Mount Anglem

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 -46.89812137, 168.12677298

Yes
4443 m	983 m
4464 m	-58 m

			Total
	36.57 km	47.64 km	84.21 km
	11h 0min 6s	14h 48min 31s	25h 48min 37s
	3.32 km/h	3.22 km/h	3.26 km/h

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This trip is a bit of a mix between going North on the North West Circuit to climb Mount Anglem and going back and completing the Rakiura Track Great Walk.
I will describe them separately so you can choose to walk any of them, or both like I did. But before some general information about the island.

There are two main ways of getting to Stewart Island, flying from Invercargill's airport with Stewart Island Flights, and taking the RealNZ ferry from Bluff Ferry Terminal.
Flying takes about 20 minutes and costs 120 NZD for a one-way ticket (240 NZD return).
Going by ferry takes about one hour and costs 99 NZD for a one-way ticket (198 NZD return).

No matter which method you choose you'll end up in Oban, the main town in the island. This small town is also where the whole trip starts and ends.
If you decide to fly keep in mind that you cannot take gas canisters with you on the plane. You can buy gas in Oban at the 4Square supermarket, at the Rakiura National Park Visitor Centre and also at the Outdoor Adventure & Gift Shop, all just a few metres apart from each other.

Weather in Stewart Island is very changeable, four seasons in a day as they usually say. You can start walking with a beautiful sun in the sky and change to heavy rain 30 minutes later. Get ready for rain since it's very likely you will get some when on the track. This is also the reason why tracks on the island are famous for being muddy.

Regarding drinking water, in every hut you'll find signs warning you to boil water before drinking it. A hut ranger told me this is mostly a legal requirement than a real concern. The water on those huts has always been consumed straight from the tap. I saw some people filtering it but I drank it straight from the tap and never felt any discomfort. You decide what works best for you.

The undisputed starts in Stewart Island are the kiwis, I mean the kiwi birds. It's common to go to Stewart Island just to spot kiwis.
The fact that kiwis are nocturnal birds and also very territorial makes it hard to spot them, although they don't really make an effort to hide. I spent 5 days on the island trying to spot them and I didn't see any. On the other hand I talked to people who saw quite a few of them. A couple even showed me videos of kiwis running around them well in the morning, when it was not dark anymore.
Apparently if you want to maximize your chances of spotting them the best that you can do is stay at Oban and walk around the city in the evening. Sometimes they are even seen on the streets.

Part 1: North West Circuit and Mount Anglem.

Mount Anglem with 980 metres represents the highest point in Stewart Island.

• Day 1: Oban township to Bungaree hut
  Distance: 18.6 Km
  Elevation gain and loss: +897 metres and -907 metres
  
  From Oban township to Lee Bay parking there are a bit less than 5 kilometres of paved roads, except for the last kilometre which is a gravel road. Lee Bay parking is where the Rakiura Track officially starts. You are going to find a toilet at about mid-way and another toilet at Lee Bay parking.
  
  From Lee Bay parking to Port William hut you have about 7.5 kilometres of a gravel track in very good condition. This leg is considered to be the first day of the Rakiura Track. This is quite short so if I was to walk only the Rakiura Track I will probably do on day one from Oban township to North Arm hut. This variation skips Port William hut altogether and completes the Rakiura Track in just two days, totalling a bit over 20 kilometres for day one, with +775 metres of elevation gain and -745 metres of elevation lost.
  Mention that about 4 kilometres from Lee Bay parking there is a shelter and a toilet.
  Port William hut is quite beautiful. There is a nice beach next to it and also a campsite a few hundred metres before getting to the hut. A highlight here are the White-tail deer who like to graze in front of the hut in the evenings.
  
  From Port William hut to Bungaree hut the story is very different. The track is a lot narrower and it's not a gravel road anymore. We are now on the North West Circuit which is not a Great Walk. The track is a constant up and down with a lot of mud and lots of roots which make it very slippery. Quite often you go down to cross a stream and then up again on a slippery and steep terrain. Your walking speed is going to get reduced severely. Mine got to half my normal walking speed so doubling the times. Keep this in mind when making your calculations.
  From Port William hut to Bungaree hut is a bit over 6 Kilometres with +325 metres of elevation gain and the same elevation lost. This makes sense since both huts are located at sea level, in fact all huts are at sea level.



• Day 2: Bungaree hut to Christmas Village hut
  Distance: 10.2 Km
  Elevation gain and loss: +405 metres and -405 metres
  
  The track is similar to the last section of the previous day. A narrow slippery track with lots of mud and roots, constantly going up and down to cross every single stream. Walking speed remains slow. The only exception is a beach you encounter about 2.5 kilometres from Bungaree hut. After walking the whole length of Murray Beach, 1.8 kilometres, you'll make a left turn where you will find Murray Hunters Hut. This is a very small and basic hut but at least there are 6 bunk beds and a toilet.
  Back on the forest we cross a swing bridge and keep fighting the slippery track for another 5.6 kilometres (190 metres of elevation gain and lost) until we get to Christmas Village hut.
  Christmas Village hut is a very nice hut located right at a small pebble beach.
  I was curious about the name of this hut. Why Christmas? and why village if there isn't any village around? It looks like at the bay right before getting to the hut, today called Christmas village bay, it used to be a small village where some Maori people and some europeans were living. The europeans found it too hard to live there and decided to leave. When they moved out they gave all their surplus clothing to the Maori people who felt as if it was Christmas with so many presents.
  
  Next is to go up Mount Anglem. From Christmas Village hut to the top of Mount Anglem there are 6.1 kilometres with +920 metres of elevation gain.
  
  You may decide to summit Mount Anglem on the same day, as I did, or leave it for a day on its own. I recommend you leave it for a day on its own because even though going up and down is only 12.2 kilometres the track is quite tough and demanding.
  
  I was short on days so I had to do it on the same day. After resting a bit and leaving as much stuff as I could at the hut to make my backpack lighter I applied some sunscreen and headed towards Mount Anglem.
  
  You start walking north on the North West Circuit and after about 700 metres you find a signpost indicating the track to go up Mount Anglem. At this spot we make a left and start our ascent.
  The track here not only is harder and muddier but also very steep. Only in a few short sections you will be able to just walk normally. In some other parts you will be walking following a river with one of your legs on each side trying to avoid the mud. Your feet are going to get wet.
  
  You may get excited because you see the summit approaching but don't get fooled, that's not the real summit. Once you get closer you see there is another summit behind but what you don't realise is there is a big drop in between the two of them with a small lake down the bottom. The only way to get to the real summit is by making a right turn on the first summit and go around for another 1.2 kilometres. Don't get discouraged, keep walking because fortunately the walking gets a bit easier from this point onwards.
  Once at the top you will see an old wooden signpost that looks like it's indicating the summit. The GPS says we need to keep walking a few more metres before reaching the highest point. You will find a few rocks and a broken cylinder made of concrete that looks like what used to be a trig point. Enjoy the views from the highest point on Steward island. Unfortunately for me when I was arriving at the top it started raining heavily and I could not enjoy the views.
  
  Don't expect the way down to be any easier. Being so muddy, steep, full of roots and slippery you'll have to negotiate your way down to get back to the Christmas Village hut.
  


• Day 3: Christmas Village hut to Port William hut
  Distance: 16.5 Km
  Elevation gain and loss: +730 metres and -730 metres
  
  I have already described this section of the track above. Only mention that, even though it's only 16.5 kilometres, due to the nature of the track it will easily take you well over 7 hours.
  

The Rakiura Track is one of the Great Walks in New Zealand. It's a 35 kilometres (32 km according to DOC) almost circular track that starts at Lee Bay parking and ends at Fern Gully car park. I say almost circular because it's very easy to make it circular by starting and ending from Oban township. This adds a total of 6.6 kilometres, 4.75 km to walk from Oban township to Lee Bay parking and 1.85 km to walk from Fern Gully car park to Oban township.
The Rakiura Track is usually walked counter-clockwise over three days but it's not uncommon to skip the first hut, Port William hut, and do it in just two days.

• Day 4: Port William hut to North Arm hut
  Distance: 11.3 Km
  Elevation gain and loss: +445 metres and -445 metres
  
  Although this is day 4 on my trip it is the second day of the Rakiura Track Great Walk. The first day, from Oban township to Port William hut, is described above, on part 1 of the trip.
  This part of the track is a mix of easy walking on a gravel track and not-so-easy walking on a muddy or very muddy track. There are a couple of hills to go over but none of them is hard or long. Right after the first one you will find a couple of old, rusty and abandoned log haulers, machines employed to transport logs.
  Depending on the time of the year and on how much has it been raining the previous days you can expect the track to be from a bit muddy to extremely muddy. In any case you won't avoid getting your boots dirty. The section in between the two hills is where you will find the most mud.
  Once you go over the highest spot on the second hill you will encounter a signpost from DOC saying that you are halfway through to the North Arm hut.
  You are inside the forest all the time without having any great views. This also makes it harder since you don't feel you are progressing since everything around looks the same.
  North Arm hut is once again a nice hut. It's quite big and has nice views of the North Arm. You can get down to the sea in a couple of spots and get to two small beaches.
  At this hut we also had the visit of White-tail deer. This time it was a cute baby one.
  


• Day 5: North Arm hut to Oban township.
  Distance: 11.5 Km
  Elevation gain and loss: +400 metres and -400 metres
  
  This is the fifth day on my trip but the third and last of the Rakiura Track Great Walk.
  
  From North Arm hut to Fern Gully car park is a 9.6 kilometres easy and wide gravel track, just a bit of up and downs. You will be walking inside the forest so not many views apart from two or three times when you will get to see the sea. As the day before you won't have much feeling of progress.
  The last part of the track just before getting to Fern Gully car park the track turns into what looks more like a gravel road.
  Mention that you could make the track a bit longer if you decide to take the detour to Ryans Creek track. The detour is not part of the Rakiura Track Great Walk and I didn't thought it was worth it so I didn't take it.
  At Fern Gully car park you will find a toilet.
  
  From Fern Gully car park to Oban township there are 1.5 kilometres of gravel road and paved road for the last hundred meters.
  

A few final considerations:

Your backpack is going to be heavy since you are carrying food for 5 or 6 days. This doesn't help when on the slippery, muddy and steep tracks.

Your feet are going to get wet at some point and they probably stay wet for the rest of the trip.

The track could be challenging but it's always well-marked.