Queen Charlotte Track

Day 69
27 December 2019
Km 17
Cumulative Km 777

The ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton was as calm and tranquil as they come!! Super smooth sailing and an earlier than planned arrival. Coming into the sounds was also scenic.

The start of the Te Araroa Trail on the South Island is at Ship Cove, where the Queen Charlotte Track commences. To get here you need a water taxi from Picton, which I had booked a few days ago. The trip takes 1.5 hours and also includes some animal watching if you are lucky to spot any.

I started my first day on the South Island in the best weather possible and it was so clear that you could see mountains that would not normally be visible. This meant that you could also see the water in the sounds in their delightful range of colours.
The trail has recently been slightly rerouted after a major slip and made into a mountain bike track, so it is wide and without too much immediate change in gradient, which is nice.

I spent the night at Miners Camp. It is at the start of a track that goes to the old antimony mines in the area. I didn’t do the trail though.

Day 70
Km 20
Cumulative Km 797

I decided to detour to the Camp Bay campsite, and beyond to Punga Cove resort for a morning coffee. The coffee and view was lovely and for $5 a fair price for out here. There was also WIFI.

With more great views the highlight of the day would definitely be the side trip to Eatwells Lookout. The view is over the whole sound where we have been walking and also into Kenepuru Sound.

With the sunny weather it’s nice that the trail has mostly been in the forest, so its shady most of the time.

I got to the Bay of Many Coves campsite just before 2pm.
There weren’t many of us to start with, but by early evening the place was packed, and there were tents surrounding me 😥

Day 71
Km 16
Cumulative Km 813

The day wasn’t going to be a long one, in terms of hiking. Just 5 hours. So I got into Portage, a tiny village just in time for a fish, chips, salad, cider and ice cream. I then walked down to the Cowshed Bay Campsite, which is right on the water and picked and nice spot in the trees and settled in for a quiet night.

However this was not going to be the case, as this site is accessible by road there were lots of camper vans and a family of four decided to park their campsite 1m away from me 😬😡

Day 72
Km 21
Cumulative Km 834

The day started with a long uphill, then back down to Te Mahia saddle. From here the track got really busy with day visitors and mountain bikers. The views and weather were still both great though!

I organised with friends from Greymouth, who now live in Nelson area, to pick me up at the end of the trail. It was great to see them and catch up in the car and then the next few days.