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The mission was to circumnavigate Stewart Island. The means of transport? A group of tiny 8′ 6″ motor boats.
Some people might think the Kaikoura Chambers family are courageous, others might say mad. But all would have to agree they are adventurous.
Eleven of the clan and one friend set off two weeks ago in an attempt to do just that – boat around Stewart Island, crossing the notoriously rough Foveaux Strait, in 10 days using tiny homemade boats.
With nine of the small boats and two mother ships which were in fact not much bigger, enough fuel for 500kms and, of course, the obligatory safety equipment, the group met in Dunsandel, south of Christchurch to conduct the final checks.
On looking at the weather they realised the next day, Saturday, would be their only option to cross Foveaux Strait.
So the group set off at 4am the following morning, arriving at Bluff that afternoon. They had the boats on the water by 3pm; the weather was still looking good so they made the plunge.
Matt Chambers, the spokesman for the group, said they could not have had better conditions.
“We were stoked. Foveaux Strait is considered to be one of the roughest, meanest pieces of water in New Zealand – almost in the southern hemisphere, and the conditions were perfect.”
The group set up camp at Paterson Inlet and with heaps of spare time they spent the next three days travelling round the east coast of the island, ending up in Port Pegasus.
But it was not to be a smooth ride all the way.
Unfortunately bad weather arrived earlier than expected and the group headed out to attempt their mission in what Matt describes as horrible, mountainous seas with a 35 to 40 knot wind.
They had no option but to throw in the towel, returning to camp where they were stuck for the next three days.
“By Thursday I was starting to ration food,” says Matt.
“We really weren’t sure if we’d get out any time soon.”
With no means of communicating with the outside world, no cell coverage, no VHF and not even any fishermen keen enough to brave the conditions, the group soon realised they were stuck at the bottom of the world on their own.
But they made the most of it tramping and hunting (unsuccessfully) to fill in the time.
Finally the weather came right on Friday night and by the Saturday they were once again attempting to cross Foveaux Strait, making it from Port Pegasus all the way to Bluff in absolutely beautiful conditions once again.
Although they didn’t manage to complete the circumnavigation, they did at least make it there and back within the timeframe, and Matt says they were blown away by what they saw of Stewart Island.
“It reminded me of a Pacific paradise with golden beaches and crystal clear water. We were feeding ourselves by fishing and diving; it was fantastic and a must-do for all Kiwis.”
The group saw an abundance of nature, including a vast number of albatross and other seabirds, tui, native parakeets, yellow eyed penguins and lots of weka.
They even heard a kiwi, although they didn’t manage to spot one on this trip.
One of their campsites had been taken over by a large sealion which also made for a bit of excitement as they ended up having to share the space with it.
One of the highlights for Matt, apart from the natural beauty of the area and large quantity of wildlife, was the fact that in such small boats they could explore the rivers which he says was heaps of fun.
The only damage sustained, aside from superficial scratches, was a crack to one of the boats hulls. But with good old-fashioned Kiwi ingenuity this was soon fixed with a bunch of screws and a chopping board!
Although Matt says the Stewart Island mission will have to be attempted again one day, next year’s exercise may involve a trip of similar length at this end of the country, possibly from Kaikoura through the Marlborough Sounds, around d’Urville Island and finishing up in Golden Bay.
