Alright, this is the only photo I was able to upload after a couple of tries, so it will have to do for now. It was taken at the end of the dusky and I am just really happy to be done. I have come to the conclusion that uploading pictures is a slow and painful process, so I am not going to do too much of it. Instead of trying to upload and fit all the pictures here, I am going to try to upload all of them to a flickr account so that everyone can check them out there and they will all be in one place. I apoligize for the increase in web surfing this will require. Anyway, onto epic posts about an epic track! First off, we were camping by a river the nights before the dusky, I am not sure if I mentioned this. The first night, Nick wanted to sleep outside because it was a nice night, so I slept in Greg's tent. When Nick got back from a night hike however, he saw the size of the bugs that had already made their way to his sleeping bag and quickly pitched his tent in the dark. The next morning, he found two huge spiders in the doorway of his tent (on the outside) after he had already gone in and out. This is important because it explains why the next morning when I was getting out of Nick's tent I was in such a hurry to get through the door and away from the tent that my glasses fell off my face and I managed to step on them. I am very talented I know. This was the morning we were going to leave, and I was not excited about having blurry vision or putting on contacts every morning. I examined the damage to my glasses, one lens had popped out and they were bent pretty bad. I managed to pop the lens back in, put in contacts, and decided to try to and bend them into shape on the trail. I think I did an okay job, but now you know why my glasses may look skewed in some photos. Here is a link to flickr I hope it works
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23549365@N07/ . So we had to get up really early to catch the shuttle at 7:30 that would take us to meet the boat driver that would take us across Lake Haroku to start the trail. There were three other people in the shuttle who were going to do the dusky, and three other people who were taking a scenic tour. We got to know the other people doing the dusky because we stayed at the same hut with them every night. I will intorduce them now. Cameron was traveling alone, he is from the San Francisco area but graduated school in New York and lives in New York city. Alex and Dillon were a young couple from Vermont who have been traveling through New Zealand, rock climbing and working for the last four months. The first scenic shuttle was nice because the driver stopped a couple of times and gave random facts and information about the various lakes and sheep farms that we passed. He informed us that recently someone broke the sheep shearing record by shearing over five hundred sheep in 8 hours. When the scenic shuttle dropped us off we got in another vehicle with the boat driver. We stopped at what appeared to be his house and picked up the boat, then drove down back roads to the lake. On the narrow road ahead of us was a girl on an atv, with two dogs riding beside her and hundreds of sheep ahead of her. She got out of the way and the driver drove at the exact speed the sheep could run. The result was hundreds of sheep running for their lives in front of us, then they would drift to the side of the van until one by one they would stop and turn around and realize nothing was chasing them. It was quite funny to watch, and the driver did not hit a single one. When we got to the lake was when I started to realize that maybe our packs were too heavy, and that the sandflies were going to be annoying. The packs in our group were so much heavier than Cameron, Alex, and Dillon that I did not believe they could have enough food. Any time you were standing still, sandflies would be there, trying to find exposed skin. You can see the damage they did to my feet at flickr, but i think they got David the worst. The boat ride across the lake took forty minutes or an hour, and it was really beautiful. When we got to the trail head there was one guy there who was catching the boat back. We did final pack preparations, snapped some photos, and got on the trail. Now I had seen pictures of the trail and I thought I knew what to expect, but the Dusky track blew my mind. It was so green! I had never hiked through a rainforest like that. Some spots had moss covering everything. Some spots had countless ferns, and everywhere had huge trees and tree roots. The trail itself was barely there. It was nothing like any trail I have done. I had to keep my eyes on the ground so that I did not trip over any roots, but Often the only thing marking the trail are orange triangles posted on trees. So it was really easy to miss a turn or get lost, but once you did, you quickly realized it because there were no more markers in front of you, so you just back track until you find the marker you missed. Early on in the day, I was hiking with Kevin and Greg behind me, and the trail dipped down into a little stream with lots of logs and roots. I lost my footing and ended up in the stream, soaking wet. It was not pleasant. Then, maybe 20 steps later I miss judged a puddle and ended up in knee deep mud. I would have to say that that was a good approximation of how the rest of the hiking would go. Our original plan was to go straight to the second hut on the first day, a feat the sign at the trailhead said would take 11 hours. As soon as I started walking on the trail with my heavy pack, I knew that I was not going to last 11 hours. After I fell, I was extra slow and carefull, I knew a serious injury would be very expensive, and would end my trip in a hurry. So my pace was usually slower than the other people in our group. I took my time, soaking in my surroundings. I tried to take some photos, but there was not much light, everything was in the shade, and I could tell that they just were not coming out. The first walkwire that we got to was very interesting. Nick, David, and Kevin were already on the other side, and when I got to it they told me not to worry, and just walk like a duck. The walkwire bridge is simply three wires, one to walk on and two to hold onto. I could not figure out what they meant by walk like a duck, and once you get on the thing your arms and legs shake and it is quite unnerving. I walked pigeon toed, then crossed my legs, then shuffled sideways all before I realized that walking like a duck is just the opposite of pigeon toed, with your toes out. Once I figured that out the walkwire was not so bad. After a short rest at the end of the walkwire we set off again. This was the first of many inclines that we'd encounter. It was rough. I soon learned that when the topo map said that the trail was flat, it was not necessarily flat. It just did not go up the 20 or 100 meters (depending on the map) that each line represented. And if the trail did cross topo lines, then it was going to be bad. By the time I made it to the first hut it was probably like 6, and I was dead. The sandflies were especially bad at this hut. Alex and Dillon had a pile of literally 1000 dead sandflies that they had killed and counted before I had got there. I had dinner, read a bit, and then went to bed well before 10, which is when it starts to get dark. I think I impressed everyone in the hut with my snoring skills. The funny thing is I am usually the person who snores, and I was the only person who brought earplugs. The next day was to lake roe, and it was a hard day. I don't think I drank enough water the night before, because I was feeling very dehydrated and sluggish. It was miserable. There was a lot of uphill that day, we went above the tree line. The good thing was at the hut it was too high or cold or whatever for the sandflies, so they were not a problem. The hut was right by a couple of lakes of various sizes, but none of them were lake roe. To get to lake roe you had to climb a hill that was right by the hut, but I was so tired that I did not want to do it. Nick told me it was absolutely worth it, so I sucked it up and did it. It was amazing. Lake roe was bigger than the lakes by the hut, but it too was surrounded by lots of lakes of various sizes. It was up on a little mountain with a great view of the valley the hut was in and alos distant mountains. Nick was right it was worth it. The next day was a short incline to a vista where we got our first view of dusky sound, as well as the entire valley that we would be hiking in. That was really and incredible view, I hope my panorama comes out. After that we started the long decent to loch maree. We were still above the tree line, just hiking through alpine grass, but just walking downhill in my boots was destroying my toes. I think they may be half a size too small. At one point i was walking sideways so that my does were not getting smashed. I could not handle this for very long, and I had to stop and but on my hiking sandles. These eased the pressure on my toes, but they did not offer any ankle support. Carrying the heavy pack and walking in a terrain that was very uneven and often very steep I was seriously careful about twisting a ankle or otherwise injuring myself. Once we got back in the tree line, it got steep. There were points were chains were set up to hold onto has you climbed down roots and moss covered rocks that were nearly verticle. It was a miracle that no one in our group was seriously injured. I was slowed by the new blisters that were created by my sandals. The worst was an ugly looking thing on the side of my heel that kind of scared me. Anyway I made it down to the hut, then decided to go back to a stream on the side of the loch where some of the guys were hanging out. I took one of the best nature showers I have taken in that stream, washing away a couple of days worth of sweat and dirt. My feet hurt so bad though that when we got back to the hut I did not put on socks or cover them in any way, and so that was the night that they got bit. For the first time there was a full hut, with a group of czech? backpackers and a swedish photographer sharing with us. The next day we convinced cameron to come to supper cove with us, as it was an optional side trip and it was not in his original plan. It was one of the tougher trails on the trip. I don't think it was marked as well as it should have been so I got lost a couple of times. One time Cameron and I were lost in a really muddy area, I slipped on a wet log into knee deep mud, popping a blister in the process. I had to stop and fix that, but then it was ok. Not only was the trail rough, it was also pretty long, 14.5 km. When I made it to the hut, a family was leaving. They were not in backpacking gear, or even hiking gear, so I thought it was odd. They told me that they had left dinner for us. I was like what? The dad said that he figured we were tired of freeze dried food so they left us a fish. I said thank you, and saw their fishing boat anchored in the sound, but I did not know how awesome they were until i got to the hut. They had given us two huge fish, fresh plums and apricots, a dozen eggs, lettuce, cabbage, onion, bell pepper and juice concentrate. They had told the guys that they were leaving the next day and could not take all the food, it was better than christmas. fishing is popular at the hut, so all the supplies to cook fish were already there, garlic, olive oil etc. Kevin was great and cut up the fish, the sand flies were pretty bad outside so I watched him do it from the hut. We were all excited about the food, but we were also worried because it was getting late, and Greg had not yet arrived at the hut. He had the heaviest pack out of everyone, and had developed some really bad blisters on his heels that had slowed him down considerably. We thought maybe he had turned around and not tried to make it to supper cove, but because we did not know that for sure we could not just relax if it got dark and he did not arrive. Cameron was really nice and offered to hike back along the trail to loch maree to look for him. Nick also offered to hike back. They are two of the strongest hikers, so it made sense, but it was also a very dangerous idea for anyone to be hiking in the dark. Everyone was really tense and worried. Alex and Dillon were great, and offered their emergency beacon and emergency blanket. It really amazed me that these people we had only hiked with for a couple days would be so generous with us. Spirits were pretty low around 9:30 when they set out, there was only a half hour of light left. Then, like a minute later they came back with Greg, he was right down the trail. Needless to say we were all very relieved, and we enjoyed our dinner of fish and salad. It started raining around midnight, and it was still raining the next morning when I got ready to hike. We made a group decision that we did not want to have to swim any streams or get lost in the mud so we decided just to stay at supper cove another day. My feet were happy to have the day of rest, and we had fun just reading and playing cards. Greg realized that he could not hike any longer on his blisters, and he got on the helicopter with the family who had given us food. The next day was my favorite day of hiking. I had left a lot of stuff at the loch maree hut that I would not need at supper cove, so my pack was light. I had eaten all the food I brought to supper cove when we stayed there that extra day so my pack was extra light. David, Kevin, Nick and I all hiked together, and we made great time. At loch maree I had to add all the extra stuff I had left there, and we split up gregs stuff that he had left there and I had to add that to my bag. Now my bag was heavy again and going was slow the next day. The hut was full with an older group. They were nice and when we started to play bridge an older gentleman named David jumped in and started giving us a lesson. Nick, Kevin and I had played bridge, so we knew the basics, but David had never played before. The new David taught us so many things that bridge became our new favorite game, and we would play it every chance we got. The next day was a not long distance wise, but it was all the way up a mountain, then down the other side. I did alright going up, and the view of loch maree and the valley behind me was motivation to get to the top. Going down was a different story. I had already been hiking all day and my feet were sore, then the down hill hurt my toes again, I was really ready to get off the trail. OUr last night was quiet, I ate almost the food I had left, then we went to bed early to get an early start. We hike together the next day, leaving a little after 7. Four and a half hours later, we got to a road, and I could have jumped for joy if my feet did not hurt so bad. it was 45 minutes on the road to the dock where we would try and get a boat across lake manapouri, but a friendly bus driver came by with an empty bus and picked us all up. He dropped us off at the visitor center and told us about an spare bathroom to store our packs. It was 12:30 or so, and the boat would not leave until 4, by his estimation. We walked a short distance to a hostel and played bridge. The only person there was a traveller and the cook. The cook was nice, and we drank coffee and tea and then she gave us fresh muffins. They hit the spot. We went back to the visitor center and got on a boat a little after four, but not before going to the bar on a boat next to ours and getting a round of whiskeys. It was another beautiful boat ride, and Greg was waiting for us on the other side. We were officially back in civilization. Cheers to anyone who read this whole rambling mess, I am tired of typing so I will have to tell about te anau and queenstown later, plus I might try uploading more pictures to make my blog look as snazzy as nicks. Check it out
theworldtravelsofnickstoner.blogspot.com if you have not already. Also
http://davidchen-aroundtheworld.blogspot.com/ . That is all for now. Hope everyone is well!
On the way to the stadium we stopped for sake bombs, but still made it a little bit early. The game itself was a lot of fun. The Auckland Blues took on the Chiefs. We were rooting for the Blues because we figured it was better to root for the home team, but there were plenty of fans from both sides because the town the chiefs are from is only an hour and a half away. It was amazing rugby, and an exciting game, with plenty of tries, tackles and lead changes. The Blues won so we were happy. It was especially interesting because they have introduced some rule changes to try and speed up the game, so we had to try and pick up on those. I could really get used to watching professional rugby instead of professional football. Today I spent the day doing laundry, getting my haircut, using up my internet time, and generally getting ready to leave the country. Australia here I come! I imagine I will have similar access as I have had, so I will probably do at least one or two posts next week. Hope all is well with all! -- Mark
