Advertisement
Published: January 24th 2006
Celebrating or commemorating?
Not sure what those that died would feel about their memorial in Picton doubling as a Christmas decoration? Who knows...And so to part 2 of our Festive Season epic - sorry for the long delay between the Christmas Day match report and this, but we've been well busy and having to take work home with me for evenings and weekends doesn't help me find the time to do this. There'll be a load of pictures added here too - we took 110 in 4 days and it'll be hard for me to pick the best but I'll do my best and I hope I get the names of the places right. Not that you’d know better, anyway.....
Day 0 - Wellington to Picton We got our kit together on Boxing Day and then headed to the ferry terminal for the 3-hour journey to Picton. Although its on the South Island, Picton is actually level with Wellington and you spend a good deal of the ferry trip actually heading north west - going north to head south?! Well, there you go....
Anyway, its was a great trip - pretty calm crossing which is unusual as the Cook Strait can be a touch choppy and the clear sunny evening made it very pleasing on the eye. On arrival in
12pm sailing
The ferry heads out for Wellington Picton we headed to our motel for the night, dumped the bags then headed out for that wonderful Kiwi delicacy of fish n' chips (fish supper to you and me).
Day 1 - Picton to Ship Cove to Resolution Bay We had until 1:15pm the next day before our water taxi out to the start of the walk so we checked in for the boat, dumped our packs and had brunch followed by a quick walk along the bay. The water taxi ride took just over an hour and was amazing - the boat was pretty fast and fairly flew through the nicely flat and calm Queen Charlotte Sound passing many other boats including the Interislander Ferry.
We were dropped off at Ship Cove and parted company with our packs, which we paid $70 each to get transferred by water taxi between each stage of the walk - oh, how we laughed at the backpackers on a budget who had to carry their own! Ship Cove is where Captain Cook used to stop off on his many adventures to let his crew chill-out for a few weeks and recharge the old batteries. He visited about 6 times
Captain Cook Memorial, Ship Cove
Didn't even know he was dead.... between 1770 and 1776 mostly for a few months at a time and what a spot it was too.
Then we had a mere hour and half tramp to our first campsite where we picked up our bags and pitched the tent. There was a tent already there but with no sign of any campers - we joked that it was probably some Germans who had set out early to book the best spot. They turned up about an hour later and amusingly they were indeed German - who says national stereotyping doesn’t add any value?! For any Germans who read this blog, I do apologise for my narrow-mindedness but comments like these will appeal to a number of my friends who actually have a sense of humour.
After killing time by throwing our new Frisbee on the rocky beach, we ‘cooked’ dinner - freeze-dried Mexican Chicken with rice (just add water!), it was time for an early night. When it gets dark at 9pm there’s not a whole lot else to do....
Day 2 - Ship Cove to Punga Cove It was an early rise the next morning after a dodgy night’s sleep. Being in
Land ahoy, cap'n!
Looking past Motuara Island towards the North Island in the distance the middle of nowhere and in total darkness, every noise was a bit Blair Witch especially the bizarre howling noise that was definitely no dog and the footsteps that I heard going all round the tent at 2am!! If I’d had a spare pair of pants, I would have been changing into them!
The walk to Punga Cove was about 4 and a half hours but not too up and down and had great views into Endeavour Inlet (named after Captain Cook’s ship in which he sailed to New Zealand and landed for the first time). It was hot work and we were hungry and thirsty when we passed the Furneaux Lodge resort and saw a sign with a knife & fork and a pint drawn on it!! It was like an Oasis in a desert and we stayed for 2 hours and ate heartily and drank cold lager. More Germans were spotted on the horizon so we tried to make haste for the next campsite but we found our stomachs weighed us down and we found that when you’re really thirsty lager really isn’t the answer especially when it’s about 80 degrees!
We eventually made it to
Chef at work
Jo-Ann doing her wifely duties at Schoolhouse Bay campsite the Camp Bay site and were once again beaten to the best spots by our most efficient European cousins and we had to settle for a spot by the toilet block. Not ideal from an aroma point of view but handy.
Another freeze-dried dinner was followed by more lager at the Punga Cove Resort that was a mere 3 minutes stroll away. The drink certainly helped us sleep as did the lack of strange noises and we were pretty well rested for the next day which was the longest and toughest.
Day 3 - Punga Cove to Portage As predicted, Day 3 of the track was the hardest and perhaps also the hottest and took about 6 hours. There were a lot of hills on this section and unlike biking, when you’re on 2 feet the downhill parts are just as hard as the uphill bits especially on the joints. This was a bumper photo day and I went a bit Japanese Tourist with the camera (oops, there I go national stereotyping again...) but if you saw the views from the top parts of the ridge you’d understand. The best photos will be attached with this blog.
You're blocking the view!
Jo-Ann overlooking Resolution Bay All the hard work was worth it when we reached Portage where we stayed at the backpacker’s place, which is right next door to the Portage Resort. It was great to get a real bed to sleep on and a shower to scrub off 3 days of sweat and sunscreen/mossie repellent.
We were also able to use the resort and again enjoyed the chance for some real food and drink although the service was fairly average at the bar. One time I went to get a round in and I was away for about 10 minutes and while I was away Jo-Ann was approached by this totally hammered hick who was the perfect representation of your typical redneck - majestic mullet, a few front teeth missing, handlebar moustache, tattoos, etc. I couldn’t make out his name because he was so buckled but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Cletus and he was married to his cousin and lost his virginity to his sister... either that or a sheep, of course. He gibbered on a bit and I managed to make out that he was half Scottish, half Maori and half Jewish which is a remarkable accomplishment in
anyone’s book. Eventually he staggered off to try and pull someone or something else and we ran in side in case he came back! He was harmless really but it was a touch uncomfortable for a while - just wish I’d had the guts to ask for a photo although he might have shattered the lens.
Day 4 - Portage to Anakiwa After a majestic nights sleep and another long shower we headed out for the final leg, which would take about 5 hours or so and we had to be at Anakiwa in time for our 4:15pm water taxi back to Picton. This leg was a bit flatter than the Portage one which was good as my calves were killing me and I had a nice wee blister coming up. It was also a slightly less hot day while we were walking due to some much needed cloud cover (never thought I’d say that!) and some more great photo opportunities presented themselves and were taken many, many times.....
We celebrated when we got to the end and discovered we’d beaten the Germans and we had time for a chill-out on the rocky beach and a celebratory
Overlooking Tawa Bay
The water looks inviting, doesn't it? sandwich and ice cream - not at the same time of course as that would be pure boggin’. The water taxi arrived pretty much on time and we headed back to Picton. After some quick grub and another beer, we jumped on the bus for the 2-hour ride to Nelson where we were to rendezvous with some mad people for Hogmanay. That’s for another blog though.....
The QC Track was a fantastic trip - great weather, amazing views and what a way to burn off some Festive excess. I was also really pleased to have walked that far without any problems as only 4 months before I was unwell and barely even able to walk to the bathroom. The Verve were wrong!! The drugs DO work!! Well, hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone do anyway.
Cheers for now - Hogmanay in Nelson to follow the next time Jo-Ann goes out and leaves me to do this in peace!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.13s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 14; qc: 72; dbt: 0.075s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
