A German tourist who came out of the bush after seven days of hiking was shocked to find the bustling tourist town of Te Anau deserted on his return. 

30-year-old Ole Schramme of Jena, Germany arrived in Te Anau on March 16, having spent 100 days walking the length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa Trail, and seven days on the Stewart Island North-West Circuit. He was aware of the coronavirus outbreak in China and Europe, but at that stage there were only a few cases reported in New Zealand, none of them in the South Island. 

After a day’s rest he walked the Kepler Track before embarking on the Dusky Track adventure on March 19. 

“There were 10 passengers on the [Wairaurahiri Jet] boat that took us to the start of the track on Lake Hauroko, including three Australians, who had recently arrived in New Zealand. At that point all overseas visitors arriving in the country had to self-isolate for two weeks. They said they asked if they could self-isolate on the Dusky Track and were told they could. The people on the boat were not happy to hear that,” Mr Schramme said.

The Australians decided to wait for one day before starting, so they would walk and stay in huts by themselves and not with the others. A few days later, at Kintail Hut, Ole met three women from the Bay of Plenty. One of them had an inReach device that could be used as a satellite phone for keeping in touch with her husband. 

“When he said the country was going into a lockdown, we thought he was joking. The next day he said he had sent a chopper to pick her up and we still weren’t sure if he was serious, but when we saw a helicopter land by the hut we knew it was for real.” 

 Mr Schramme was offered a seat on the helicopter for $400, but he opted to walk out instead, as he was on a tight budget and also because he really enjoyed the track.

“During those seven days of tramping I experienced hail, snow, flooding, river crossing up to my neck in water, and lots of mud. I only had one day of sunshine, but I still think this hike is the most beautiful. I walked many tracks in New Zealand, but Dusky is my favourite,” he said.

When he walked out of the bush on Wednesday, March 25, the world was a different place. There was a sign on the wharf at West Arm that there was no public transport out to Manapouri, but a Real Journeys boat was there waiting to take the power station workers and the rear-guard trampers back to the real world. 

“In Manapouri the RJ bus wasn’t going, but the owner of Trips & Tramps picked me up in his own car and drove me to Te Anau. He told me of what was happening and said that had I walked out a day later we wouldn't be able to sit next to each other in a car due to social distancing [requirement]. I expected some rules, but I didn’t expect that.”

Ole was dropped off at the Te Anau YHA, where he’d left his tent and air mattress prior to his hike. The hostel was closed, but a staff member let him use their Wi-Fi and called the Community Centre to see if they could help the stranded tramper.  

He registered to be repatriated to Germany and booked a ticket from Invercargil to Wellington, but had no way of getting there at such short notice. With just a few hours before the lockdown he desperately needed a place to stay for the next four weeks.

Vicky Shayler from the Fiordland Community Centre arranged for Ole to stay at Lake View Holiday Park in a self-contained unit for $35 per night. 

“This was a pretty good offer, but I thought I’d try one other option,” he said.

Back in February 2019 when he arrived in New Zealand he started by touring the South Island. In April he came to Te Anau for a two-week work exchange stint at Dunluce B&B. 

Later he went to the North Island where he found a job and accommodation in Porirua, and became good friends with the owner of the house he stayed at. When he embarked on the Te Araroa Trail, he left some of his belongings with her.

These were two important contacts that helped him though the difficult times of being in suspended motion. 

Dunluce B&B owner Hannah Gray was surprised when the German man she briefly employed a year earlier called asking for help.

“He came and stayed here at the B&B for two nights in isolation. He is a practical person and wasn’t panicking. If he couldn’t get a flight he was going to stay here and help me. It would’ve been nice to have some company,” she said.

When the New Zealand government extended the travel time for tourists wanting to be repatriated, Ole managed to get a flight to Wellington and Hannah drove him to Invercargill airport on Friday, March 27.

The German government set up a programme of repatriation. According to the German Embassy in Wellington website more than 12,000 Germans currently in New Zealand have subscribed to the repatriation programme. This programme will also allow a limited number of European Union and other European nationals to leave New Zealand on flights chartered by the German Embassy in Wellington. About 15,000 German and European Union nationals applied for these flights. 

Speaking on Skype from his self-isolation place in Porirua, Mr Schramme said that he wasn’t too keen on going home.

“I really like New Zealand. My visa got extended, and because of the situation in Germany I’d rather stay here,” he said.

Ole Schramme at Stirling Point, Bluff.