Martin's Bay

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

I somehow managed to get a ticket on a backload flight from Te Anau in to Martin's Bay Lodge. Only cost me $125 rather than the $1,000 if I'd chartered it myself!! I kissed Hedda goodbye on the grassy runway, strapped my board down the middle between the six seats and then we took off over Lake Te Anau. The Pilot kept us at a low altitude to try and avoid the worst of the turbulent weather. A mix of dark clouds and blue sky hovered over the mountains. We followed the road to Milford up the Eglington Valley. The pilot pointed out some areas of the river that are being overtaken by Didymo, an invasive algae someone introduced to New Zealand about 4 years ago. It is devastating to be seen from above, Once crystal clear waters are infected with brown colored algae that looks like dirty toilet paper.

We soon crossed the Divide and were on the West Coast side of the mountains, heading up the Hollyford Valley. Stunning snow capped peaks rise straight up on both sides of Lake Mackerrow. The lake is about 15 miles long stretching towards the Tasman sea. Dolphins actually swim up the lake and work together as a team to herd trout for a special feast at the head of the lake. The pilot flew us straight out over the sea at Martin's Bay which was whipped up from strong northerly winds and circled back to the landing strip. I tried to keep my salami and cheese sandwich lunch down. Although the grassy landing strip didn't look very long, he landed smoothly and rolled to a stop using up only about half of its entire length. I later found out that this bush pilot, Shaun, once circled above Martin's Bay on a socked in cloudy day for over half an hour before diving straight down through a hole that opened up in the clouds, rushed his passengers onboard and then shot straight back up before that same hole could close back up.

After unloading my gear and getting ready for the sandflies I hiked the 2 hours to the hut at the mouth of Martin's Bay. No one there so I grabbed a sandwich and headed up the track to Long Reef. There's a seal colony there with a population of a few hundred. It's actually one of New Zealands largest. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon so I spent it lazing on the rocks giving the seals plenty of space. Later on I poked around in some great tide pools. The rivermouth looks to have some potential with a shallow sandbar built up in the mouth. Unfortunately, the waves were pretty small. Back at the hut that night I ended up meeting a couple of local guys who went out on the reef for a few hours and came back with half a dozen Paua (NZ Abalone), more mussels than we could eat and a few fish. Lucky for me they shared their catch that night along with some great stories of life on the South Island.