Jan 17 Day 2 Hollyford Track

Hollyford Track Day 2, Jan 17

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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Jan 16 Day 1 Hollyford Track

Hollyford Track Day 1


We had spent the night at the Dunluce B&B, in a residential area 5 minutes from the town center of Te Anau. Dunluce is owned by an extremely nice couple, Roger and Wendy McQuillan. They gave us all kinds of tips for our three-day trek and the morning of our departure allowed us to store our luggage and leave our car in their driveway. Roger drove us into town to meet up with the hiking group.

The Hollyford Track is located at the northern edge of Fiordland and follows the Hollyford River which in turn follows the course of the Hollyford Valley.

The Māori people were the first to settle the Fiordland though by the time of the arrival of Europeans in the mid-19th century, only a handful remained in the area. One of these was Tutoko, for whom Mount Tutoko, which rises 2700m above the Hollyford valley, was subsequently named.

The track is about 36 miles in length. It runs in a roughly south-north direction, its southern end being accessible by road 10 miles to the east of the Homer Tunnel, and its northern end being at the Tasman Sea coast at Martins Bay, north of Milford Sound.

For most of its path, the track follows the course of the Hollyford River / Hollyford Valley. Features of the track are the two lakes, Lake Alabaster (or Waiwahuika) and Lake McKerrow (or Whakatipu Waitai), the latter being a fiord now cut off from the sea by sediment. The track runs through lowland forest, with views of surrounding mountains. Wildlife visible from the track include seals, penguins, and herons.

The Hollyford Track is part of the Department of Conservation network with several bunk huts scattered along its length. The guided operation we were on is operated by Ngai Tahu Tourism (owned by the main South Island Maori tribal group) who have their own Lodges at Pyke and Martins Bay.

The guided option we selected combined hiking, jetboating and a helicopter flight in a three day journey from the mountains to the sea. The first day was a hike which was between 10.5 and 13 miles (the guides weren’t quite sure of the exact length), the 2nd a 7 mile hike and a jetboat ride and 3rd day was a 5 mile hike, a jetboat ride and a helicopter ride over Millford Sound.

The Hollyford brochure states “You will need to have a reasonable level of fitness.” This was somewhat of an understatement we were to soon discover. Our anxiety was heightened when we met our fellow trampers, 8 in all, who were all experienced hikers who had come specifically to tramp the track. We joined up at Te Anau for the bus trip to the Hollyford Track starting point with 3 Australian couples, one recently retired Procter & Gamble executive from London who was on a worldwide trekking adventure, and a retired NZ nurse who led day hikes. They were slim, fit and all younger than Jerry and me.

It was also clear from the size of their backpacks that they had done this before. Ours were overstuffed and heavy.


Theirs were small and light. This was definitely a handicap. Once I saw one woman's teeny pack, I unloaded two sweaters, an extra pair of pants and extra socks and left them with the bus driver. My pack was still heavy.

At our briefing with Graham the previous night, we were asked to fill out the customary form for us to sign which held harmless the guide operator. The form also asked if we had any medical conditions which they should know about. And if “any guest is over 70 years of age, a Doctors certificate must be supplied." I didn’t mention my hip surgery and Jerry put down 69 instead of 71. By now we were having second thoughts about how rigorous the trek was and our fitness to do it.

We were too far into this to back out so we boarded the bus at Te Anau for the 1 ½ hour ride to the Hollyford Track start at Gunn’s Camp.

Murray Gunn, son of Davey Gunn (more on the legendary Davey follows) guided trampers in the area, and started "Gunn's Camp", a rest-stop for trampers which still stands near the southern end of the track, around 10 km from the Milford Sound-Te Anau highway.

David "Davey" Gunn (1887-1955), spent 30 years of his life living and working in Fiordland's rugged Hollyford Valley. He opened up the area with hiking paths and accommodations and established a reputation for complete self-reliance in extremely rough country. We heard many stories of his exploits from our guides Sarah and Jennie.

Davey was seen as a modern-day cowboy living a carefree life in one of New Zealand's most beautiful landscapes. He established one of the most isolated cattle runs in New Zealand and in the mid-1930s to boost his income he pioneered guided walking and riding trips in the Hollyford valley. Gunn cut a number of well used tracks and erected huts in the more remote parts of Hollyford which we “tramped” on.

As we hiked along the rough and meandering foot trails, Sarah told us several stories about Davey, including his most famous exploit which Sarah told with undisguised admiration. She described how, in 1936, Gunn ran ("with a broken rib!") and rowed the 15km length of Lake McKerrow ("with mismatched oars!") to raise the alarm about a plane crash at Big Bay, covering 54 miles, a trip that normally took four days, in just 20 hours. This feat of endurance saved the lives of at least two men and earned Davey legend status throughout NZ.

Gunn's Camp is a scattering of cabins around a shop and a little museum. Inside it are black and white photographs of scruffy-looking men in battered hats.

Rusty iron tools, gold pans and horse-shoes are nailed to the walls, along with yellowing newspaper clippings recording landslides, floods and bridge wash-outs.

Dominating the room, though, is a worn saddle on a rack, its label reading "Davie Gunns saddle he was drowned from". There is also a faded newspaper article on the death of Davey Gunn on Christmas Day 1955. He had nudged his horse into the Hollyford River near Hidden Falls with a 14-year-old boy mounted behind him. The horse stumbled and fell, and both riders were swept away and drowned. Neither could swim.












































After our stop at Gunn's Camp we continued to the start of the track and the beginning of our three days on The Hollyford Trail.













Shortly after starting our hike Sarah informs us "I need to warn you about dangerous plants." She points to the leafy shrub beside her. "This is tutu. It's poisoned circus elephants that ate the seeds. And that over there is stinging nettle."




















































The scenery takes our breath away. The first day of Hollyford Track has a “wee” hill as Sarah put it which turns out to be nearly a 600 foot hill climb. The first day was the hardest as it was 10 plus miles of rugged up and down pathway along the river.





































































At about a halfway point one of our fellow hikers, Alan, asked how I found the hike. I told him that this was the first backpacking hike I had ever done so I had no other to compare it with. Alan said he was amazed that the Hollyford was such an “easy trail.” My thought was if this was his idea of an easy hike that I was in for a tough 3 days!










































Clear, cold and turquoise, the Hollyford River is upstaged only by the mountains and glaciers gleaming white above our heads. The water was so clean and cold, we used it to fill our water bottles. It is an incredibly scenic rainforest. And, appropriately, It rained most of the day.




























I tend to look down at the track to watch my footing but Sarah stopped often and asked us to be more aware of the foliage along the path, and her enthusiasm was catching. We shared her thrill in gazing at an unassuming fern, tmesipteris - "460 million years old! It's Jurassic she said!" - and nibble supplejack vine that tastes like asparagus, and furry brown tree fern tips that are meant to taste like walnuts but look and feel too much like caterpillars for any great enthusiasm on our part.
























And then, at the end of a long day, we finally arrive at Pyke Lodge, with its dramatic view of Mt Madeline, for a warm welcome by Masa and Renee and a hot shower, There were only 3 showers for the 10 hikers and two guides and I must say that the experienced hikers we were with were in and out in less than five minutes. I was the only one using a hair dryer.









































We had sushi, assorted cheeses for an entrée (entrée is what Kiwis call starters) and wine. Masa and Renee had prepared roasted deer venison loin for dinner with key lime pie for dessert followed shortly by a bunk bed and a peaceful night.




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