The Queen Charlotte Track

---

Our last stop on the south island was the Marlborough/Picton area. First we did some wine tasting near Blenheim. Neither of us are white wine drinkers but we had to try the world renowned Sauvignon Blanc from the region and it was actually pretty good (not that we would know any better anyways). We also treated ourselves to a gourmet lunch at the Allan Scott winery. The green-shelled mussels were huge and delicious! It was really nice because we don’t eat out much since our budget can’t really handle it over here. Hence why we don’t post much for food photos anymore since our cooking isn’t really photo-worthy…

After our splurge in Blenheim, it was time to work off all those excess calories on the Queen Charlotte Track. At 71km long, it’s the longest track we’ve done in NZ but since it’s coastal the elevation isn’t too bad. One of the biggest highlights actually came before we even started the track. While on the water taxi that took us to the start we encountered two pods of Orcas. What a surprise, we had no idea they even had Orcas out here!

The big attraction for the Queen Charlotte Track seems to be the fact that there are lodges along the way so after a hard day’s hiking you can have a soft bed, hot shower or even a massage. Also, the water taxis can transport your bags from place to place so you don’t have to carry them. Us being us that felt a bit like cheating (and the whole budget thing…), so we carried our own bags and camped along the way as we usually do. It was worth the extra effort because we ended up having some really great campsites all to ourselves. While the track is really nice, after 4 days and 58km we decided that everything sort of looked the same and we’d had enough. We phoned our water taxi and headed out a day early. Time for the North Island!

---

Comments

[Jo Trouble]

Thanks for the reminder that there is plenty of my own country that I have yet to explore :-) More great photos - love that panorama shot!