Matts MadVentures

Spit Island >> Preservation Inlet, Fiordland..

>> With Agent Orange & Pete Sandcastle caught up in the madventure undertow we rolled out of bed before sunrise and rapidly lifted off from Invercargill airport.. flying in via Stewart Island Flights in their smallest plane we landed on the beach at Spit Island in Preservation Inlet - the only place a plane can safely land (and take off again anyway!) pretty much anywhere in Fiordland... after pinching ourselves and fizzing uncontrollably at the epicness we logically decided to delay setting up what turned into an awesome (and constantly improving) campsite until 11pm ...instead we set to work tearing all over the place and exploring our new playground like a trio of excited and super hyped up kids (which of course is exactly what we were)...mid.night found us eventually tuckered out & tucked away in the bush line in the aforementioned  campsite.... the following 8 days were stacked full of beach combing missions & exploring far and wide in this truly stunning and remote area.. one of the many high.lights was the old Maori Pa site / defend-able village which dominates the skyline and occupies center stage creating an imposing backdrop from anywhere in the bay....this Pa was supposed to be unassailable (for normal natives, but no.body told these ones) so of course this only served to constantly beckon and challenge us and although the tide creates an extremely effective and dangerous moat around the whole Pa site that certainly wasn't going to slow these kids down for long!.. so with a little planning, and mixed liberally with a shot of adrenaline (and a pinch of panic via the incoming tide) we rushed the cliffs and soon conquered and explored the is.land & hinterland fully in what could have passed for a special forces training excercise, minus the safety equipment of course... any.way, with our day's packed full of such missions a week flew by and with lots of paua & blue cod on hand we didn't even mind having to stay an extra day to wait for a better weather window for our extraction by plane... in fact we were so comfortable it was only the severe shortage of luxury items that eventually drove us back to snivelization methinks..

 

(plus we had to get back for our next mission to Stewart (gr)is.Land.. so stay tuned)