“A Mish a Day” #85 Port Craig Camp. Fiordland National Park. 23.3.2015. Very cool to be able to camp at your worksite, and it’s even better when that area produces some of the best sunsets and sunrises in the country. Port Craig sits just far enough away to the west from southern Southland to have a remote feeling to it, without a difficult and long approach. I had hiked into the lodge with some tools and cleared some fallen trees along the way. I planned to camp down on the beach near Port Craig and the next day I would wake up with a very short commute to work as I was working as the Lodge Manager for a week. After I arrived at the lodge I headed down to the beach to inspect the sandfly count down at the beach. To my surprise there wasn’t too many Te Namu around and, as I was going all out with the camping experience, I cooked my dinner down on the beach. The history of the area is remarkable, and as I watched a pod of Hectors Dolphins play in the bay I had the thought that 83 years ago there was the largest sawmill operation in the southern hemisphere on the exact spot I was camping. After taking in the stars of the night sky I retreated to my tent and happily fell asleep to sound of the waves breaking on the beach.
I had to get up early-ish to get the full experience of the sunrise and I wasn’t disappointed with the decision. From dark to light was a slow fade from shades of purple, to dark reds and orange as bright as fire, which all happened within a glorious five minutes. Before starting work at the lodge I paused to think, wow! I’m the only person here on the beach, and it almost made me feel guilty for the rest of the world who weren’t here experiencing this stunning site.
