After getting settled at Martins Bay Hut, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful afternoon to head around the coast a little further in the hopes of seeing some fur seals. There was a well-formed track from the hut which hugged the coastline offering us great views across Martins Bay.
Despite being so close to the ocean, it was amazing how dense the bush was along this section of coast. It seemed that every surface had something growing on it, even the tree trunks.
The track took us to Long Reef, a rocky point jutting out of the coastline, turning off of the main coastal track, we made our way through huge flax plants to the rocky shore. From our vantage point we had good views out across Martins Bay.
As we hopped from rock-to-rock to get further out along the point, we started to notice the fur seals. At first we saw one playing in the surf around the rocks, but then as we looked more closely, it seemed that everywhere we looked there were seals lounging on the rocks.
We decided to find a sheltered rock out of the wind and sat for a while. It didn’t take long for the seals to start ignoring us and the pups in particular went back to playing and feeding as if we weren’t there.
After enjoying watching the seals for a while, we decided to make our way back to the hut. The wind was starting to pick up and with the high tide the waves in neighbouring Big Bay were starting to get bigger.
We arrived back at the hut and started making another of our homemade dehydrated meals. As an initial experiment we were really pleased with how well these worked out on this trip. Although they took a little longer to boil than some of the instant camping meals you can buy, they definitely made up for it in taste and knowing what all of the ingredients were.
Sitting in the hut after dinner, we enjoyed talking to the other hikers that were staying there. Each night we met different people at each of the huts and always enjoyed talking to them, especially finding out other places they had visited.
Talking to people at the hut who had set out more recently than us, we learnt that the weather for the following day wasn’t meant to be great. Despite the forecast, we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the Hollyford Valley, and a little later out to sea.
We had planned a rest day to give ourselves a chance to enjoy Martins Bay and also let our legs recover a bit before starting our next hike. We woke to grey skies, and a rainbow, which made for perfect weather to enjoy an extra cup of morning coffee around the fire in the hut. By mid-morning the skies started to clear and we headed back out to Long Reef where the low tide had revealed a rock shelf perfect for hunting Pāua (the Māori name for abalone) in the rock pools. Although we weren’t successful in tracking down some Pāua, we enjoyed spotting crabs, fish and even a few starfish in the rock pools. We spent the afternoon relaxing around the hut and doing some fishing with some of the other hikers that were also enjoying a rest day at Martins Bay.