Queen Charlotte Track

Bid farewell to another couple of great hosts: Brian and Lesley waved us off like we were family. Drove 20 mins down the 6 to Picton, ferry port for departures to Wellington and the gateway to Queen Charlotte Sound. This area of land is like a crazy omelette with the dips filled with sea to depth of 40m, the hills covered with lush rainforest and almost completely devoid of human interference. This looked a great opportunity to tramp so we booked on to a potentially marriage straining tour. A boat was going to drop us off 71 km along the trail, leave us in the wilderness and pick us up 5 hours later, 15 km closer to the port. No road access! We had no time to buy provisions so rustled up some scraps from the car for a packed lunch.

On the way out we saw a couple of dolphins (cute mother and baby) and fur seals basking. Boat dropped us off at Ship Cove, site of a Captain Cook landing in the 1770s. Annelise set the pace and tore off up the first hill. The path passed through rain forest untouched by the settlers, with impressive giant ferns on the lower slopes. The climb lasted an hour, but at the ridge we were awarded with views both sides over the Sound. Annelise posed with a large wild bird which appeared from the bush and we moved on downhill to Resolution Bay, named after Cap'n Cook's ship.

The expedition lasted 4 hours and offered amazing views over Queen Charlotte Sound. We only had bananas and stale rolls to eat, but it didn't seem to matter.We stood on a small clifftop and watched a huge ray patrol the shallows, its wings flapping in slow motion. Finished at Ferneaux Lodge in Endeavour Bay. We were expecting a shack selling drinks and snacks, but instead stumbled into an oasis in the form of a large early 20th century colonial style lodge, with comfy sofas, well stocked bar and even an antique looking pool table. Fortunately it wasn't a jungle mirage. Sat on the verandah and sipped a well earned water, beer & Riesling.

We took the mail boat back which, although a tourist trip, did stop at remote lodges to deliver and pick up mail.

Set off down a windy Road to Anakiwa and found B&B. The views just get better! Dined at the Slip Inn a Havelock. It's the self named capital of green mussels so ate mussel chowder and cheese and bacon mussel grill.