Stewart Island Great Walk: Rakiura Track

If you are a newbie in the multi-day hiking world, are wanting to get out into the raw nature of New Zealand, and want to have the highest chance of seeing a kiwi in the wild, then Stewart Island is the place to go and we highly recommend getting out on the Rakiura Track.

Where and What is the Rakiura Track?

Off the Southern Coast of New Zealand's South Island is Stewart Island/Rakiura. 90% of the Island is National Park that has over 280km of walking tracks for you to explore. Not only is it one of the most likely places that you will see a kiwi in the wild but it is also one of the best places to see the famous Southern Lights (Aurora Australis).The Rakiura Track is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks.This track is a 3 day hike and is perfect for those who haven’t done a multi-day hike before. It is quite easy with about 4-6 hrs of walking a day depending on your fitness level.

How to get there

There are 2 different ways you can travel to Stewart Island from Invercargill. Plane or Ferry. We experienced both.

First we caught a bus from Invercargill to Bluff where the ferry terminal is to get to the island. The Ferry ride takes around an hour on an express catamaran. The day we went across the ocean was rough so if you aren’t good with sea sickness I would recommend taking some pills before taking this mode of transport . I am not the best in rough waters and I didn't take any motion sickness pills so I was vomiting the whole journey and I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through that.

Because of that traumatic experience I didn’t want to take the ferry back so we decided to take the plane back. I would highly recommend this mode of transport over the ferry but if you are not good with small planes then I would consider sticking it out on the ferry.

About the Track

On this track you will hike along beaches and coastline, through forests, and over mountains. If you’re lucky like us you will get to experience up close encounters with Wildlife such as Kiwi, Deer and Sea Lions .

For this hike you can choose which way you want to do it. You can start from Lee Bay or Fern Gully Carpark. For both of these options you can walk to the start of the track from Oban which is the only Town on the island.

A pro of this hike being on an island at the bottom of the country is that it isn’t too busy.

But a con for this, is that the track is known to be SUPER muddy. Be prepared to walk through long stretches of mud on this track. The extent of the mud will also depend on the recent weather and time of year you decide to do the hike. The muddy sections are mainly on the second day of hiking between Port William and North Arm and can get as deep as knee height.

To do this hike you must book your accommodation. You can camp or stay in huts throughout this hike. The costs for this vary for if you are a NZ Citizen or an International Visitor and whether you are hiking during the Great Walks season.

HUT PRICES (In the Great Walks season (1 October – 30 April):

NZ Citizen- Adult $37 per night, Children are FREE

International Visitor- Adult $56 per night, Children $28 per night

CAMPSITE PRICES (In the Great Walks season (1 October – 30 April):

NZ Citizen- Adult $16 per night, Children are FREE

International Visitor- Adult $24 per night, Children $12 per night

Outside the Great Walks Season the prices are much less but the weather will not be the best.

What you need

Always be prepared for the worst. In New Zealand the weather and conditions can change quite quickly so you need to be ready for whatever happens. On this hike you need to carry with you your confirmation letter from DOC that you have booked your accommodation.

OTHER EQUIPMENT TO TAKE:

Backpack – a good size for multi-day hiking
Waterproof/plastic pack liner
Sleeping bag
First aid kit (including blister treatment)
Survival kit including survival blanket, whistle, paper, pencil, high energy snack food
Safety equipment relevant to the track and time of year, for example, map, compass
Torch/flashlight and spare batteries and a red light filter if you want to go kiwi spotting at night
Rubbish bag
Booking confirmation and ID
Earplugs (if you choose to stay in the huts)
Drink bottle – 1–2 litre capacity
Eating and cooking utensils – knife, fork, spoon, plate, cup, pot/pan/billy, cleaning kit, tea towel
Gas cooker and fuel, for example, gas canister
Matches or lighter in waterproof container
Insect repellent
Sunscreen
Backup Toilet Option

IF CAMPING

Tent
Sleeping mat
Ground sheet

CLOTHING

For multi-day walking you'll need at least one set of clothes to walk in and another dry set to change into at night.
Tramping/hiking boots or firm footwear – should be comfortable and well broken in
Socks – wool or polypropylene
Shorts – quick dry material
Shirt – wool or polypropylene
Under layers, top and bottom – wool or polypropylene
Mid-layers – wool or polar fleece
Raincoat – waterproof, windproof with hood
Overtrousers – wind and waterproof
Warm hat and gloves
Sunhat and sunglasses
Extra socks, underwear, shirt/lightweight jersey

OPTIONAL

Gaiters
Lightweight shoes for inside the huts

FOOD

You cannot buy food on the track and the huts do not provide emergency rations so make sure you bring extra food incase an emergency.

There are water tanks at all the campsites but it is recommended that you boil the water before you drink it.

Our Experience

DAY ONE

We hiked from Oban to Lee bay where we started the hike.

At the entrance to the National Park there is a sculpture of an Anchor Chain and if you go to Stirling point in Bluff you will see the other end of the chain. This is because Rakiura is said to be the anchor that keeps the South Island (said to be the waka) in its place.

On this day we got a big surprise at our destination. A young bull Sea Lion blocked our path to the camp so we clattered through the bush to the campsite.

In Oban at the DOC building there are posters explaining what to do when you come across a Sea Lion, please read these before going on your hike because it is actually more likely that you think to come across one

We later found out that the Sea Lion was named Barry by the Park Ranger in charge of the Port William Hut and he gave us some tips on how to handle him. Barry actually lives on the beach where the campsite is and he regularly terrorises the people staying there, he said the best thing to do is to stand your ground when he tries to charge you down and have a stick or walking pole with you to have out in front of you to create some space between. He will stop.

Luckily after we saw Barry on the track as we arrived we had about 2 hrs before we saw him again and in this time we were able to set up our camp and go for a swim in the ocean to clean ourselves.

Other campers started to join us and soon Barry clambered up the bank into the camp and was chasing some foreigners around (surprisingly he can move quite quickly through the trees)

We decided to stand our ground as we had been told and Barry got the idea that he was not so scary anymore and wandered into the bush for the night.

See Day 1 Video Here

DAY TWO

We packed up our tent and had a small breakfast before hitting the trail again at 0900. Not long into our walk we came across the old log haulers and just after passing them we came across the dredded muddy sections. To our surprise they weren't as bad as we anticipated and we tried our best to stick to the track and not make the muddy sections wider (walking poles helped a lot during these parts). But I didn't manage to come out the other side unscathed as I did slip and fall.

We crossed a couple of streams (over bridges) and made our way up the hill. Near the top of our climb we came across the highlight of the trip for me. A KIWI! On Stewart Island the native species are called Tokoeka and they come out during both the day and night. So we were very lucky to come across this guy hunting for some food right on the edge of the track. We stood and watched the guy for a good 10 minutes before we wandered into the thick bush and we carried on to North Arm Campsite.

After 5 hours of hiking we made it to camp and set up our tent amongst the trees. We then quickly headed down to the beach near the hut and cleaned our muddy boots as well as our bodies. Once we returned to camp we made ourselves some dinner and noticed a rat sleeping in the bush, so with my pocket knife we tried to kill it as they are pests on the islands but it jumped up and ran away. To our surprise the rest of the residents in the campsite came together to help us try and catch this rodent but in the end it was too sneaky for us and it got away.

See Day 2 Video Here

Tokoeka during the day time between Port William and North Arm

DAY THREE

Overnight it had lightly rained and In the morning the dark clouds lingered, so we quickly packed up our camp before the rain started and headed off.

The low hanging cloud looked amazing as it hung around the hills near the water and we walked out onto a beach to get some shots. But as we were so eager to finish we set off and continued until we got to the end of the track at Fern Gully Carpark. On our way the rain had set in and there were small muddy patches, but nothing compared to the second day. There wasn't much activity on this day except that we had finished! We Road walked from the carpark into Oban for a much needed ice cream and lucky for us the sun decided to come out ending our perfect hiking trip.

See Day 3 Video Here

In conclusion, Stewart Island is the perfect place to come and see the nature and wildlife New Zealand is known for without all the crowds.

Rakiura Track may be a multi day hike but it is achievable for anyone and I would highly recommend experiencing the untouched nature of Aotearoa by adding a little bit of adventure.

I hope to see you out there!