We Still Get Butterflies - The Queen Charlotte Track

We have had so many great and exciting experiences on this trip, so you might think it would be difficult to get us excited. But we were very excited about doing two days of the 71km Queen Charlotte Track in Marlborough Sound. A very nice and service minded lady at the iSite in Blenheim talked us through the hike and our options as we didn't have time to do the full hike. She booked everything for us, and it worked like clockwork. 

We drove the 25km to Picton, and took a Cougar Line water taxi to the trail head at Ships Cove.

It was a cold and overcast, but skipper promised that it would burn off after noon. Ships Cove is the place Captain Cook first landed in 1770.

He came back several times and mapped the area.

The vegetation at sea level is dense and jungle-like.

As we climbed beech, birch and other native trees were predominant, 

and we had some great views along the way on the first 14.5km of the track.

Andy was not the only one enjoying the view.

The weather cleared as promised, and we had time for a nap at Furneaux Lodge while waiting for the boat to pick us up.

The 10 minute ride across the sound to Punga Cove Resort was beautiful. The boat ride and luggage transfer were included in our ticket and saved us 11.5km of walking!

We relaxed and had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant overlooking the sound.

We woke up to wonderful sunshine, and prepared ourselves for the 24,5km walk to Portage Bay. We had stunning views along the track, which consisted of a lot of up and downhill. 

At lunch time we had company of yet another weka bird.

Admitted, we were tired when we reached the Portage Bay Resort after about 7 hours of walking, and it was a relief to take off the boots.

The Resort was set in a beautiful location.

After replenishing the dehydration, 

we went for a very refreshing swim in the ocean, and had yet another wonderful dinner while watching the sun set over Marlborough Sound.

We got up early to enjoy the morning in this beautiful spot until the boat picked us up, and took us back to Picton.

It was a wonderful hike, and we would have loved to have done it all. It was great service to have our luggage taken to the hotels, so we just had to carry daypacks. We stayed in the cheaper 'walker's rooms', but there are all types of accommodation. We are so glad we did it.