— post a little late this is from a few days ago —<\/p>\n
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Hi Everyone!<\/p>\n
Yesterday we had an amazing day. \u00c2\u00a0We were staying in Invercargill which is on the southern tip of the south island and got up nice and early to make the 8 am ferry to Stewart Island. \u00c2\u00a0Stewart Island is the small island to the south which was originally thought to be part of NZ when discovered by Captain Cook in 1760. \u00c2\u00a0In 1809 William Stewart was the first to chart the island and so its name. \u00c2\u00a0On the island there are several walks you can take that range from an hour or two to a week and a half with huts and tent sites along the way. \u00c2\u00a0We decided to go for the day and do a full day walk. \u00c2\u00a0It was amazing. \u00c2\u00a0The Maori legend goes that the three islands of NZ (the north, the south and Stewart Island) are of people fishing. \u00c2\u00a0The south island is the boat and the north island the fish. \u00c2\u00a0The fish was so big that the Maori in the boat had to throw an anchor and this is Stewart Island. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
So. \u00c2\u00a0Our “walk”. \u00c2\u00a0We decided on a track that would take us through original forest of the island which had never been cleared and had not been altered much. \u00c2\u00a0It was to take us up to a scenic look out and then down along cliffs to some beautiful beaches. \u00c2\u00a0It did. \u00c2\u00a0The thing was that the trek up was not only quite steep, it was, in some places, a good deal of mud and muck. \u00c2\u00a0Jonathan and I wondered if the boys were up to it and contemplated turning back at one point but the boys decided they wanted to keep going. \u00c2\u00a0They saw it as a real challenge to find alternate ways around the muck and it often took up to 5 minutes to get us all 2 feet up. \u00c2\u00a0We were very impressed with how the boys worked together and now we feel they would do very well on a multiple day walk that will take us into Fiordland for 3-4 days.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today we are in Te Anau. \u00c2\u00a0It is a little over 100KMs from Milford Sound which is an inlet that is surrounded by fiords. \u00c2\u00a0We are planning to drive up the day after tomorrow and take a cruise around the sound and possibly a day walk there as well. \u00c2\u00a0It is, in a word, stunning. \u00c2\u00a0I have never seen anything like it and we are all enjoying ourselves. \u00c2\u00a0We just wish they didn’t depend so much on tourism\u00c2\u00a0because things get really expensive for a family if we want to do any of the touristy things. \u00c2\u00a0We are camping in holiday parks which is less expensive than a hotel and they have the added convenience of communal kitchens and hot showers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
— post a little late this is from a few days ago — \u00c2\u00a0 Hi Everyone! Yesterday we had an amazing day. \u00c2\u00a0We were staying in Invercargill which is on the southern tip of the south island and got up nice and early to make the 8 am ferry to Stewart Island. \u00c2\u00a0Stewart Island is … Continue reading Stewart Island<\/span>