New Zealand - Page 2
    Our hut warden Jeff, that night told us some interesting stories about the Kiwis. There is a weasel-like animal, the stoat, that was introduced to New Zealand to kill rabbits, but it kills birds instead. Unfortunately, the stoats didn't do much to curb the rabbit population but they are really hurting the birds, especially the kiwis. Jeff is interested in doing work as a naturalist so he gets involved with tagging kiwis when he can. They are nocturnal birds so it pretty much involves staying up all night in order to tag them. Of the 10 kiwis born in the last 4 months in the area near Clinton Hut, only 2 are still alive (the rest killed by stoats). Jeff was involved in the project to tag those birds. The baby kiwis are fledged (thrown out of the nest) when they are only one week old, but they aren't really big enough to escape the stoats until they are about 4 months old which is why so many are killed. The DOC puts out lots of stoat traps but they don't capture many of them. Jeff said they may need to resort to some sort of biological control to effectively control them, but that would require a lot more study and research before they could use it.
     We had such a short hike that first day that Jeff led a short walk out to a swampy area about 10 minutes from the hut to tell us about the vegetation in the area. He was quite funny and informative. Shari and I had also gone down to sit on the beach beside the river after we settled in the hut, but the sandflies were really bad so we didn't stay too long.

     3/09: Nice flat hike along the river to Mintaro Hut. The water is so clear you can see every rock on the river bed. Luckily it is dry because the track can get really flooded when it rains. The mountains are so steep on either side of the track that the vegetation on them won't hold much water when it rains (which it normally does quite often and without much warning), and it runs into the river and floods it so that people hiking the track are sometimes in water up to their knees and even their waists.
     We got to the hut fairly early so we made the hike up to the top of McKinnon Pass, to take pictures. It was a nice clear afternoon and it would probably be fogged in when we crossed over the pass the next morning. Lovely views at the top. The round trip took about 2 hours and added about 4 km to our hiking day.
    3/10: Walked back up to McKinnon Pass and yes, it was all fogged in, so we just kept going and started down the other side. One of the nicest downs I've ever hiked. Beautiful scenery and although it was fairly steep it didn't bother my knees at all. It was interesting to see the mist come rolling over the pass and down the other side, like someone was pouring clouds from a container down the mountain.
     We talked to a family who were doing the trek together - Leslie and Chris who live in Wellington, Terry and Charlie (Chris's parents from Canada) and Chris's brother Steve, who lives in Ireland. Leslie gave us her phone number so we can call and stay with her when we get to Wellington.
     We stopped on the way to the hut (Dumpling Hut) to do a side trip to see the Sutherland Falls (630 meters). I walked up to the falls with Janine and Greg, a very nice couple we met on the ferry who live in Australia. Shari followed shortly after us and she decided to walk over to where you can just about go behind the falls. She got soaked! I got a picture of her standing just beside the falls. Sutherland Falls are the third highest falls in the world.

     3/11: Last day on the Milford Track. We met our ferry at 2PM at Sandfly Point (luckily they had a building to wait in, to escape the sandflies), for the cruise to Milford Sound. Then another bus ride back to Te Anau. Lovely bus ride along the Milford River and through the Homer Tunnel. The tunnel is just over 1,200 meters in length, carved right through the mountain. Work began on the tunnel in 1935 and didn't finish until 1953. Again, the scenery on the bus ride was beautiful. I think New Zealand is scenic overload. Everywhere you look is another gorgeous sight.
     It was nice to get back to Te Anau and our little home (back in the trailer). We did all the normal town things - shower, laundry, grocery shopping, internet and packing gear for our Kepler Track hike the next day.
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1