Lots of stairs again on day 3. Up and down and over boardwalks through the forest. We walked through the most mud on day 3. It wasn't too bad since it hadn't rained since we got to Stewart Island on Friday, but some of it was still ankle-deep. I really can't imagine hiking there in the rain; it must be miserable. The most exciting part was that Dan saw a kiwi bird on this morning hike. Lexie and I weren't able to catch a glimpse of this elusive bird which most New Zealanders have never even seen. No pictures of it though; Dan just saw it taking off through the forest.
We did see huge fern trees all over including this strange six-headed fern tree. These were really huge trees. I have never seen ferns like this; it made you think of Jurassic Park & dinosaurs.
The last part of the Rakiura Track follows the former Kaipipi Road which lead to sawmills at Kaipipi Bay in the 1860s. It was the most used & best maintained road on the island in its heyday. For us it was just a slow, steady incline of sharp little mossy rocks.
Ahh!! We made it out of the forest! We were giddy with excitement at being done and thinking of all the food we wanted to eat. The 12 km were supposed to take 5 hours, but we made it in 3 hours 45 minutes. Go team!
Our excitement was a bit premature. From the edge of the forest we had to walk a few miles on roads to get back to Halfmoon Bay and check in at the DOC office. The nice lady there took this picture of us happy to have completed the Rakiura Track, our first Great Walk of New Zealand. It is officially a Great Walk here -- the DOC designates certain tracks as Great Walks because they are, well, so great. We are already planning the next one.
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