Six Degrees of Separation on Stewart Island

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Six Degrees of Separation on Stewart Island Edward Cox The beach at Bungaree Hut Edward Cox had often heard it said that there daymakers meant the only accommo- Stewart Islandi is truly beautiful, a place are onlys six degrees of separation dation available was the boatshed floor of solitude and an abundance of tranbetween any two people butl Ihad under our kayaks. And there we slept quil forests and wildlife, but nothing never put the theory to the test. On for three days. It was much-needed will make the memory of thei infamous our Christmas trip to Stewart Island rest which was interrupted only by mud recede! there was considerably less: I knew walks during breaks in the weather (in- Andy Sweet and Austin; my brother cluding our excellent midnight visit to Later the three of us agreed that al- Alastair brought his friend, Jo Thorpe, the shearwater and penguin nesting though the distances didn't look big from Sydney (she was a sister-in-law ground), and fishing off the wharf in and there were no great heights to to my! boss); and Clare Kempster (ex- search of the immense, suicidal, self- scale, the trip was harder than we ex- Clubbie now based back in the UK) filleting snappers Ihad dreamed of. On pected, and we had all had "our moturned out to be Alastair' s and my sec- New Year's Eve we paddled briefly ments" during the 9-day trip. ond cousin! before retiring to a licensed premises to celebrate thei incoming year. By then For Sarah andl , one oft those moments The plan was to spend 3 days sea kay- Sarah Weston (known to me, at least) occurred at Lonely Beach, three days aking on the Paterson Inlet prior to had joined us to come tramping, but in (six to go), when packs were still New Year's Eve, followed by 10 days our plans were to change yet again. heavy. Standing on the shore that walking the Northwest Circuit. Andy evening looking north, under the imand Austin organised the trip and we Andy had been nursing an illness and mense sand dunes that are swallowwere looking forward to two great Austin also retired with an injury; ing the bush, we were both silently wilderness weeks. Having travelled Alastair and Jo had to return to Sydney, asking ourselves "forward or back?" south in rental cars, the best of plans and SO it was that only Sarah, Clare The next morning as we went "forquickly came unstuck. andl, shoulderingin immense packs and ward", the sight of a shark cruising hangovers, staggered off onto the through the breakers added to the Asummers storm in the best traditions Northwest Circuit. powerful solitude we felt. of Christmas trips meant we were not going kayaking anywhere, and the Writing eight months after the event Walking anti-clockwise, thel Northwest popularity of Halfmoon Bay for holi- puts a trip into proper perspective. Circuit track is at first extensively TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING 1996 board-walked through to Christmas We only saw the deer once and on a Hut is the lookout from which Mt Village to accommodate tourists on the common spot on the Hellfire Pass we Rakeahua, the Ruggedy Mountains, 3-day circuit out of Halfmoon Bay. The saw real-life non-nocturnal kiwis- and the next four days' route can be first few days were spent climbing over bundles of feathers with front- seen, not to mention the beautiful forested headlands and along the in- mounted pole vaults moving at pace. beaches below. tervening beaches. The huts are usu- While I fished extensively, it was lucky ally six or seven hours apart. Stewart we had all the food we needed. Over the Ruggedy Mountains and onto Island is the only place I have ever the west coast down to Mason Bay, tramped where the track times are We met other trampers every night the perspective stretches before the accurate and that can be attributed to (including two parties of Tararuas go- pounding waves that deliver all manthe mud. Everything written about the ing in opposite directions), but the ner of flotsam and jetsam from boats track refers to it, and the various forms highlight was a stone deaf, radio-lug- out of every nation. the stuff comes in. It takes a certain ging referee with a heart of gold anda a attitude to stop it getting to you, even voice like a foghorn when he was with By the time we made Mason Bay we though it can make underfoot condi- us on several evenings. He congratu- were physically and mentally on the tions tiring. lated me on tramping with "lovely way home. Lesser beings marvelled birds", which I accepted with all the that wel had been right around. imag- The track passes immense podocarp political correctness I could muster. ined having a cold one in the South forests which are amazing in them- Seas Hotel; the going again became selves, but paledi in comparison to the We worked well as a trio. Clare was easy. Andy andAustin had convalesced wildlife that lives in and around there. very fit with no respect for regular rests at the easily-reached Mason Bay, and We were regularly followed bya a rowdy but with a laid back "oh yeah" (Mid- we hung out, listening to the cagang of kakas; tuis, bellbirds and fan- lands accent) eased her way through cophonyoff frisky Stewart Island kiwis. tails clamoured, and nesting yellow- every situation. Sarah was our camp The good weather stayed and we eyed penguins made nocturnal visits master and given that the three of us paced our return to civilisation in orto the loo positivelyf frightening. Stand- slept in a 2% person tent, we had a der to soak up the quiet. We bought a ing on seals on the rocky beaches was rule that everyone washed every night! beer, Sarah took the ferry to the mainalso a real risk. land, Clare went to South America, and Rounding the top of Stewart Island, the I returned to work sporting a Stewart On the beaches, lonely deer tracks scenery became much more dramatic. Island beard. Unlike the beard, the intermingled with those of the kiwi. A must-see approaching East Ruggedy memory of the solitude remains. B Luckily the fishing was only recreational! Edward Cox TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING 1996