfection!  We were warned that our third and last day of this tramp would be muddier than the first two, but we didn’t mind.  No more crazy amounts of stairs!  The mud was as we expected-everywhere and we got so muddy.  The scenery was pretty much the same: jungle-like, very lush and green, but it was amazing to be up-close and personal with nature.  To my surprise, I could feel part of the city-girl in me slipping away.       

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