North West Circuit, Stewart Island, New Zealand - December 2014

Well I've finally finished writing up my North West Circuit (NWC) tramp on my crazy guy journal, so I figured that as usual I would do a quick synopsis and post a link on my blog. My trip down to the deep south of New Zealand started with a few days in Invercargill which I did a post about here. After sorting out all the logistics I made my way down to Oban on Stewart Island, and after fixing up a few last minute details at the Department of Conservation (DOC) office in town I headed to The South Seas Hotel for an early lunch, quite an appropriate way to start a ten day walk I thought.

Arriving in Oban, just as the sun came out.

Day 1.     Bungaree Hut     19 kilometres.
The weather had been crap to put it mildly since I'd arrived in New Zealand but almost on cue as soon as I jumped off the ferry in Oban patches of blue sky started to appear. So that's how my ten day tramp started, under blue sky with the occasional shower quickly passing through. Today's walk consisted of three distinct sections. The first hour or so out of Oban found me following quiet roads along beautiful beaches making for very easy walking. The second section had me walking the first day of The Rakuira Great Walk, again a fairly cruisey walk along a very well engineered track. The last distinct section for today had me turning onto NWC near Port William Hut and starting my mud tramp, the degree of difficulty going off the scale within 100 metres of leaving the Rakuira Great Walk. I now tramped through the mud and roots for a couple of hours until, in early evening I popped out of the scrub onto Big Bungaree Beach and in the distance saw my hut for the night.

Horseshoe Bay.

Day 2.     Christmas Village Hut    12 kilometres         31 kilometres total.
My first full day on the NWC was a microcosm for the whole tramp, a few hours slogging through the mud, a beautiful wild beach, and then some more time in the mud. Murray Beach was the highlight of the tramp today, a beautiful golden sand beach, after finishing the beach the track follows the route of an old tramway for a couple of kilometres providing for relatively easy walking. After some more muddy climbing and descending the track comes to the stony Christmas Village Bay and Christmas Village Hut, like Bungaree this hut was situated on a grassy terrace above the beach, a perfect spot to spend the rest of the day.

Sections of the track were on the damp side.

Murray Beach.

Day 3.     Yankee River Hut 12 kilometres           43 kilometres total.
More climbing and descending muddy slopes today, half way through today's tramp I broke out onto the stony Lucky Beach and could see the snow capped Southern Alps seemingly floating above the Foveaux Strait. After a sunny interlude on Lucky Beach the NWC circuit climbed some coastal terraces which provided some views through the bush making for pleasant if muddy walking. After a long descent I arrived at Yankee River Hut in the middle of the afternoon, situated on a grassy terrace above the Yankee River it was a great place to catch up with the washing and sit in the afternoon sun.

The Southern Alps from Lucky Beach.

Mud Cam.

Day 4 Long Harry Hut     9 kilometres      52 kilometres total.

Today I had a fairly short day, only 9 kilometres but it still took me 4.5 hours. Today started in light rain so I was walking in my waterproofs which meant that in about 3 seconds I was sweating up a storm. My beach interlude today was Smokey Beach where I had the great experience of having a New Zealand Fur Seal surf in to check me out, barking at me from a metre or two away. After a deep ford of Smoky Creek I headed back into the scrub for the final section over to Long Harry Hut. Arriving at the superbly located Long Harry Hut in the early afternoon I spent the rest of the day doing my usual daily chores, eating, drinking, checking out the coast below the hut, and going on a failed kiwi spotting expedition.

The creek below Long Harry Hut.

The view from Long Harry Hut.

Day 5       East Ruggedy Hut     10 kilometres          62 kilometres total.
I was now slowly making my way around to the wild west coast of Stewart Island and the scenery was cranking up a notch or two, and so was the mud. The highlight of the day was the lookout high above East Ruggedy Bay, with the Ruggedy Island just off shore. Descending to East Ruggedy Beach I crossed the incredibly soft sand of Ruggedy Stream without sinking in the quicksand and made my way up through the extensive dunes in bare feet, arriving at my days destination East Ruggedy Hut in the early afternoon.

East Ruggedy Beach.

Mud Cam.

Ruggedy Stream.

My suite in East Ruggedy Hut.

Day 6      Big Hellfire Hut      14 kilometres             72 kilometres total.
Today was one of my best days walking ever. the weather was stunning, the scenery ruggedy beautiful, the track got even more challenging, and there was a breeze to keep the sandflies at bay. The day started easy with a fairly level and dry section over to the stunning West Ruggedy Beach, with rocky crags and islands framing the beach it was a great place to spend a little time, it was hard to take a bad photo. After another muddy climb I descended to Waituna Bay, with its rocky shoreline it contrasted with the sand of West Ruggedy Beach. There was a beautiful tannin stained creek flowing though the driftwood choked beach. Climbing away from the coast I traversed the most sustained mud so far on my climb to Big Hellfire Hut.

West Ruggedy Beach.

Superb scenery on West Ruggedy Beach.

The rocky Waituna Bay.

Waituna Bay with the Ruggedy Mountains behind.

Slogging my way up to Big Hellfire Hut up a river of mud.

Day 7       Mason Bay Hut     15 kilometres              87 kilometres total.
Today turned out to be the crux of the tramp, the weather was wet all day, the climbs steep and long, and the mud deep and slippery. The NWC climbs onto a ridge after leaving Big Hellfire Hut and is muddy to start with and only gets worse. Descending off the ridge to Little Hellfire Beach I had my walking pole sink to its hand grip in one mud hole on the track, a depth of 1 metre at least, hmm.....
After Little Hellfire Beach I had another steep and slippery climb over Mason Head, the descent being aided by some old fixed ropes. Arriving on the extensive Mason Bay I then had an easy beach tramp up to Duck Creek which I more or less followed through the dunes to the dry Mason Bay Hut. Sharing the massive 28 bed hut with only one other punter.

Looking down to Little Hellfire Beach from the ridge.

I've just topped out on Mason Head in the rain.

Hey, I'm still smiling despite the rain and mud.

Mason Bay Hut.

Day 8      Freshwater Landing Hut    16 kilometres    103 kilometres total.
Today I crossed the famed Chocolate Swamp, with all yesterdays rain I had an idea that I may be getting wet feet today, as it turned out I did get wet feet but not crossing the Chocolate Swamp but instead on the long straight section of the track along the old drain that the early settlers built to drain the swamp. Apart from the one short section of shin deep water today's walk was easy being basically flat, so I was able to give my knees a rest after yesterdays grunt. I was visited by a White Tail Deer that night at Freshwater Landing Hut which was the highlight of my stay, Freshwater Landing Hut is the only hut on the NWC that didn't really have a view, situated near a landing on the Freshwater River in the Manuka forest.

Boot drying at Freshwater Landing Hut.

Day 9      North Arm Hut   11 kilometres           114 kilometres total.
According to my guide book today was going to be a bitch, it suggested that it may take 7 hours of walking for the 11 kilometres, reading the log book at Freshwater Landing Hut it appeared that a lot of trampers take the water taxi from Freshwater Landing back to Oban and miss the last two sections, where's the fun in that? You know what? It wasn't too bad. The climb up, over and down Thomson Ridge was steep and muddy with lots of roots but overall it was no worse than what had come before. The hardest section for me was the traverse along the edge of North Arm with the NWC constantly climbing and descending although it was enlivened by me spotting my sixth kiwi of the tramp, this one I managed to get a dodgy photo of. After 5 hours I was at the Rakuira Great Walk North Arm Hut, which I shared with around 30 of my newest friends.

A stream cascading down off Thomson Ridge.

North Arm through the window of North Arm Hut.

Day 10     Oban      13 kilometres               127 kilometres total.
After a hot and uncomfortable night in the North Arm Hut I was glad to be on my way. The weather for my last day was overcast which was a shame as the track now passed a succession of bays as it made its way towards Oban. Now I was back on the Rakuira Great Walk track I didn't have to worry about mud, roots and creek crossings anymore, but I was already missing the adventure that was the NWC. Just on lunch time I found myself once again on the quiet roads on the outskirts of Oban, the tramp finished with me arriving a The South Seas Hotel just in time to partake in a couple of servings of Blue Cod and chips, washed down with three handles of Speights (the local brew). I've had worse finishes to a walk.

Kidney Fern Arm.

Back at The South Seas Hotal.

The Dirt.
I travelled from Invercargill to Stewart Island with Real Journeys, they are a local kiwi company which run a fleet of boats and coaches into wild areas of the country. You need a NWC pass which I purchased at the Doc office in Oban which allows you to use the NWC huts for up to ten nights, it cost around $35. If your staying at one of the Rakuira Great Walk Huts you need to purchase a ticket for them, around $22 per night. The South Seas Hotel was a great place to bookend my tramp, the beers good and the Blue Cod is superb. The NWC is a hard tramp, there are long sections of deep mud, sometimes in very steep terrain, lots of slippery roots and rocks, three sections on the beaches which are tide dependent, and worst of all clouds of sandflies. The good however easily outweighs the bad, the scenery was stunning, the huts were located in picture perfect locations and were uncrowded and clean, the wildlife was abundant, and the tramping challenging enough to give me  a sense of satisfaction at the end of each day. I used notes out of Hiking and Tramping in New Zealand by Lonely Planet, the Rakiura/Stewart Island Parkmap, my GPS, and also carried my PLB. If I've wet your appetite check out my crazy guy journal  its got a lot more detail and over 200 photos which will give a better idea of what's involved and why I loved it!

Have I mentioned the Sandflies?

Or the mud?

That makes this one about a metre deep, might be some lost trampers down there.