Thursday, February 21, 2008

Queen Charlotte Track : Hiker's Heaven



























































































































































The Queen Charlotte Track : Hiker's Heaven
Our first adventure in the South Island was a 4 day hike on the Queen Charlotte Track- one of the most beautiful and luxurious hikes we have ever been on. Instead of carrying our tent and all our gear on our backs for the hike, as we usually do- we booked into 3 separate lodges and and had the water taxi transport our gear and us to the trail head. The ride from Picton was gorgeous- a light mist rising from the bay and views of islands and mountainous bays along the way. About halfway through the trip we were treated to a show by a pod of about 20 bottlenose dolphins ( 2-4 metres long). They jumped and played in the boat's wake , some of them jumping a meter out of the water. I wasn't fast enough to capture it all on film. We started our hike at Ship's Cove, the place where Captain Cook landed in 1770 and returned for 2 more trips. The forest was lush, with lots of tree ferns, and large beech and pine trees. After a steady climb, we were rewarded with spectacular views of the coast that just kept getting better and better. Our day ended after a 9 hour hike, and we were greated by the host of our lodge , who gave us chocolates because of our long trek. carried our bags to our room ( they had arrived by water taxi) and announced that dinner would be served on the verandah in 40 minutes. We met the other 12 guests, were fed a sumptuous meal on the porch overlooking the water and took a brief tour of the lodge's glowworm grotto ( called Eden) before collapsing into bed. The next morning after depositing our bags on the wharf, we set off on the next leg of our journey. It was grey and a bit foggy, but it gave a mystical and mysterious air to the surroundings. We climbed a ridge and were supposed to be rewarded with panoramic views from the top, but found the fog thickened and gave us only teasing glimpses of the scenery. One of our fellow hikers, Elke, a young woman from Germany, hiking on her own, kept us company. After another 9 hour hike we were glad to see our next lodge- which had a great view, a jacuzzi and a pool, if not the personable host we had the night before. The weather was sunny and spectacular the next day, and the view were superb. We arrived early and enjoyed the view and the swimming in our next lodge and had a fine view and easy hiking on our final day. We were almost sad for it to end.
When the boat deposited us on the dock, we retrieved our gear, jumped in the car and drove south to Kaikora. The drive was interesting- we passed sheep farms, vineyards and rolling hills- all dry and parched because of the recent drought - except for the irrigated areas. The highway hugged the coast as we got closer to Kaikora- with mountains on one side and the wild raging sea on the other. We even saw seals basking in the sun as we drove by. Tomorrow we hope to take a whale watching tour. More later...

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