Hiking the Queen Charlotte
by Pamela Blalock
with John Bayley, Susan Lowery and Maureen Schade
Our
second week of hiking with Susan was to be an easy stroll on the Queen
Charlotte Track. Susan had originally talked about a much more challenging
trip in the Nelson Lakes. But with concern for my knee, the logistics
of this trip made it an obvious choice. The far end of the track is
only accessible by water taxi, and the various companies that provide
this service also provide a bag transport service for not much more
cost than the fare to the start and back from the end. The other feature
of this track is that there are lots of lodges, complete with restaurants
on the track. This all combines to make this a very accessible and relatively
easy hike. You can just carry a small daypack, with lunch and wet/cold
weather gear, and send your other gear on the boat. Hiking without a
heavy backpack is much easier, and longer distances can be covered in
less time, not to mention with less stress on the knees.
There are many different types of accommodation along
the route, ranging from basic backpackers up through luxury rooms. We
opted for backpackers. We brought food to cook, but also planned to
take advantage of some of the food available on the track.
We
stayed at a backpackers in Picton so we could catch the first boat out
the next morning. The weather has been rather changeable here lately,
and it was a bouncy ride out to ship cove. It was almost chilly when
we started, but the initial climb up from the cove helped take care
of that.
It was still cloudy, but not quite raining, so the views
while not spectacular, weren't bad. We stopped for lunch at a lovely
open spot with a couple of benches and a nice view and a few resident
wekas, who are very quick to grab any food unattended. We took great
care not to feed them, but they were very clever and quick, and we watched
several others have their lunches swiped practically from their hands!
The
first section from Ship's Cove to Resolution Bay involved a good climb
and descent. Since this track is one of the few where mountain biking
is allowed, I took careful note of how it would be to ride. The first
two days (of hiking) are closed to biking in the summer, but would again
be available in March. I decided the first bit would be a bit of a mission,
but once past Resolution Bay, it would be a very easy ride.
We
had all day to cover 15km, so we took our time, stopping for lots of
photos and snacks. It stayed overcast and never got hot, so we weren't
in a rush to go swimming.
At one point a clever cicada hitched a ride on Maureen's
pack. Wanting to see without disturbing it was made easy with the digital
camera, as I could take a photo and then show her what was on her back!
We noticed that the area seemed under attack from the
NZ Navy. Fortunately they were just doing some exercises, but there
were half a dozen ships in the harbour, and of course, carrying on the
theme of our previous hike, they were based at our lodge for the night.
We
arrived to find a tent full of sailors having a grand time and a few
beers too. At least we could also have beer or lattes or whatever
we might want to order from the bar or restaurant. We did take advantage
of being able to get a bottle of wine to have with the meal we prepared.
We were dismayed to find that we had somehow mislaid a garlic bread,
along with a few other supplies. (We stopped at the backpackers in Picton
on the return journey and found the bag of food in the kitchen).

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