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 w...

Wine,cheese and chocolate…. I am writing this with Annelise snoring contentedly next to me. It is 530 pm….. The drive to Blenheim (Marlborough Region) was through lovely mountain scenery - shame it was dark and we didn't see much of it. Arrived at the Blue Ridge Estate at 1030, followed a long gravel track into the vineyard, stopped the engine outside the house. Looked up to see the clearest milky way. We were greeted by Brian, Bella the dog and a cat w...

Wine,cheese and chocolate…. I am writing this with Annelise snoring contentedly next to me. It is 530 pm….. The drive to Blenheim (Marlborough Region) was through lovely mountain scenery - shame it was dark and we didn't see much of it. Arrived at the Blue Ridge Estate at 1030, followed a long gravel track into the vineyard, stopped the engine outside the house. Looked up to see the clearest milky way. We were greeted by Brian, Bella the dog and a cat w...

Finally - we can take a photo in the sun…. Threw everything in the boot, prepared lunch and sadly left our lovely hosts. Day 2 in the Abel Tasman was looking good with hardly a cloud in the sky. I had planned a 14km bush walk from Bark Bay to Anchorage. Annelise was being dropped off else where and had a choice: sunbathe and wait for me or start my route from the other end and meet me at the idyllic sounding Cleopatra's Pool. After 2 ½ hours undul...

Day 16…... Awoke before dawn the the sound of rain on the tin roof. Didn't bode well for the kayak trip. Sky had cleared by 8 when we tucked into our muffins and coffee. Met up with our guide on the beach at Kaiteriteri. Shaws (Dutch) gave us a tour up the coast and told stories of Abel Tasman discovering New Zealand and Tasmania but missing Australia. He (Abel) got Maori protocol wrong on the first encounter and they killed a few of his men. AT gave a bad r...