When there's nothing left to burn... drink rum?

I survived the Dusky Track!! Yes it was wet. Yes it was muddy. Yes it was cold. Yes the sandflies were bastards. But it was fun, and I may well do it again (you may call me crazy).

Day one started with a helicopter ride from Tuatapere to Supper Cove (which was named by Cook when he came in there for Supper one night). My first ever ride in a helicopter. Tis a great thrill and you get fantastic views - though it was a little leaky when the rain starts!

The further we headed over the mountains into Fiordland the more and more the cloud thickened and turned into rain, making things look a little ominous. But when we landed at Supper cove the rain had stopped. The sandflies on the other hand were quite abundant, and so we all dived into the hut for some lunch, and spent the rest of the day in there avoiding the rain and sandflies.

There was one little ray of sunshine that day, which produced this lovely rainbow.

Then the next morning we set off, feeling intrepid and adventurous, for Loch Maree hut. The tramping was pretty tricky underfoot and quite invisible had it not been for the odd orange path marker and our guides Graeme and Brian. When it came to crossing the much anticiapted 3 wire bridges we were all relieved to have something straight and simple to walk along!


Lonely Planet says that the Dusky is the least populated of all Fiordland walks (possibly all walks in NZ), with an average of 500 people doing it a year, so when we finally arrived at Loch Maree we were quite suprised to find out that we'd be sharing the hut with 14 other people. A hut meant to sleep 12 actually fitted in 21 people - it was a cosy experience! But it made for a nice atmosphere in the hut with lots of stories swapped about tracks and troubles and travels.

That night the rain poured and poured and by the morning the next section of the track had become totally flooded and unpassable so we all had to spend another night in the hut contemplating raft building techniques, stretching out rations of food and learning new card games. In the brief spell of sunshine that day I also went for one of the best swims I've ever had in Loch Maree. We found a huge log that was floating by the side of the Loch and managed to punt if out into the loch and use it as a diving board. Great fun - very refreshing!

The next morning started off with a chest deep wade across the still flooded path. I was amazed at how much the water level had gone down from the previous day (roughly 2 meters) and still we had to wade! Then a steep climb up towards Lake Roe hut. Unfortunately when we got above the tree level the relentless cloud didn't lift meaning we missed some spectacular views. It was also quite amazing how much the temperature dropped as we hit the tops of the hills, and I was very relieved to be greeted at Lake Roe hut by a cup of tea thanks muchly to Chris and Ben.

Man it was cooooollllllld in Lake Roe Hut! I still haven't decided whether I prefer warm hut and sandflies or cold hut and no sandflies. That night we tried desperately to warm up the hut with what little dry wood and coal there was so as to dry up our boots and clothes a bit for the next day, but the stove was rubbish, so in the end we just drank rum!

The low point of the trip was definitely the next morning (!!!) after having a not great night sleep (even though I finally had a mattress instead of the floor), the prospect of putting on the frozen blocks of ice that had taken over my boots was not pleasant. But it was done, and after half an hour of walking I started to feel my feet again.

In my hour of need I learnt a great/terrible joke:
one Catholic, one Buddhist, one Jew debating when life begins:
Catholic: surely it is when the sperm fertilises the egg - this is where it all begins.
Buddhist: life does not begin but works in cycles: before I was a man I was a ladybird and before that who knows.
Jew: No, no, no. That is all wrong. Life begins when the kids leave home, the dog dies and you retire.

And then the sun came out. That afternoon's walking was lovely, with lots of birds chirping about us in the sunshine, including one incredibly friendly Robin (not red breasted like its British name sake, but similar in character) who landed on Brian's boot. Alas the wee beasty didn't stay long enough for a picture.

Our final night was spent in Halfway hut, where there is a fantastic but very brisk swimming hole, and plentiful firewood, and much scroggin sorting. Then an early start the next day to get to Lake Huroko for the boat. And after a fairly fast paced walk we were all pretty glad to see the boat. I wasn't going to kiss the boat but it sure was a nice site. This is a nice picture of our guide Graeme enjoying the boat ride back.

Finally arriving back at the pub in Tuatapere I had already started thinking of the next Dusky adventure. Graeme, the guide, has offered me a place on his next Dusky in May... very tempting.