Hollyford Track - Day 2



Our wake up call came as advertised and both of us were dreading getting out of bed to find that we were too stiff to move.  Pleasantly surprised, we were both fairly mobile although Ingrid had a niggle with a blister (brought on from her golf shoes not her walking books).  After a hearty breakfast (necessary given the walking to be done) we were off on the trail again.  First up we walked up to Lake Alabaster which lies in a tributary valley to the Hollyford River.  As the water levels were fairly low, we were told that we would be shuttled down-river on a smaller boat.  We volunteered to go on the first shuttle as it meant that we would have a chance to see a piece of the landscape that we would otherwise miss.  There is a flood channel that, when the river is high, creates an island in the middle of the river.  On this island is a hut maintained by the department of conservation for the 'freedom walkers' (those not on guided trips).  We had seen one person leaving the track on day one and no-one else.  We toured the 'island' and visited the McKerrow Hut - this has two huge bunks and 12 (yes, twelve) mattresses so that six can sleep per bunk!!  When all the others were at the island, we boarded a bigger jet boat and headed off downstream and into Lake McKerrow.  We had a couple of stops - the main stop being at Jamestown, which was the intended settlement of the region by the local government.  The settlement lasted only a few years as the area was, basically, wholly inhospitable and lines of communication to the local centres were not (and could not be) established.  There is nothing there but a plaque and a cemetery now.  Next stop was to jump back on to the trail (this trip misses out a piece called the Devils Trail which is a day and a half's difficult hike.  We resumed our walk through the rainforest and saw how the vegetation changes as you get nearer the coast.  Our lessons were punctuated by lunch as we got nearer the coast.



The warning sign for part of the track - we only had to do about a kilometre of it!



After seeing 1000 year old trees (which pre-date the Maori by some 200 years and Euopean settlers in the area by some 850 years), we reached the coastal part of the path.  Next up was a visit to a seal colony.  We were near the front of the group behind one of the guides when there was a splashing and a bit of turmoil in a bit of water on the land-side of the path;  a penguin popped up, jumped between the two of us (close enough almost to be on Ingrid's toes) and shot into the bush on the seaward side.  As the penguin was a Fiordland Crested Penguin - the rarest in the world - it was a very exciting moment and as much so for the guide as us.  It was also a piece of the trip that only 4 of us got to see up close.  On then to the seals and a sighting of adults and pups basking in the sun on the rocks;  we even have some video of a pup suckling.

Tearing ourselves away from this scene, we went back down the path to a landing site and were collected by the jet-boat to be taken to the Martin's Bay Lodge where we were to stay for the night.  The lodge hosts served salmon that they had hot-smoked themselves at the lodge;  this was followed by a very chocolate-y pudding.  Strangely, the starter was a cheeseboard.  Suffice it to say that it did not take long to go to sleep in anticipation of another early wake-up and a poor weather forecast for the next day.