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Published: March 15th 2008
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The ferry across the Cook Straight was wonderful. I was amazed at how long we hugged the coastline of the North Island before seeing the South Island. It wasn't clear at first where we would enter the island but we were soon in the Tory Channel and the beautiful Marlborough Sounds surrounding by forested hills. The rather huge ferry seemed to glide effortlessly through the water. I felt at home already before the boat had docked in the South Island.
Considering Picton is the gateway for so many to the South Island it was surprisingly small. I found a bed in a lovely hostel called The Villa which also arranged my three day Queen Charlotte trek in super quick time. The hostel was also willing to lend me a tent on the condition I checked that all the necessary parts were present and correct. The first one was considerably wobbly so I opted for the children's tent meant for 8 year olds and under. As me and my pack fitted comfortably I decided to ignore the picture of a 3 year old on the front. The following morning the boat raced through the sounds stopping briefly to watch some dolphins
play before reaching Ships Cove, the start of my 71km trek. Captain Cook moored here 7 times in his lifetime and it was his favourite spot in New Zealand. I could understand why. As my boat ticket included the luxury of having my pack transported for free I set off with my day pack safe in the knowledge that my pack filled with goodies would be waiting for me in the evening. The path climbed up through lush forest and followed the coastline allowing me glipses of the sparkling water of the sounds and little, golden, deserted beaches. The first night I stayed at a home stay in Punga Cove. Noeline, a sprightly 76 year old, greeted me with a coffee and a scone and stories about her travels to far flung places. The rugby Sevens was on so whilst she watched that indoors I sat on her balcony with a pile of magazines, a glass of wine in my hand, looking over the Queen Charlotte Sounds in the sunshine thinking life was very good indeed. Sun, walking and wine meant an early night and a 9am start the following day to walk 24km to Portage with the weather a
little overcast. The scenery was similar to the first day and I climbed to the top of a view point where I could look out over Cooks Straight and to the sea. I met a Canadian girl who thought it only fitting we acknowledged our long walk with a beer or two at the nearby hotel. What a sensible girl. After enjoying the comfy seats we set up camp by the water. My small tent seemed to be of interest to fellow campers and turned out to be a wonderful conversation starter. Only problem was being attacked in the tent by a family of ducks wanting food, quite terrifying. The last day was long but pretty and I was there in plenty of time to wait for my water taxi to take me back to Picton.
Abel Tasman is a beautiful National Park in the north of the South Island. I walked 21km through yet more lush rain forest along the coastline to Bark's Bay hut where I spent the afternoon reading on a pristine beach with white sand and the evening in the hut chatting to fellow trampers. The following day I only walked about 10km to a
beach where i waited for a water taxi to pick me up to take me back to Marahau so I could take the local bus to Nelson, the sunniest place in New Zealand where it rained!
I decided to give the Intercity bus a go to see if there were more outdoorsy people on it working their way around the country. On the way from Nelson to Franz Josef, along the beautiful and dramatic west coastline, we stopped at Punakaika which is famous for its pancake rocks, limestone formations that began forming over 30 million years ago and have been etched away by the wind and sea. Quite spectacular. At the stop there I got chatting with a guy who turned out to have started work the same day as a friend of mine who I had lived with for a few years in London - small world indeed! Franz Josef Township is tiny and seems to exist totally due to the Franz Josef Glacier. Ice climbing was full (so there was no need to have paid the extra insurance premium afterall) so I decided to walk as close as I could to the terminal face. Unfortunately the hills
surrounding Franz Josef were filled with the sound of helicopters. There was an almost continuous whirl of blades as folk were transported for a bird's eye view which slightly spoilt it for us folk on the ground. Seeing this mass of ice surrounded by lush forest was really quite special but I couldn't help wishing I was having a more hands on experience hacking away at it with ice picks and crampons. An evening stroll down a dark, forested path to see magical little glow worms in an upturned tree twinkling like little stars in a night sky was a perfect end to another lovely day.
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