Stewart Is. Experience

Today Toph & I awoke early & caught the Ferry in Bluff to Stewart Island’s port town Oban. Stewart Island is New Zealand’s 3rd largest Island & lies just south of the South Island. It’s the closest I’ve yet to come to Antarctica! (I’ll make it there one day though) Maori legend has it that Maui’s fishing experience created the New Zealand Islands – the South Island was his waka (canoe), the North Island was the fish he raised from the sea, & Stewart Island was the waka’s anchor.

We did 2 hikes here today. The first was to Fern Gully. It was a lot like the movie. We even saw a fairy. Okay so it was really a bird, but it was awesome. It followed us around & I think it was trying to tell us something. It kept whistling while looking right at us & then pointing its head in the direction we were heading… I guess you had to be there. The hike down Fern Gully Trail was beautiful. It dead-ended in a clearing where we had a snack & turned around. Toph dragged his unicycle all along with us & rode it for parts of the trail. It was a little too muddy though to do any extensive riding, but he got a few good runs in.
Next we hiked Ryan’s Track. It was soooo muddy after the heavy rains this morning. The scenery was gorgeous as we hiked along the coast, and we had some good laughs slipping in the mud. At one point I was avoiding the mud by climbing on logs & stumps just to the right. Next thing I knew I was slipping & rather than landing in the mud I fell off the trail to the right & got stuck wedged between some logs, my head facing downhill. Immediately realizing I was not hurt I busted out laughing. Toph took this opportunity to get out his video camera & film the ridiculousness before helping me up. All in all it was a fantastic & tiring day that left us very dirty.