Stewart Island, etc.

Had a hard time choosing a title for this post - lead continders were "Rain" and "Mud," but I couldn't decide which and decided to go with the more generic "Stewart Island, etc."

Anyways, Clair and I wandered around the little town of Halfmoon Bay (Oban) for all the 10 minutes that takes (small town,) and ended up at the kayak rental guy's house, which incidentally is where his business is also located. He was a super cool guy, and very helpful, although he was disinclined to rent us a sea kayak citing the absolutely dismal information listed under the heading "weather forecast." So, being the opportunistic hikers that we are, we instead walked walked over to the DOC (department of conservarion - very nifty setup that is roughly the equivalent of our forest service in the states, but these guys have cooler uniforms) and bought a pass that would allow us to stay in a hut along a hike we planned out.


Got to run because my timer is just about up, but:

* I can't post pictures now because this computer doesn't have an accessable USB port.

*hiked the shorter loop around Stewart Island, it was fun and nice scenery when it wasn't raining (not too long, but frequntly on the first and last days.) Hut warden wasn't too friendly, but she'
***Note - I've heard (after the fact, of course) that if you've got a YHA card, you get a 10% discount off the ferry to Stewart Island. *kicks self* You do get a discount off the flight between the south island and Stewart island, but only if you get a real ticket instead of flying standby