October in New Zealand

Finally some new journal logs from our travels in New Zealand! That was about time huh ;) They will cover October this time, which was another month spent in Wanaka - our third already! Starting to feel a little bit 'kiwi'... 

In case you missed previous posts and like to read about our travels from the very start: simply click the tab 'travel' on top of this page to find the other travelogues!
Oh, and one little side note: I didn't take many pictures of all the boring daily stuff, but I did shoot a lot on our hike to Isthmus Peak on October 12th. That's why you find them scattered throughout this post, to fill up the gaps a bit.

Click here for the automatically translated Dutch version of the post.

Isthmus Peak: Hayden, Maddie, me and Mark halfway to the top.

1/10/2014

Mark had the day off today (still working as a hammerhand, building this crazy beautiful villa with views over Lake Wanaka), because the building inspector was meant to come inspect the site. Which, by the way, can be tense with a boss like Mark's... he is absolutely one of the most absentminded (but nevertheless very kind) persons I've ever met! Since this all meant the builders could have a sleep-in, John (Mark's colleague and carpooler) invited us yesterday night to come have a drink at his place. So we got on the bikes and raced through Lake Hawea like a couple of ten-year old school boys. I don't know what got into us, the amount of fresh air around here probably makes us a bit wild...we rode like idiots through the streets, competing to be fastest while barely having enough light from our small headlights. So much for safety... John is very nice and I think he's pretty smart too. He's very interested in geology and has serious plans to start a goldmine (no kidding!). Mark is - naturally - very interested, and he has insured himself a job already. I think I like where this is going ;)

Today we took our chance and slept in together, followed by playing Contraption Maker in bed.

This is not nearly as naughty and exciting as it sounds, believe me. Contraption Maker is a computer game in which you have to build crazy contraptions using a wide array of objects, creating endless chain reactions to achieve a specific end goal. If you're on Steam and like a bit of thinking and puzzling, you should give this cheap game a try!

A little screen shot of Contraption Maker. Graphically not outstanding,
but still quite addictive!

I think we're a great team of puzzle-solvers together. Mark tries to think first and solve the puzzle from start to finish, whereas I always start adding random stuff in the middle of the contraption. Our solutions are completely different from the official ones most of the time (you can always compare them once you've solved the puzzle). 

When we went through the front door to go to Wanaka - me because I got called to work, Mark to do some grocery shopping - it turned out we had a flat tyre. So instead of giving a massage, I found myself changing a tyre for the first time in my life. I keep learning new stuff! You know what, I might actually become handy one day (or maybe that's a bit too optimistic...?).

2-3/10/2014

Back to work! I could be found in the Spa, and luckily the building site passed its inspection so Mark could get his hands dirty again too. (He probably could've otherwise as well, although it might have been for a grumpy boss then :P) I really started noticing at the Spa that it's holidays here now, it's becoming busy! 

After work today we helped Hayden (Mark's American colleague) and Maddie (his girlfriend) getting their flat car battery started again, which turned out to be quite the mission. Their car was parked front first on their driveway, with no room to get past. Of course the jumping leads were way too short. Lifting up the car (yes, we actually tried that), didn't work (I keep telling Mark we need to eat more vegetables...spinach maybe?). In the end the flowerbed was given up; it got partly flattened and with a lot of driving skills we managed to get the van between their car and the house with a millimeter to spare on either side. It's a good thing that no-one will notice a few more scratches on our van. Finally we managed to reach their battery with the jumping leads, which turned out to be in less than perfect condition, but after about 28 attempts their engine started running. Hurray!

Afterwards Hayden and Maddie followed us to Lake Hawea to stay for dinner, drinks and sleep the night, which was a lot of fun :)

Isthmus Peak: on our way to the top, accompanied by hundreds of
sheep and the cutest little lambs. 

4/10/2014

Weekend! Maddie had to work today, but Hayden, Mark and I went climbing. The guys were slightly hungover (which meant Hayden had an almost-throw-up moment halfway on the rock and Mark's climbing skills mainly involved falling off the rock and Tarzan-swinging around). I did climb pretty hard, because somebody had to do some serious climbing.

Climb and be happy!

The second half of the afternoon I had to work, while Mark used John's trailer to get the remainder of our firewood supply to our new house (in return for two weeks worth of power and bills, seems like a good deal to me!). 

Yes, you read that correctly...we found a new room. After the debacle with our disappearing room mate (see previous month), there was not much left to do for us than search for a new place to live. We lived in Lake Hawea with four people, and the rent divided by four was just about payable for us. With one roommate gone, rent got higher for the remaining three of us...which none of us was exactly happy about (or even able to pay). We put some effort in finding a new roommate, but since we're in between high-seasons (winter's over, summer hasn't really begun), a lot of rooms are available in Wanaka too...and nobody is willing to live in Lake Hawea and drive 20 minutes to get groceries if it isn't really necessary. Even though the house is really beautiful and big and all that. So, to the dismay of the house owners - who turned out to be pregnant with triplets and could really use the money, to make things worse - we ended our tenancy with them and got ourselves a room in Wanaka.

Another sad side effect of all those financial disappointments (our housemate's disappearance while still owing us 600$, as well as our broken van - again: see last month), was that when Andy, our backcountry skiing guide, dropped in one night to discuss the details of our follow-up course, the one in which we would finally go to the glaciers...we had to tell him the whole plan was off. It would simply not have been a wise decision to go through with it, we'd be broke afterwards! It was a huge setback for us both, since we looked forward to it so much and we hadn't been able to do all the glacier-stuff as planned in our first course. The decision was hard to make, but at least we both agreed on it, and shared the disappointment... I guess it would've been even worse if one of us still wanted to push through regardless of the financial consequences - and believe me, we both felt the temptation!

Anyway, back to the new place, which is at walking distance from the Spa, so at least we'll be saving money on diesel. The head tenant is a 'granny' (sorry, I don't mean that in a degrading way...but she really is!); an older woman from the UK who seems to be quite neat and tidy and probably won't suddenly disappear (you start judging possible room mates differently after certain things happened). There's one other tenant; a German guy who is studying to become a primary school teacher, and doing an internship at one of Wanaka's schools. Sounds alright, huh?

Oh, by the way, our house hunt got us at some very interesting other places as well...we visited an ultra modern house in the middle of nowhere (we didn't dare asking John to drive about seven kilometers of unpaved roads both ways every morning to get Mark for work - although the house was pretty cool), and looked at a room in some scary single man's house, previously occupied by two Asian girls.... Naah, thank you very much.

Isthmus Peak: I loved how the sun played a beautiful game of light
and shadow on this steep ridge line. 

5/10/2014

Today we intended to climb Isthmus Peak, but the weather was really terrible, so that didn't happen. Instead we played Contraption and drank coffee in bed again (help, we're almost out of puzzles!). The rest of the day we spent messing about the house. Mark cut our mattress to fit in the van; it was quite a mission to saw through the springs, but there was no way it was going to fit in our vehicle otherwise. 

And... tonight we went to Cinema Paradiso! Finally! Mark refuses to go to the movies when it's light outside or when it's not raining, so finding a date wasn't easy. It turned out that “Gone Girl” was playing today, the new movie by the director of among others Fight Club, the Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And it was GOOD! Absolutely thrilling :) Paradiso is a very cool cinema. Their two rooms are filled with old couches and even old-timers to sit in, and during the break you can get freshly-baked cookies (oh, that smell!) and local craft beers. Yes, they bake cookies during the first half of every movie they show! Now thát is a kind of service more cinemas should introduce! Omnomnom... 

The famous, still warm, homemade cookies.

6-7/10/2014

Alright, it's really busy at the Spa now. Karen (one of the firm-pressure colleagues who works at the Spa permanently) is on vacation, so Elena (my Spanish colleague, also a physiotherapist in her home country and traveling through New Zealand) and I do practically all massages. Yesterday I did 5 massages (three x 60 minutes and two x 90 minutes), today was good for three 90 minutes... My hands are really sore, I didn't know you could have such bad muscle ache in your thumbs! I'm home late every night because most clients book their massages at the end of the day (we're open till 9pm), but hey, we're making good money :)

8/10/2014

Tonight there's a full lunar eclipse, which we are anxiously waiting for. The moon is half blacked out now, but it should turn red shortly... I can't wait to see what that looks like. Thankfully it's a very bright night. Camera ready!

My pictures of the lunar eclipse and the beatiful Blood Moon. After
lots of fiddling with the right camera settings ;)

9/10/2014

We're dealing with a mystery. An unexplainable mystery. Our letterbox keeps inexplicably filling up with hay. I think there are only two possible answers. Either the postman puts it in, or the wind blows in (one and a half meter up, through the tiny slit? I don't think so...) We're leaving this weekend, so I'm afraid we'll never find the cause. 

Oh, by the way, we drank beers by the campfire with Hayden and Maddie, who're camping now at the Albert Town Campground (just outside Wanaka), which was lots of fun!

Hayden and Maddie had to leave their house because the rental contract had ended, but they want to hold on to their jobs for another one or two weeks. So...camping it is, which I find quite impressive, because they have a station wagon (and not a van). I would already find it a challenge to travel & sleep in that size vehicle (although lots of people manage it, even though you pretty much have to move all your stuff the whole time - to the front seats when you want to sleep, to the mattress when you have to drive...aargh!), but imagine you live in it AND also have a job. And that one person takes the car to his or her job, and the other one is pretty much homeless then... Maybe I'm still too attached to luxury and comfort though :) It's eye-opening to see that people actually do this, without making a fuss about it. Even if it's not for me; it ís possible!

Isthmus Peak: halfway to the top, with Lake
Wanaka in the background.

11/102014

Today was The Great Cleaning Day. It's really nice to have a big house, until you have to get it completely clean and neat and tidied up because you're leaving. Mark, my hero, put on his cleaning face and has been very busy while I completely lost the overview and mainly ran around like a lunatic. What would I do without him? Meanwhile he managed to also help Elena and her French boyfriend Quentin with their van, which they brought to our place. They needed some carpentry work done and were pretty much clueless about it, so Mark helped them on their way, cleaning scrubs in one hand and a hammer in the other. How's that for multitasking?! In the meantime I did three 60 minute massages at the Spa. Productive day!

This is the view from our Day Spa room at the Edgewater Resort,
another location the Spa operates from. Could be worse, huh?!
I gave quite a lot of massages, dreamily staring out over the lake
in the meantime...

12/10/2014

Pfew, we managed to move today. Only just though, it was quite a struggle fitting all our stuff in the van! Of course I panicked about how this was going to work later, forgetting we also carried a massive bag of stuffing, a lot of wood off-cuts, an extra mattress and another half mattress. 

Did I ever write about that bag of stuffing? I was looking for some filling for amigurumi's (crocheted animals) and such, when I was still preparing the crochet courses I was meant to teach at the craft store. I couldn't find anything in Wanaka, so went online to score something on TradeMe (a New Zealand kind of Ebay). I found a bag for 7 dollars, photographed on a floor or something, with no size reference at all. I just automatically presumed it would a small to medium sized plastic bag, nothing special.
So...I asked our housemate Jessica if she could pick it up for me in her hometown (Dunedin). Next thing I knew, after the weekend, there was this absolutely GIGANTIC bag full of stuffing standing in the hallway. Poor Jessica could barely fit it in her tiny car, and was constantly wondering what the heck I would need thát for... 

The bag of stuffing. With a girl attached to it.

After we unloaded everything at Niger Street - our new address, we went to pick up Hayden and Maddie (who also moved, to the hotel Maddie's working at...camping and working wasn't all that ideal in the end) to climb Isthmus Peak. A 16 km hike, about a thousand meters up and a thousand down again. Oh, my legs...we definitely need more training, if we ever want to get used to this kind of hiking. 

Isthmus Peak: Hayden & Maddie, just leaving the van to start the climb.

The view was definitely worth it though, from the summit you can see both Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea! The track went through a sheep farm, with lots and lots of little lambs, which were unbearably cute. Some of them had only just been born, making their first uncertain steps with the umbilical cord still attached. Aahw!

Isthmus Peak: "Baaaaaaah!" was our soundtrack. 

13/10/2014

Back to work again! With bad muscle aches...I got some sympathy from Elena, who - having hiked Isthmus Peak about a week earlier herself - knew exactly how I felt. She asked if we'd like to come for a barbecue with her and Quentin and some friends after work. They live in a resort, with communal spaces with barbecues, a gym, a sauna and hot pools. Yes, that's right: hotpools! Oh my goodness, I can't even start describing how nice that was for our sore muscles!

14/10/2014

I had a lovely day off, finally time to unpack, organise and relax. Untill I got called around dinnertime to do a Body Blitz (60 minutes massage + 30 minutes facial) on a barely English-speaking Russian man of about 50 years old. My goodness he was scary (and of course I happened to be alone at the Spa!), and really, which guy wants a facial?! Believe me, gently scrubbing in lotions on a stubbled chin that smells of nicotine very badly is something I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I was quite relieved to have him snoring deep asleep on the table after 10 minutes, which made the rest of the massage a bit less uncomfortable for me ;)

Isthmus Peak: the most dramatic photo.

15-16/10/2014

More quiet days. One massage a day at most (holidays are over and Karen is back...), which isn't very good for the money, but perfect for recovering, answering emails, and working on dolly assignments (which brings in a little money as well). I sold my vacuum cleaner for the same price I bought it for 2 months ago, and skyped with the two cutest Dutch little girls I know (my mom looks after them, and the occasional skype-date with them means lots of giggles and funny faces) . Meanwhile, our granny housemate (the neat, do-it-my-way, but nevertheless nice main tenant) is on holiday for a few days, so we can be a little less cleaned-up. We found out that we have to tiptoe our way around the house a bit, but right now I can actually leave my coffee cup on the counter top for a few hours before washing it. 

Our new bedroom in 'granny's' house :)

17/10/2014

YES! This lady managed to obtain a 500gr bag of possum-fur carded with merino, how awesome is that? 

Dublin Bay Pottery, where I bought my possum-merino fiber.

A quick video I shot at Dublin Bay (yes, I just drove the
van right onto the beach :P ), looking out over Lake
Wanaka. 

Mark finished early today and was bought lunch by Carl (his boss) together with Hayden and John, because today was Hayden's last day at work. After that we went to mess around on the van a little bit. Mark has finished cutting the mattress to size, which I'm sewing shut now. Meanwhile the shelves in the kitchen have been upgraded and a herbs-and-spices shelve is being made. Tonight we went on a pub crawl with Hayden, Maddie and John to say goodbye to Hayden and Maddie, who are leaving tomorrow, such a shame :( Had a great Mexican meal and laughed hard about Mark who couldn't find the toilet in Fitzpatricks. 

The cut-through mattress, that I'm sewing shut again...
yes, by hand. Best job ever.

Haha, that last part might need a bit of explaining. It was at the end of the evening, so there might have been some alcohol involved... Fitzpatrick is an Irish pub with quite a classic interior, so the old-fashioned bookshelf that is actually the secret door to the toilets is not really prominent. I have to admit, I had some trouble finding it myself the first time! The thing is though, Mark hád actually used that toilet before...so the fact that he was completely clueless and even gave up in the end when he had to use the little boy's room for the second time, was quite hilarious ;)

18/10/2014

Today I had to do a massage in the Lookout Lodge, a location in the middle of nowhere high on a hill that's available to rent for weddings and such. This weekend however, there was a yoga retreat happening. The client, an overly-tired mother, was so grateful for the massage that afterwards it seemed like she could burst out in tears and hug me, which was great :) Tonight we sharpened our skis and snowboard using online tutorials and youtube videos. Way cheaper than getting it done professionally, but important to get right, especially with such expensive gear! We want them to last a couple of years at least, so hopefully this will help. Next week we're going to buy an iron, so we can give them a good wax as well.

Isthmus Peak: almost on the top!

19/10/2014

We both had the day off today, and the weather was good, so we finally went climbing again. But, oh, my hands get so soft from all the massage oil, which really sucks. Hopefully the weather will soon be good enough to explore the climbing on the other side of Hospital Flat. 

Hospital Flat, the climbing area, is divided by a road that runs right through it. On one side the walls mainly face north, which means lots of sun (we're below the equator here, remember?). In winter this is absolutely perfect, you can even climb in your top while you see people skiing at the Treble Cone ski field in the distance, but in summer it's way too hot, you'll burn alive. That's when most people go to the other side, where lots of walls are facing south - meaning shadow. During winter, those south facing walls stay wet for too long to be really climbable. All in all this makes Hospital Flat a perfect year-round climbing area, the inhabitants of Wanaka and surroundings are really lucky!

Isthmus Peak: more dramatic ridge lines...

20/10/2014

I haven't been called to work at the Spa for 2 days now, not making much money this way. Luckily we got most of our bond back. Not all of it, because they had a few things to whine about, which we thought was quite ridiculous and unfounded, but we accepted it... Maybe it's not the best idea to rent out your house if it's already sold? We're glad to be out of there anyway. It was a nice house, but all the unpleasant events with our housemate and the houseowners' cold reactions to that made me happy to leave. Sigh, sometimes I get so tired of the fact that I take everything too personally! Anyway, I finished and sent 2 alpaca/mohair batches (= doll hair) and secretly took photos in the library of the Wanaka Rock Topo. Oh, there are so many more climbing routes to be discovered in the area!

I took the photos secretly because Wanaka's rock climbing guidebook is sold out, and the new version is not coming out before next year. In the meantime, we can't borrow the library's guidebook, nor are we allowed to make photocopies, because of some silly copyright rules according to the library lady. Well, how on earth are we thén supposed to know where to climb?! So I went on a mission, sneakily hiding behind my backpack, looking very innocent every time someone passed my table...hah, I felt a bit like a spy!

21-24/10/2014

It's still very quiet at the Spa. It's always all or nothing, it seems. Luckily Mark is still doing long hours, and enjoying the work (especially when his boss is buying sushi for lunch! :P). Meanwhile I picked up on my spinning course again, it's really time I finish it by now. It can be pretty hard at times, but it's very interesting. The guidance by the tutor - through email, post and Facebook - is very good as well. Plus it's a New Zealand course (even though international students can sign up and I started it back in the Netherlands already), it's nice to be in the same timezone as my tutor now! Makes asking quick questions a bit easier :)

I went bouldering for an hour at Basecamp (the local climbing gym) and we waxed our skis and board with our new iron. They're well protected for summer, and we learned something new.

Mark giving his skis a good fat summer wax. 

25/10/2014

Mark had an emergency job at work this morning (Saturday), as they delivered some doors yesterday that turned out to be the wrong size. Normally he doesn't have to work Saturday, but this week the extra money was more than welcome. Quentin en Elena were supposed to come to work on their van a little bit, but they were too tired/hungover...so we ended up doing some work on our own van instead. I've almost finished sewing the mattress shut and Mark started on the second closet, where I can put my crafting stuff in. It even has a fold-out table for my sewing machine. He also found the perfect place for our solar panel, on the back of the closet, behind an opening window. Goodness, everything is turning out so cool!
We watched the worst movie every tonight, I don't even dare to call it by name. Talk to Jenny if you want to know, she máde me watch it.

How's that for a van's kitchen?!

Mark being very proud of his
folding-out countertop.

26/10/2014

Today I had to work at 11.30 and 16.00, and in between we went climbing. We went to Mt. Iron this time, which is a small climbing area at a 10 minute drive away. Not by far as big as Hospital Flat, but three times closer by! There were actually more good routes than we expected. It's Labour Weekend, and the Red Bull competition is being held in Wanaka these days as well, so it's very busy in town. But, in the sun on Mt. Iron it was great! It's less than 10 minutes from the town center but it feels like you're in the middle of nature. Thankfully climbing went a little better than last weekend. At least less work means less softening of my fingers...always look on the bright side!

Looking out from Mt Iron over Albert Town, a kind of suburb from
Wanaka. 

Tonight we discovered a new game, called Road not Taken. We had to find a new obsession, because we solved all Contraption Maker's puzzles. I have no idea why, but Mark absolutely enjoys sitting next to me and watching me play the game. I think it's because I'm so bad at it, it's just a kind of malicious pleasure...

Some of the wonderful creatures of 'Road Not Taken'

27/10/2014

Today Quentin and Elena did feel good enough to come by with their van, Mark helped them make the bed slightly longer (they're both very short, but still tall enough to have their feet in their kitchen). Meanwhile I cut fabric for the curtains and pillows, because it's almost time for furnishing now. 

Our 'house granny' put on her best face today and showed a lot of interest in our friends and their van. It was quite funny when Quentin started selling her stuff they don't need in the van (she only took some nails, but his efforts were very amusing to watch!). I'm glad they were all friendly and nice together though; living with granny isn't always easy as it turns out. She is just SO neat and focused on her own way of doing things, she even tells me how I am supposed to do my laundry and starts cleaning up after me (with lots of obvious sighs) if I leave something laying around - on purpose, because I want to use it again 15 minutes later! Let's just put it this way: our current accommodation came with free training in patience ;)

This afternoon we all went to Hospital Flat, Quentin & Elena and some of their friends came along. They were keen to try outdoor climbing, so Mark and I led routes for them to top-rope. They found it pretty hard (it's completely different than climbing indoors, which they had tried once before!) but I think they enjoyed it. We felt we all deserved the BBQ and hot pools after all that torture on the rocks.

Isthmus Peak: Team America on the way down.

28-29/10/2014

Yesterday, as always, no work at the Spa, then today I all of a sudden had three 90 minute massages in a row! Worst timing ever, because we also wanted to finish Quentin and Elena's van and have dinner with them afterwards. With Elena and me working non-stop from 4 till 9.30 that turned out a bit different than planned... Anyway, Mark en Quentin finished the van (a solar panel is now glued to the roof - like, forever. It is never coming off again!). And by 22.15 we were finally eating delicious home-made pizzas, absolutely worth the wait. 

30/10/2014

There are too many moths here in this house. Tonight we had one fluttering through the room again, and studied it closely. Now we are wondering: are those things blind or something? They fly full-speed into stuff áll the time. And then next they sit down somewhere to easily be picked up - which I have to do, as Mark has a moth phobia. You should see him when a moth enters his personal space :P. They're curious creatures really.

Isthmus Peak: back at the van again. As always, patiently
waiting for us to hop back on :)

31/10/2014

Did 2 massages today, and afterwards had a free dinner with Mark at Red Star, where Quentin works. It's a burger restaurant, but very fancy and very good! Afterwards we were invited to the pub to celebrate Vanessa's (my boss) birthday and say goodbye to Elena. Sadly she and Quentin are leaving Wanaka really soon now! I played pool for the first time in my life. I know, I'm 26 years old... But I made up for it by beating Mark 3 times! Ha!

It was actually Quentin's last day at his job, and it also happened to be Halloween. So he was dressed as a banana. Quentin is already a funny guy to see, quite short (you should see him next to Mark!), quirky dreadlocks and always a smile. But as a banana, he's even better! He had sayings written all over him in permanent marker (such a good idea) and made us the best hamburgers we ever ate. He's also very keen to learn stuff, even though he is absolutely clueless when it comes to rebuilding their van for example, or repairing clothes for that matter. He came to me earlier with his favorite jeans and a piece of colorful fabric, with the question if I could show him how to repair it. I'm not sure if he'll ever learn, he went off to work halfway and I finished the job, but when he turned up to Vanessa's party this evening he was proudly wearing them, totally happy with how they turned out! :D

Mark and Banana-Quentin. Notice the different in height, lol!

And that's it for October! I hope you enjoyed this travelogue again - even though there's not much traveling involved yet... The plan is to spend one more month in Wanaka, which will be covered in the next blogpost, and then really start touring around the South Island. Something we both really look forward to!

Hiking the Dusky Track

Click here for the (automatically translated) Dutch version of this blogpost.

For this post, I relieved myself from duty and assigned Mark with the task to write a guest-blog (clever, huh?!). It describes our most recent undertaking: hiking the Dusky Track. 'Recent' means less than a week ago, so this post doesn't follow my usual way-behind chronology at all (since Mark isn't really busy with spinning, and knitting, and crocheting, and reading, and sewing and...well, just messing around :P ). So we hop from September to a timeframe in January-February, to keep you folks confused. Soon, I will be back with more about October! In the meantime, enjoy Mark's essay on our hardest adventure ever.

Day 1 – Lake Hauroko – Halfway Hut

We were picked up at 8 in the morning at the Manapouri long-term carpark. A “Trips and Tramps” van took us to Cliffden Corner, where we transfered into Lake Hauroko Tours' truck. We picked up their boat and drove to Lake Hauroko. Captain Val and his assistant Joyce quickly launched the boat and soon we set off across Lake Hauroko to its westernmost point, one of the Dusky's trailheads. 

The boat journey across New Zealand's deepest lake was spectacular. Fiordland's steep mountains drop straight into the freezing cold black waters of the lake. The dense forests surrounding the lake climb almost vertically into the low clouds, adding a mystical touch to the journey. Towards the end of the boat trip the clouds suddenly cleared and made way for sun and blue skies, allowing for amazing views of Fiordland's mountain ranges. The boat landed, we grabbed our incredibly heavy backpacks and jumped on shore. As we got off, four rough looking guys boarded the boat, heading back to civilization. Obviously in bad need of a shower.

Also on the boat were a young Czech guy, Daniel and a German lady, Bettina, and her guide Tosh. They all quickly started walking while we had a coffee. We realized there was no going back now.

Goodbye civilization - on our way to the trailhead, Lake Hauroko.

The Dusky Track is a 6 to 10 day tramping track in the remote Southwest of Fiordland, New Zealand's biggest and oldest National Park. Unlike the Milford Track and the Keppler Track, the Dusky Track is not a “Great Walk”. Great Walks are very popular hiking trails in New Zealand, with high quality gravel tracks, boardwalks across muddy areas and stairs up and down steep sections. The Dusky is no such track. The track is completely unformed, which adds a lot to the natural feeling of the tracks but also means you have to go straight through rivers and mud pools and make your way up and down steep areas by grabbing roots, scrambling up boulders and hugging trees. Huts on Great Walks can sleep up to 50 people and in the peak seasons they are often fully booked. To walk the Milford Track, Fiordland's most popular Great Walk, you will need to book the huts up to a year in advance. The length of the Dusky, and the roughness of the track, make it a lot less popular than the Milford and Keppler. The huts on the Dusky only sleep 12, and they hardly ever get full, which means you don't need to book them. These so-called backcountry huts are very basic, they have bunks and mattresses and often a fireplace. Drinking water is provided by a rainwater tank, which gets filled by rainwater running off the hut's roof. You will need to bring your own cooking gear and fuel, also a sleeping bag and enough food to last you the length of the trip. You will also need to bring clothing suitable for absolutely any type of weather, and dry clothes to wear in the hut, as you are guaranteed to get wet during the day. All this results in a very heavy backpack.

We finished our coffee and set off on the first section, to Halfway Hut. The clouds had cleared completely and the weather had become incredibly muggy. The mid summer sun shining down on the wet rainforest quickly makes the air very humid. This section is supposed to be relatively flat, but we soon learned there is no such thing as a flat track on the Dusky. Even though you don't gain or lose any elevation you're still scrambling up and down short steep sections, often pulling up on tree roots. Going down these steep parts is harder than going up and you'll often have to go backwards off these near vertical parts as if descending a ladder. We soon realized the difficulty of the Dusky lies not in the length of the sections you have to walk, but in the roughness of the track and the extremely heavy packs. After about 5 hours we were happy to see a sign that said it was another 10 minutes to the hut. We arrived at the hut 20 minutes later.

Halfway Hut.

Day 2 – Halfway Hut – Lake Roe Hut

Our sleeping bags are rated for winter use, which means they are comfortable in subzero temperatures. This is nice when ski touring, but not so nice in an incredibly hot and humid hut in the middle of summer. I woke up several times sweating, sticking to the plastic mattresses. 

Morning eventually came, we had a coffee and a bowl of porridge with chocolate and nuts and set off for the next section. Today was going to be another relatively easy day with a gentle climb of about 500 metres evenly spread over 5 hours. It had rained a little bit the night before which cooled the air down and the sun wasn't as strong as the day before. Combined with the increase in altitude it made for comfortable walking weather. Liset's stomach was acting a little funny, so we took it easy today. The upset stomach was probably caused by a mix of hard physical exercise, hot and humid weather and very calory-dense food. We made it to Lake Roe hut. Situated at 850 metres above sea level you get nice views of the surrounding valleys and it's also considerably cooler than at sea level. Its location above the treeline also means there are no sandflies, which is an incredible relief.

Everything (réally everything) is green and mossy, some scenes could've
jumped right out of a fairytale....

Apparently sandflies like dense, humid forest, making this part of Fiordland ideal for them. Unlike mosquitos, sandflies are out during the day, and the last couple of days they had been out by the millions. Sandflies are like little mosquitos, they'll suck your blood and leave an itching bite, which can itch for days when scratched. They are very slow and will not be able to catch up with you as long as you're walking, but as soon as you stop walking for a few minutes hundreds of them start to gather around you. They especially seem to like our sweet and fresh European blood, I'm guessing it's because our veins make an easy target beneath our thin white skin... Kiwis seem less bothered by them, I'm not sure if they actually develop a resistance against their venom or they just learn to ignore it. In these parts of New Zealand there are so many of them they basically make it unbearable to be outside without moving. Going for a swim or having a nice long lunch is pretty much impossible. Fiordland's sandflies don't seem bothered by regular insect repellent, but someone recommended us to mix eucalyptus-scented Dettol, a type of rubbing alcohol, with baby oil, and use this as a repellent. It seems to work a little bit, for a little while... Sandflies don't seem to like the unforested areas above the treeline, and they seem to disappear in heavy rain as well.

For dinner we had our first every Backcountry Cuisine meal. These are bags of freeze-dried food, in as much as 20 different flavors. Because there is no moisture in them they are very light, and they are packed with calories and proteins, making them the perfect tramping meals. You just add half a liter of boiling water and 10 minutes later it's done. I was positively amazed. I wasn't expecting much but the beef teriyaki one we had today was actually really good. They also really fill you up considering the small amount.

Day 3 – Lake Roe Hut – Loch Maree Hut

After a slightly better night's sleep we set off on another day tramping. Again, it had rained during the night but by the time morning came the skies cleared. The first part of today's walk was absolutely amazing. We climbed to the top of the Pleasant Range and walked on the ridge for a few hours. The views were breathtaking. We could see hundreds of the steep mountains, some of them still snow-covered. In the distance we could see Dusky Sound and behind that on the horizon was the Tasman Sea. The most amazing thing for us Europeans is to be able to see the horizon in all possible directions and realize there is only untouched wilderness. To me it's unbelievable that such massive areas of uninhabited land still exist.

A couple of tarns and a bit of mist over Pleasant Range...

...with views on the Dusky Sound on the horizon. 

After walking on the tussock covered ridge for a few hours the track started to drop steeply into the valley. As our next hut was pretty much at sea level we had to drop over a 1000 meters in only a few kilometers on the track. The next few hours was a scramble down through the dense forest, descending backwards by holding on to roots, bushes and trees. Rocks and roots get very slippery in the wet rainforest so you need to watch closely where you put your feet. In some extremely steep parts chains are provided to hold on to. It would probably be possible to climb up without the chains but for descending they are absolutely necessary. Descending so quickly you pass through a variety of micro climates. In the high mountains, it's all tussock. Tussock is a tough, brown grass. These high areas are littered with tiny black lakes. They range from a few meters to a hundred meters across, they are very deep and filled with inky black water. Below the tree line it's all temperate rainforest. Most of the trees are beech trees, all of them covered in moss. As you descend the forest gets greener and greener. The wettest parts of the forest are completely covered in thick carpets of moss, which is an amazing sight. It's incredibly green. Other parts are covered in massive ferns, which sometimes almost completely cover the track, making it hard to follow. Wondering about the amazing nature, we finally made it to the valley floor. We crossed a wirebridge and then it was only a short walk to Loch Maree Hut. 

A wirebridge is exactly what the name suggests. They are basically 3 steel wires strung between trees on opposite sides of the river. One wire for walking on and a wire for each hand to hold on to. The wires are held together by V-shaped metal profiles. The first wire crossing can be a bit intimidating, but you soon learn that they are safe and crossing them is easy, which is good, as there are 21 of these bridges on the Dusky Track.

One of the many 'three-wire bridges'. 

Water levels on these first days were low enough that we didn't really need the wirebridges, we could have walked straight through the rivers. Arriving at Loch Maree we noticed hundreds of tree stumps sticking out above the water level. Loch Maree is a relatively young lake that formed recently when a landslide, probably caused by an earthquake, blocked the Seaforth River and thus formed a little lake, flooding the forest around the riverbed. Only the parts of the tree trunks that are underwater at high water levels are preserved, making the amount of stumps visible a good indicator of river and lake water levels and track conditions. As it had hardly rained for the last few weeks, hundreds of the stumps were visible as the water level of the lake was unusually low. We had been told that the track might be flooded further down if a dozen or less stumps were visible.

Stumps, signs of an old forest at eery Loch Maree. 

Bettina and Tosh arrived at the hut shortly after we did. She was exhausted by the steep descent to Loch Maree and the general roughness of the track and considered calling a helicopter to pick them up and take them back to civilization. They had had a box of food dropped at the hut by helicopter earlier, so they wouldn't have to carry the food for the entire length of the track. Later they decided they would walk another day to Supper Cove and get picked up by helicopter there. This meant they would leave the box of food in the hut, which was good news for us as we were quickly getting sick of eating only porridge and nuts and chocolate.

Later that evening Daniel, the Czech guy who started the same day as we did, entered the hut too. He had skipped the first hut and had today gone on a day-trip to Supper Cove, walking 28kms... Reading the logbooks at the other huts, we realized later he had walked the entire Dusky Track in 5 days. It's impressive that he can do it, but I wonder if he took the time to enjoy it, walking hard for at least 12 hours a day.

Day 4 – Loch Maree Hut – Supper Cove Hut

Loch Maree hut is situated halfway along the Dusky Track, and from here on trampers can choose to do a 2-day sidetrip to Supper Cove, part of Dusky Sound, one of Fiordland's fiords, or sounds, as they call them here. We figured we couldn't possibly walk the Dusky track without visiting Dusky Sound, so off we went.

We both didn't feel like we could stomach another bowl of porridge with nuts and chocolate this morning so we had crackers and cheese instead. Bettina and Tosh left the majoity of their box of food in the hut for other trampers. We could take whatever we wanted when we'd return from our trip to Supper Cove.

Again it had rained during the night but this time it didn't stop when morning came. It rained on and off all day and we got soaking wet. As the lake level was very low we could walk along its banks, making for a much easier walk then following the track through the forest. The track followed the river all day, this part of the Dusky Track is the only part that can actually be called flat, and we made good progress. We crossed several wirebridges and eventually walked through an incredibly muddy section of mangrove forest, where the Seaforth river meets Dusky Sound. We had read at Loch Maree that the last part of the track is very rough and slow-going through dense forest on the steep mountains besides the fiord. At low tide Supper Cove drains and exposes large mudflats at the head of the cove. The advise was to walk the last section on the mudflats if possible, we arrived at low tide, so we did. It was a surreal feeling walking in the fiord on the mudflats, the weather cleared slightly and we got spectacular views of the fiord and the surrounding mountains. I couldn't help but feel a bit like one of the explorers that discovered New Zealand back in the 18^th century. The tide started to come in as we walked on the mudflat, it first got to our ankles, then to our knees and eventually we were thigh-deep in the water. I was worried we wouldn't make it to the hut and would have to somehow climb up the steep shore and find the track, but luckily, after a short waist-deep section the water got shallower and we found an orange marker signaling to leave the mudflat and get back on the track for the last section. From here it was another half hour walk until we reached Supper Cove hut. We were soaking wet, cold and dirty when we got to the hut. Lisette decided to jump in the deep fiord beneath the hut with all her clothes and boots on. I went for a quick swim as well, the water was amazingly warm and refreshing after the cold rain. Swimming in the deep dark water of Dusky Sound was an amazing experience.

Still smiling, not knowing yet we'd be in waist deep 10 minutes later ;)

Day 5 – Supper Cove Hut 

We had already decided today would be a resting day. We were halfway through the trip and had taken food for 2 days extra so this seemed like a good place for a rest. It turned out it poured down with rain the entire day, so we were glad we weren't on the track. Today was also my 24^th birthday. Last year I spent my birthday snowed-in on a mountain top in the Dolomites, it seems to become a ritual to spend my birthday on the most unusual places. I doubt I will ever top this location at Dusky Sound, though. The place is so incredibly remote and inaccessible. Unless you own a seagoing yacht or a helicopter the only way to get here is to walk for 4 days. 

I tried a little bit of fishing in between the rain storms. There is an incredible amount of fish at Supper Cove. I've never seen anywhere near so much fish as here. As it is part of Fiordland's marine reserve there is no commercial fishing allowed, meaning hardly any fish is every being caught here. There was a handline someone left at the hut, so I walked down to the sound. Val, the skipper from Lake Haroko, had said I didn't even need bait, the fish would just take a shiny hook. I didn't believe it, but cast out anyway, and, surely enough, on the very first cast I caught a fish. I caught 3 or 4 little “spotties” this way, I was going to use one of the fish for bait to catch something bigger, but unfortunately it started raining again and didn't stop for the rest of the day. Just standing on the rocks I could see large fish and small sharks swimming close by. A few times a large eel climbed out of the water and laid down on the rocks next to me, completely unimpressed by my presence. Further offshore, massive schools of fish surface every now and then. I'm sure if it hadn't rained so much I would have been able to catch a bigger fish for dinner.

The view from Supper Cove Hut. Salt water!

Bettina and Tosh had left that morning by helicopter, leaving us together at the hut. We enjoyed our day of rest, relaxed our sore legs and backs and attempted to dry our clothes. A very special birthday. I had already received my birthday gift before starting the tramp, figuring I could use it on the track. Lisette had organized, together with my family, to get me a outdoors watch, one that has among many features an alitmeter and barometer, which are very handy to have. It even plots the air pressure into a graph, which allows me to play the weather geek and forecast the weather for the next few hours, something I thoroughly enjoyed while tramping. Tosh had left me a bag of chocolate chip cookies as a birthday present, which I ate at once, feeling slightly sick afterwards but having enjoyed them a lot.

Supper Cove Hut's interior.

Day 6 – Supper Cove Hut – Loch Maree Hut

Having rested the day before, today it was time to head back to Loch Maree hut. Low tide was at 6 this morning. Needless to say we decided to sleep in and take the hard route through the forest rather than getting up early. More or less rested we started off into the rain, which wouldn't stop pouring down the entire day. The track through the forest was indeed unpleasant, and I recommend anyone to take the low-tide route if at all possible.

Apart from the fact we got soaking wet, the walk back to Loch Maree was pretty uneventful, as we already walked it two days ago, we knew what to expect and made good progress. The rain had turned the Seaforth river from an almost-dry stream into a massive river, which was impressive to watch.

Arriving at Loch Maree, we noticed a lot of the stumps had disappeared and the lake level had come up quite a bit, walking along the lake shore was no longer an option and we had to take the track through the forest, eventually we reached the hut after a long 8 hours. Walking the same track the second time always seems to take longer than the first, as you know what to expect. We quickly got into the box of food Tosh and Bettina had left, and were thankful to find a lump of cheese, a salami and vegetarian sausages, as we had both gotten pretty sick of the porridge. Note for the next tramp: crackers and cheese instead of porridge.

Day 7 – Loch Maree Hut

It had been pouring down with rain the whole night and when we looked out of the window of the hut all the stumps in the lake had disappeared completely. Unbelievably, in only 2 days time the level of the lake had risen at least 3 meters. As the lady at the DOC office had told us the track would be flooded if no stumps were visible, we decided to stay in the hut and wait a day.

Before, and after. The difference 2 nights can make!

We lit the fireplace and put a mattress in front of it. The day was spent reading “Wilderness” magazines and National Geographic Journals and playing chess. Heaving been beaten by my former chess student twice in a row, I was excited to finally win a game again. All the time the rain kept pouring down.

Mattress in front of the fireplace, our comfy place for
the day. 

To say Fiordland is a wet place is a massive understatement and does not do it justice at all. It is by far the wettest place in New Zealand. As it is surrounded by ocean on 3 sides, it gets rained on whatever the wind direction. Rain here is measured in meters, some parts of the National Park receive up to 8 meters of rain a year, which is an incredible amount. The Dusky Track is located right in the middle of the wettest part. Heavy rain for days on end, as we experienced, is not exceptional at all. It rains more often than it doesn't. Sometimes it drizzles, sometimes it rains gently, sometimes the rain pours down in thick gray curtains, limiting visibility to only a few meters. Even if it has been dry for a while, the forest will still drip for hours afterwards. However, Fiordland wouldn't be Fiordland without the rain. Often you'll be standing in a downpour and the sun will be shining on the opposite mountain, or the other way around, which is an amazing sight. The rain also fuels thousands of waterfalls, flowing and thundering down the steep mountainsides, to form streams in the valleys, which form massive rivers. As we experienced these rivers can go from gentle creeks to fast flowing massive rivers in only a few hours. Several sections of the track are close enough to the river that they can flood in high water, which sometimes makes parts of the track inaccessible for days or even weeks.

Day 8 – Loch Maree Hut – Kintail Hut

Luckily the rain had let down a bit by the end of the previous day, and in the morning a few more stumps were visible. Another thing we noticed were the snow-covered peaks in the distance, the snow had come well down to around 600 meters, in the middle of summer.

We put on the raincoats and warm clothes, as the temperature had dropped a lot. We knew it was going to be a close call whether the track would be flooded or not and started walking, hoping for the best. At a few places we had to wade through waist-deep, freezing cold water, only barely keeping our backpacks dry, luckily the water never got higher than that, or we would have been forced to turn around.

Something else the rain does is produce a substance for which the Dusky Track is famous: mud.

After spending 8 days on the Dusky track, I can say we're now experts on the subject of mud. There's mud here in every imaginable color, depth and consistency. There's gray mud, green mud, red mud, yellow mud, blue mud, brown mud and black mud. There's thin mud, fat mud, gooey mud, chunky mud and oily mud. There's grass-covered mud, moss-covered mud, mud covered by branches, mud covered by bushes, and, my favorite: snow-covered mud. Some of the mud looks soft but turns out to be solid when you step on it, which is favorable over its opposite: mud that looks like solid ground but turns out to be thigh-deep, smelly black mud once you step on it and least expect it. Sometimes you get sucked into the mud so deep that you need help to get out, and even then it can be a struggle to get out. Sometimes you can go around the mud pools, bashing your way through bushes, but often there is no way to get past other than going straight through it. At some places DOC workers have cut small logs and tossed them in the mud to provide stepping stones across the mud pools, but most mud pools don't have them. The downside of these logs is that they get slippery and you might fall off when trying to stand on them, still ending up in the mud. When walking the Dusky Track you have to accept mud as part of your everyday life. There is no way to go around every single mud pool, it simply takes too much time.

How we looked on an average day of tramping.

Having encountered every single type of mud we arrived at the Kintail Hut after 6 long hours. We were soaking wet and absolutely freezing cold. I quickly lit the fireplace. Having worn almost all my clothes today, I had no dry clothes left, so I sat by the fireplace naked. Thankfully there was no-one else in the hut. We curled up in our sleeping bags, now very thankful for their polar-rated quality. We filled our drinking bottles with boiling water and stuck them in our sleeping bag, slowly defrosting our feet. After several hours, hot dinner and cups of soup and tea, we started to feel a little bit alive again. 

Day 9 – Kintail Hut – Upper Spey Hut

We knew we would have to conquer Centre Pass today, at 1050m, it's the track's second highest point. Looking out the window we could see the snow-covered peaks and we realized there would be snow on Centre Pass as well. There is absolutely nothing pleasant about waking up in a freezing cold hut, realizing you have to put on your wet clothes knowing you will be walking in the snow a few hours later.

We left the hut in a slight drizzle, which was a lot better than the day before. The track first started to climb slowly but soon became very steep, comparable to the descent to Loch Maree. Lisette was complaining with every step, but I much prefer going up these steep sections than descending them. The trick is to take your time and find a rhythm. At least the steep ascent got us nice and warm. At about 650 meters above sea level, we started to come across the first patches of snow. I still find it incredible it actually snows here in the middle of summer. Early February is the equivalent of early August in Europe. 

As we left the forest and got above the treeline, the snow quickly became deeper. Visibility wasn't great, but luckily it was just enough to make out the next orange marker, which indicate the track. It started to get windy and there were rainclouds coming in from behind us. We were both freezing cold and I seriously doubted whether it was a good idea to head out today. Maybe we should have called for a helicopter to take us out? We struggled through the snow, which became ever deeper until it got knee deep at around 800 meters, we still had a long way to go to the pass. I was impressed with Lisette leading us through the snow, still complaining with every step but setting a good pace.

My boots aren't snow-proof at all, in fact there are quite a few big holes in them, and wearing only leggings and boardshorts I felt terribly under equipped for this kind of weather. It was a struggle getting up the steep, slippery slope in the deep snow. You never know where you put your feet, sometimes there's tussock underneath, sometimes slippery rocks. Sometimes you're walking in a stream and you sink through the snow into deep, smelly mud. I still couldn't believe how the weather had changed from the start of the week, when I was walking shirtless in the 30-degree, humid heat.

At Centre Pass (sorry for all the waterdrops in the pictures by the way! It's
impossible to keep your camera dry in such wet conditions...)

I was glad when we finally made it up and over the pass. On the other side of the pass the wind quickly died and it seemed like the clouds weren't going to make it across. There were a few patches of waist-deep snow on this side of the pass. Descending the steep snowy slopes was way quicker than going up and we quickly made it back into the forest. Just before we entered the forest we saw some strange bird tracks in the snow. We later looked it up, and we're pretty sure they're made by a Kiwi. Kiwi's are very rare and they only come out at night. We didn't see the actual bird, but we're lucky to have seen its tracks. From here it was an easy walk to the Upper Spey hut. The last part to the hut was a very muddy section, but there was actually about 200 meters of boardwalk across this, which we were very thankful for. We were amazed how quickly you can walk on a flat, smooth surface.

Arriving at the hut, we saw smoke coming out of the chimney. Apparently someone had gotten there before us, and this person had lit a fire, which was a great welcome. This person turned out to be Yannick, another Czech guy, who had started the Dusky Track from the Lake Manapouri end earlier today. We told him about the snow on Centre Pass. He seemed unimpressed. He either doesn't know what's waiting for him, or maybe he's some sort of supertramper. He did look pretty tough, and surely a lot better equipped than we were.

We were excited about making it across Centre Pass and even more excited about finishing the track the next day.

Day 10 – Upper Spey Hut – Lake Manapouri

The last section of the track is a flat, 14.8km section. We started off early, excited to finish the track and get back into civilization. Miraculously, the sun started shining soon after we took off. Having the sun on our backs felt great after almost a week of non-stop rain and cold. The track was rough and muddy, but nothing unusual and we kept a good pace. After 4 hours we arrived at the end of the track. Here, the track meets the road that runs from Lake Manapouri to Doubtful Sound. It's about another hour walking on the road to the Lake Manapouri wharf. At this point we didn't feel too excited yet, mostly sore, wet and tired. 

Arriving at the wharf, one of Real Journeys' boats was docked at the wharf, waiting for one of the tours to finish. We quickly boarded and made ourselves comfortable on the top deck. We took of our wet shoes and socks and baked in the glorious sunshine. Not much later the tour group boarded as well, and the boat left for the Manapouri Wharf, where our van was parked. It's a bit of a shock returning to civilization after 10 days in the wilderness, and I felt a bit dazed during the boat ride. I enjoyed the sunshine and the amazing Fiordland scenery. 

Tired and a bit dazzled, but happy.

We got off the boat and walked up to the carpark, where our faithful van was waiting for us. We got in and left to Te Anau for a much needed shower. Feeling too tired too cook, we went to get a pizza and a beer, which was amazing. 

I think, shortly after finishing a long tramp like ours I didn't really realize it yet, but now, lying in a warm campervan, looking back, I think it's been one of the most amazing things I've ever done and will look back upon often. I'm not sure I will ever do something similar again, definitely not within the near future. But I can say it's been an awesome adventure in one the most amazing places of the world.