When we had finally finished digesting our Christmas dinner ( approximately 24hrs after eating it) we packed up the van and headed out from Picton along the Queen Charlotte Drive. The weather had taken a a turn for the better and the sun was out and hot. The road literally followed the line of the sounds so was full off switchbacks and constantly going up and down and round the bend. When we looked at the map we thought that we could get well out into the sounds within one day but the twists and turns took their tole and at some points we were driving for a good 20 minutes without holding the steering wheel in a straight line. One bend lead to another and then back the other way. We were glad when a campsite appeared at the side of the road so we decided to pull over early at Momorangi Bay and make full use of the showers as once we got out into the sounds for the next few days we would be down to a minimum in the hygiene stakes!That evening we lounged around in our deckchairs and spent some time messing about in the kids playground where the had a tightrope set up. After half an hour and still not being able to cross from one side to the other without falling off we thought it was time to let the kids have a go so we left them to it. We headed back to the van to attack the leftovers. I managed to mash together ll the leftover roasted potatoes, parsnip and sweet potatoes into a pulp, mixed in some shredded turkey and the now melted frozen peas and fried the patties in a pan with some spices. Now it may sound disgusting and admittedly they did look like small burgers of sick but the tasted damn good even if I do say so myself!The next day saw much of the same driving … but worse. The turns were sharper, the hills steeper and the distance between the straights was longer. Now it does sound like we are complaining here but when you get to see the scenery around the sounds it really makes up for the tiresome driving. The vies were astounding. Real picture postcard stuff. The kind of Fiords that Mr Slartybartfast would be proud of. It got to around lunchtime and we stumbled across a watersports and luxury hotel in the middle of nowhere. This was the first and probably last piece of civilisation that we would see in a long way. This was where we were going to hire sea Kayaks the next day and go off exploring the sounds. We drove off up the road and found a Department of Conservation campsite. That was right by the waters edge. Minimal sandflies were about and with only space for 6-8 campers it was very quiet and secluded (and may I also add it had one of the sweetest smelling long drop toilets I have ever had to use!) We parked up our van put our $6 in the honesty box and headed off for a walk around the bay. When we returned to the van we had a message from Tom and Rachel saying that they were coming up to join us and were leaving Kiakora around 6pm. I think they eventually found us around 2am as when we woke the next morning their van was precariously parked almost on the beach!With nearly all the leftovers having been eaten the previous night it was a quick breakfast of toast in a frying pan and then off to get our Kayaks. We certainly didn't expect to get what we did as we were being kitted out in all the right gear with some very professional looking kayaks. These were two-man craft with the person at the back in charge of the rudder which is moved using a series of pulleys connected to two pedals inside the kayak. After a safety briefing that basically told us that we are virtually invisible on the water and other boats cant see us we were sent out onto the sounds. We had decided to paddle around the coastline looking as that would be the best chance of spotting wildlife both in and out of the water. After about 45 minutes of paddling we decide that we would head in a mini convoy across the main part of the fiord to the other side for a spot of lunch. We forgot just how deceiving distance is when you are on the water and about 20 mins later we arrived at the other side. Rachel did not look happy! Everytime I looked over at their kayak she wasn't paddling and had a strange look of fear on her face whilst tom struggle manfully to pull the craft along on his own.We pulled the kayaks out of the water and settled down to a very civilized lunch of freshly cracked crayfish. Tom had been fishing over the Christmas break and he last thing he did before leaving Kiakora was to cook a couple of crays that he had caught and put them on ice for us. We sat back enjoying fresh seafood looking out from our own secluded bay on the sounds. Life doesn't really get much better than that. After lunch had gone down we jumped back in the kayaks to head back. As were had a spare hour or so we followed the opposite coastline in search of the illusive wildlife. The closer we got the bigger the reward. We spotted a couple of fish on the way towards the walls and then, as if by magic, we started to spot the rays. As we kayaked in stealth mode (not using our paddles) these rays would flap up from the bottom and swim alongside the kayak but as soon as we started to paddle away from the rapidly approaching shore it was enough to send the rays scattering.After a well earned apres-kayak beer we headed back out along the Queen Charlotte drive towards Havelock. This is another self proclaimed capital of the world. This is the Mussel capital of the world. A stay in the local camp site brought some sundown ales, a few games of hacky sac (the choice game of the scabby traveller) between me and tom and a Kiakora caught blue cod and vegetable curry then tom insisted that we tried to play Yahtzee by candle light. A strange night really!The following day we knew we should think about heading back for New years celebrations in Christchurch so we took a quick walk to check out the local waterfalls and river in order to work up an appetite for a plate of mussels. We did justice to a good 50 or so mussels between 3 of us and headed back. A quick overnighter in a DOC site on the coast with a healthy tea of crisps dip and beers left us only with the 4 hour drive back to Christchurch the next morning for our New Years celebrations the next night.