Queen Charlotte Track

Day 1: Buzzing bees (15 kms: Ship’s Cove – Endeavor Inlet)

With good intentions and lots of enthusiasm I set out on the Queen Charlotte Track. The water taxi dropped me off at Ship’s Cove, a place that Captain Cook (not Hook!) used many times as a spot to clean off the bottom of his ship. The great advantage of the QCT are the water taxis. They schlep your bags around from hostel to hostel so that all you have to carry is your day-pack. Of course, my day-pack was quite loaded with food, but still – it wasn’t as heavy as my big backpack!

The track began by climbing up a hill to give stunning views of Malborough sounds. Then it was an easy walk through a beautiful rain forest. I saw my first short-beaked kiwi – a Wika I think – and was very excited about the encounter. Further along the track I was momentarily thrown by a long buzzing sound. Thinking there was a helicopter overhead I tried to spot it through the trees. Then to my great surprise, I realized that I was surrounded by bees! (To be fair they may have been wasps…) It seemed like they were harvesting sweet sap off these very black trees. Quite a stunning sight!

I spent the first night at Furneaux Lodge where I had to cook my supper in the closed backpacker’s lodge. It was a bit creepy to be all alone in the building, especially since I had just finished watching The Fellowship of the Ring – Orcs are creepy!





Day 2: Sunny day! (13 kms: Endeavor Inlet – Punga Cove)

A nice easy walk, blue skies, and beautiful views. This was a great day on the track. I spent the night at Punga Cove Resort, which has beautiful grounds looking out over the sounds. Having finished the walk by 2pm, I was able to laze around on a long chair just enjoying the view.



Day 3: Torrential rain (25 kms: Punga Cove – Portage Bay)

Waking up to rain is always depressing. Knowing that this was the longest day of the trek was even more disheartening! I spent two hours debating whether I should take the water taxi to my next destination or whether I should risk the weather and set out. In the end I decided to go for the trek. In retrospect, I’m proud that I did – even though it may have cost me my iPod! (It got wet through my raincoat and stopped working… it’s now in a bag of brown rice, which may somehow save it. Keeping my fingers crossed really really hard!)

There isn’t much to say except that it was a very wet day. I learned that the threshold for my raincoat and hiking boots is somewhere between the 5 hour and 6 hour mark. Before that I’m nice and dry underneath, afterwards I’m wet, cold, and soggy. Arriving at Portage was incredibly rewarding. I treated myself to a very large plate of fries which I ate in front of a wood burning fire trying to warm up. Yummy!

Day 4: Stunning views (23 kms: Portage Bay – Anakiwa)

To my great happiness, on the last day I woke to an overcast sky but dry sky. I set out with high spirits up the hill from Portage Bay to the track. From there it was uphill again for at least an hour. All the rain from the previous day made the track very slippery and it was a hard climb. However, the views from the top were incredible! After the long way up, the rest of the walk was much easier. It passed through a few farms at times, which made for stunning vistas. The rest was spent in the rain forest or along a ridge with more beautiful views.



All in all it was an amazing time! Definitely recommendable to you all!