I can't tell you how happy I was to see Day 2. From the beginning the organizers had told us that after the first day we no longer had to carry our backpacks. By the time we would reach our first overnight at Pyke's Lodge we would be deep enough into the Hollyford Valley and near the river that all packs could then be transported by jet boat. WHAT A LOAD OFF--literally!!!
Another long day with that pack and I would have been even more whipped than I was last night.
(On our travels Jerry seems to delight in taking photos of me sleeping. This is the first time I've ever found a use for one.)
After breakfast on the morning of Day 2, we LEFT OUR PACKS AT THE LODGE (Yay!) and took a 2k walk across a swing bridge through a fern forest to Lake Alabaster which is beautiful beyond compare.
We crossed the longest bridge on the Hollyford Track and saw ancient forest giants such as native Rimu, Totara and Kahikatea, some believed to be a thousand years old.
After crossing the bridge that spanned the Hollyford River, we gathered to hear Sarah tell us the story about about three men which took place here in the 1880s. It seems they were trying to cross a swollen river but only had a small boat and none of them could swim. One decided to stay on the bank but the other two decided to go for it. For whatever reason, the two took all their clothes off except their underwear and left them on the river bank. As they were crossing, the boat capsized and one drowned. The other, a man named Frederick Fitt, was stranded on an island in the flooded river. Seeing the predicament, the third man left to get help. Mr. Fitt was left stranded without shirt, boots or socks. Apparently he was an excellent stone thrower and managed to survive on birds he had stoned. However, once his rescuers arrived a week later they found him to have been driven mad by the sandflies that had bitten every part of his exposed skin.
Just beyond this bridge was the start of the Demon Trail which is as its name implies and is only for the most experienced hikers. Thankfully was not part of our walk. Amazing that Demon Trail was part of Davey Gunn's 200 mile route to drive his cattle to market.
It was also the Hollyford River that took the life of Davey Gunn. He lived and died on the river. This spot is where he fell off his horse and drowned on Christmas Day 1955.
We continued our walk through a beautiful section of ancient forest and ferns.
For me, the highlight of the morning was coming upon Lake Alabaster. I was able to capture a photo when the conditions were perfect. The photo has now replaced one of the African plains that was my iPad wallpaper.
Captain Daniel Alabaster, for whom the lake was named, and Skipper Duncan were early gold prospectors who visited this area. When they arrived in 1863 the local chief Tutoko, greeted them wearing a full American Civil War uniform!
We returned to the Lodge to pick up our day packs and boarded the jet boat for a ride up Lake McKerrow. We sped along the lake and over the rapids before making a brief stop along the way and Capt. Johnny would give us a bit of history.
One of our stops on Lake McKerrow was to the historic site of Jamestown, a small settlement that was intended to be the capital of the South Island in the late 19th century. Today, there is no trace of the town's general store, five houses and pub.
From the outset in 1870 the first settlers found their new home a beautiful but inhospitable refuge. Jennie and Sarah told of the hardship and what was called “the great starvation” which came swiftly. Their only line of communication and supply was a monthly shipping service which didn’t always arrive if the seas were too rough. Jamestown depended upon ships delivering provisions from Queenstown but the weather had to be settled for getting around Martin's Bay sand bar which claimed one ship in three vessels trying to avoid it.
With diet of fish, wekas, kiwis, and pigeons, and supplies usually delivered late and at exorbitant prices, the little community was soon in difficult straits and a steady exodus began. By 1879 the struggle was over. Tilled fields went back to bush and scrub, and the buildings fell down.
Sarah told us about the Jamestown mailman, Big John Robertson, who delivered the mail to residents in the bush from 1870 until 1872. His trip took him two weeks from the time he picked up the mail in Queenstown until he delivered the mail and returned to Jamestown. He would stay one day with his wife in their Jamestown cabin then head out the next day to Queenstown via Lake McKerrow and repeat his route. After two years of this schedule he returned one night looking ill. His wife left to get help which took several days. When she returned she found him dead of TB. Mr. Robertson was never replaced as the Government stopped sponsoring mail delivery to Jamestown.
After visiting Jamestown we walked a bit further to Martin's Bay Hut where a beautiful lunch spread was waiting. The young couple who are the "hosts" of the Martin's Bay Lodge where we would be spending the night had come in by 4-wheel drive vehicle and set up lunch for us.
After lunch we set out for a long walk through a mossy forest to reach a coastal track lined with bent-over trees and wind-whipped flax, and a rookery where there were fur seals and sometimes penguins. We saw lots of fur seals but no penguins.
The New Zealand fur seal is a species of fur seal found along the coast of the South Island. The name New Zealand fur seal is used by English speakers and kekeno is used in the Māori language. Although the seals look docile, they can move surprisingly fast. We were advised by Sarah in a briefing held before we took the steep path down to the sea shore to never approach a female with young and never get between a seal and the water, cutting off its escape route to the sea. Their teeth are very sharp and many New Zealanders have been bitten.
As we left the seashore we took a wrong turn and encountered a bull on our path so we quickly did an about face and hurriedly headed back down the trail. In our surprised state we missed getting a picture of the massive animal.
From the vantage point of the fur seal rocks we viewed the treacherous Hollyford Bar mentioned earlier.
After visiting the fur seals and completing our 7 mile Day 2 tramp, we got back on the jetboat with Johnny at the helm and cruised back across Lake McKerrow to Martin’s Bay Lodge. We were greeted by Niko who was from Holland and Stefanie, from the UK, who served us Manuka Tea with honey. Martin’s Bay Lodge is a larger facility than Pyke River Lodge where we stayed on Day 1. Martin’s is the distribution point for other lodges. Helicopters land here to deliver provisions which are then transported by jet boat to the other lodges. They also pick up and drop off trampers.
Niko and Stefanie had grilled us salmon for dinner which was delicious.
After dinner we filled our hot water bottles and snuggled in for a wonderful sleep.
There were a lot of deer around Martin’s Bay Lodge. They are attracted by the nearby grassy fields including those on the lodge property. Sarah said she could hear them outside her window during the night. I was dead tired and didn’t hear a thing.
Sportsmen in 1904 set 13 Red Tail deer free in New Zealand for hunting. According to Jenny, by the 1920s these 13 had multiplied into thousands in the Hollyford Valley alone. The deer not only became an ecological threat to indigenous flora—they ate up the grass on Davey Gunn’s pastures causing Davey to lease additional grazing land for his cattle.
While still a threat to NZ’s environment today, deer are now farm raised for their venison and for the velvet on stag horns which is used by Asians, mostly Koreans, as a medicine. It is either ground up or processed in thin slices. While it is often thought of as an aphrodisiac, it is mainly used as a health and wellness tonic. Processed velvet is given to young children to prevent childhood illnesses and improve growth – much as the western world uses multi-vitamins.
We later learned all about “velveting”from veterinary student Emma who was on our Doubtful Sound excursion. The velvet must be removed under anesthesia by a veterinarian or an individual who is trained and registered person and passed exams administered by Deer Industry New Zealand. Velveting is an arduous and expensive process.
Venison is exported to Germany and other markets, including the US. During our stay in New Zealand we have eaten venison often. It has been prepared in a variety of ways, always good, probably because it is farm raised has no gamey taste.
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