Friday Nov 29
Day 1 of the Queen Charlotte Walk (henceforth referred to as the QCT) - We awoke to a wonderfully sunny and mild day; high in the low 20's, a miracle considering the weather of the previous day (driving rain). My arm seemed to be fine - still bandaged. We packed up and headed over to the Beachcomber Ferry terminal where Dieter dropped me and our luggage off while he returned our Apex hire car just a block away.
I checked in for the 9:30am ferry checking our 2 duffle bags and retaining our day packs - we had left our large red roller with the Harbour View Motel for safe keeping while we were on the QCT.
The ferry was about half full with a variety of holiday makers - QCT trekkers like us, doing the multi-day track, day trippers doing only one section, mountain bikers, and kayakers. Most people do the QCT over 4 (even 3 days) for a total of about 71k's. We had decided to do it in 7 days, staying at some lodges 2 or 3 nights just to more fully enjoy the area. There are lodges of varying levels of comfort along the way - even camping areas.
The ferry arrived at Ship Cove, the main departure point for the QCT, about 11am - from here it makes it's way back to Picton stopping at all the lodges along the way dropping off people's checked luggage at their next destination and passengers who just want a transfer to the lodges or perhaps start the QCT further along the way.
After spending about 30 minutes at Ship Cove - taking photos and visiting a few different monuments to both the Maori and Captain Cook who named the cove. He subsequently visited 5 times for a total of one hundred days.
We set out on the track about 11:30am heading for the No Road Inn about 15 k's away. The first 40 minutes is a stead uphill climb - about a medium level of difficulty, rising to 250m where there is a wonderful outlook over the sound.
We continued along the track which was wide and smooth in some sections and rocky and narrow in others - clearly having hiking poles was a benefit. Due to the recent rains the track was a bit muddy in some areas but overall in pretty good condition. From the peak at 250m the track is somewhat up and down with many spectacular outlooks on this section via Resolution Bay to Endeavour Inlet - this first place with a number of lodges and even holiday homes.
We had a quick stop for a stand up lunch around 1:30pm and reached the No Road Inn at 3:45pm - both quite tired in spite of our many training walks over the past weeks in Sydney (and this is the second shortest section of our planned walk). I would describe this section as a similar level of difficulty as doing the Spit to Manly walk RETURN. We had booked into the No Road Inn for 2 nights so we were looking forward to a break.
Upon arriving at our lodge we were greeted by Garry, the owner, who met us with a cold beer and a glass of wine. He informed us that we would be the only guests for the next 2 nights and as a result his wife had taken a couple of days off to attend her mother's birthday in Wellington. The lodge only has 4 rooms and had been full the previous few nights. We did feel a bit wierd being the only guests as part of the fun of these sorts of trips is meeting fellow like-minded trekers over sundowners and dinner.
Afters showers we sat on our huge terrace with spectacular views overlooking the Endeavour Inlet enjoying the late afternoon sun.
At 6pm we met Garry in the dining area for pre-dinner drinks followed by dinner. Garry did the cooking and joined us for drinks and dinner. At $85 pp + drinks we felt the meal was poor value for money - we had white bait fritters and scallops for entrée (both excellent) followed by lamb and roast veggies and sticky date pudding for dessert. We were back in our room by 8:30pm and I was asleep shortly thereafter.
Saturday Nov 30
We had a bit of a sleep in until 7:45am and as forecast it was blowing a gale and the rain started shortly thereafter. So our plans for kayaking and a short walk were put on hold as was a long soak in the hot tub - but the day was still young and things could improve.
The No Road Inn is right next door to the Furneaux Lodge - one of the larger lodges in this area. Garry had recommended that we have dinner there tonight (I guess giving him the evening off and us a change of scene). We decided to also go there for lunch as well.
By 12:30pm the rain eased so we headed over to the Furneaux for a light lunch then set out for a short walk. First up was a hike off the main track up to a waterfall, estimated as 1 hour return. It was a very tricky slippery and wet track along a roaring creek with many small falls; we made it almost to the top but were stopped when the trail crossed the river which was flowing too rapidly for a safe crossing. It was a great walk with diverse and rich vegetation - highly recommended. We then walked 20 minutes back along the QCT to see some famous pine trees but alas they seem to have been chopped down or so said a local we struck up a conversation with. The area was originally a pine plantation and there are about 30+ houses along this section of the track - now used as holiday houses. Anyway we did get in a couple hours of walking making the day not a total bust.
Back at the Inn we showered had a pre-dinner drink and went back to the Furneaux for an early dinner as Garry advised us they were hosting a stag night - just our luck !! Dinner turned out to be fine with the bucks in the bar being well behaved. It was a lot cheaper than dinner at the No Road Inn.
Sunday Dec 1
Wonderful - we awoke to a sunny and mild day with a high of 22℃. We had about a 4 hour trek ahead of us with a warning of afternoon showers so we set out at 9:20am. The day was excellent, the trek a bit easier than the first day but it still took us the estimated 4 hours including a few short breaks. A bit to our surprise the Mahana Lodge is about an hour off the main track - a bit of worry considering the following day is a biggie but as it turned out from the Mahana there is a short-cut back to the QCT.
We arrived at Mahana Lodge and received a warm greeting from out hosts, John and Ann and found out we would again be the only guests. This turned out to be fortuitous as the accommodation is like a 4-bedroom house, with a shared lounge, dining kitchen. Each bedroom does have an ensuite - so we had the run of the place. The views are totally stunning. We had a welcoming drink on the lawn and met Harold the pet heron and other birds. Dieter checked out their extensive vegetable garden while I hit the shower. After showering I removed my bandage and my burn injury looked OK - just a bit tender and itchy.
We had an excellent value for money dinner - fixed price of $55 pp. Then it was off to bed.
Monday Dec 2
"Midnight at the Oasis" - I awoke just after midnight with a panic attack over the reported "very steep and slippery" track down to the Bay of Many of Coves Resort - as a result I got very little sleep. When Dieter seemed to wake I told him my concerns and after showing some annoyance with me, promised to call the resort in the morning so we could assess it. I got up at 6:45am and made brekkie - in a bit of a sleepless fog. Fortunately it was a beautiful sunny day - high in the low 20's. We set out at 8:30am after getting reassurances that the track to the BOMC was definitely passable. The QCT track was in great condition and we made excellent time getting to the Bay of Many Coves Shelter (still on the main QCT track) in 3 hours including a side-trip to the Eatwell Lookout which was well worth it - there were views over the whole Sound - spectacular!!
From the BOMC Shelter it was then 2 more hours (as it turned out) to the Bay of Many Coves Resort. The track off the QCT starts out going uphill when you think you should be going down hill but after about 15m it starts a very steep, rugged and slippery decent - this goes on for about 30 minutes - very slow going - finally you reach what you think is the bottom but from here is goes back up to the same altitude from where you started then back down again - it took forever and we were getting hotter and more and more tired and cranky as the minutes ticked by. I was thinking why in the world did we ever decide to stop here. Finally around 2:30pm we reached the resort on the point of collapse - we were greeted by Nick, the Manager who was ever so friendly - he showed us to our "room" - we had been upgraded to a 2-bedroon luxury apartment overlooking the Sound. Within minutes we were transformed from tired and cranky to tired and ecstatic Our apartment even had a full laundry - so we stripped off our mud-splattered / sweat soaked trekking gear - threw them in the washer and had well deserved showers followed by refreshments on our balcony. The aches and pains started to dissolve.
We relaxed and checked out the report facilities then headed to the main restaurant for dinner - what a treat - superb food and service complete with a Germany chef - fine dining as good as a top Sydney restaurant for similar prices as the No Road Inn. It was then back to our room for a very early night.
Tuesday Dec 3
After sleeeping like a bear on holiday I got up around 7:00am made a pot of coffee and sat on our balcony while checking e-mails etc using my 2degrees mobile data fob as I was unable to get the BOMC's internet working the previous day - neither were the staff even with Zenbu (their internet provider) on the phone (more on this topic later). Dieter got up at 8am and we went for breakfast at the resort's water-front cafe - full a la carte gourmet fare.
After brekkie we took the row boat for scout around some of the small coves - there were cormorants nesting all along the shore many with young chicks screaming for their next feed. We checked out the many boat houses and Kiwi batch'es (holiday homes) - none with any road access and often up very steep trails from their jetties.
For lunch we just finished off our trekkers lunch from the previous day. We took a short walk (1hr) to a waterfall where you can see glow worms at night then a loop track from the resort - all quite steep and rough but short so no big deal.
I had the first of my two 45-minutes spa treatments followed by a shower and a pre-dinner vino on our balcony. We saw a giant stingray circling the cove - amazing - we later found out he's a regular visitor (hope he gets a discount).
We had another outstanding dinner at the restaurant - snapper for me and tor (some kind of a wild goat much like venison) for Dieter with a shared dessert. Again off to bed early - not much night life here - not that we were looking for any.
Wednesday Dec 4
Last full day at the BOMC - I got up early (6:30am) for a morning coffee on our balcony and some internet surfing and e-mail checking. It was a mild but overcast day - not bad as long as it doesn't develop into showers. We had another great a la carte breakfast and set off on a morning walk along the costal track from the resort - nearly 2 hours return. We went as far as the turn off to the alternate track back up to the QCT (the one we will take tomorrow when we leave).
Back at the resort we had a late lunch at the resort's cafe - pasta for Dieter and mussels for me. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and dagging about - I went for my second "free" massage at 4pm.
Thursday Dec 5
Time to leave the BOMC - we got up early to overcast skies and a forecast of afternoon rain and thundershowers. So we packed up quickly and left a bit earlier than planned - 8:30 instead of 9:00. Nick the manager gave us a speedboat lift to the departure point for a different track up to the QCT - by then it was drizzling and with a breeze it seemed a bit cool. We slogged up the track in about 1 hour essentially cutting about 45 minutes off the climb using the track we had com in on. I was ever to happy to reach the QCT - and really get going on the next section to Portage where we were booked into Peppers lodge. It drizzled pretty much all day but we made good time reaching Peppers around 2:00pm. We were pretty weary and mud splattered - boots looked like a write-off and trekking pants had mud up to the knees. So we checked-in, threw the pants into the guest laundry and hit the bar for a well deserved refreshment. After an afternoon rest and showers we had an early dinner which was not too bad considering Peppers does not get the best reviews on Trip Advisor. It was certainly off to bed early - we'd done 17k's and 1000m incline.
Friday Dec 6
It was a very mild day already over 20℃ and mostly sunny when we had brekkie at 7:00am - by 8:00am we headed off using Peppers transfer up the hill to the start of the final section of the QCT - longest day lay ahead - 21k's and you need to get to Anakiwa by 3:30pm to catch the Beachcomber ferry back to Picton. Unfortunately the sun gave way to clouds with the odd minute or 2 of drizzle and the first half of this section was pretty muddy - nevertheless we made great time and reached the end (actually the start) of the QCT at 1:30pm - what an achievement !!! Congratualtions team. We then had a potential 2 hour wait for the ferry but the ferry arrived early (3:00pm) and since all 17 people who were booked were ready we left for Picton arriving at about 3:30pm. Our motel, the Harbour VIew, picked us up and we settled in to our room. Again the first thing I did was throw our trekking pants into the guest laundry and make a valient attempt to clean all the mud from our boots. The room looked a bit like a war zone as I reorganised our luggage for our flight to Auckland the following morning.
Eventually it all came together and we went out for dinner to the local pizzeria and again off to bed early. We both had to admit that the serice at the Harbour VIew Motel was so friendly - the owners/managers are so helpful - they even gave Dieter 3 bottles of "free" beer as he was cleaning out his fridge - they went down the hatch!!
Saturday Dec 7
We flew to Auckland out of Blenheim via Wellington arriving around 1:00pm - by 2:00pm we were all checked-in to our waterfront apartment. We had a negative surprise on checking-in - there was a French Navy ship parked right in front of our apartment so the agent offered us a 50% discount which seemed OK to us. Little did we know that the biggest issue was not the obstruction of the view but the noise from the ship's generator which was running 24*7 - it keept us awake most of the night. We stayed home for a pasta & salad dinner.
Sunday Dec 8
After a very restless night we spent the day walking around Auckand checking out the new waterfront developments - really funky renovations of the wharfs and sheds - now replete with trendy bars, restaurants and shops. We had a sambo at home for lunch. After walking around again after lunch we went out for dinner at Kermadeck - good as usual.
Monday Dec 9
Finally that bloody French Navy ship left this morning - what a relief from the constant loud hum of it's generator - we also got our view back. It was a similar day as Sunday - partly/montly cloudy and around 20℃. We mainly walked around the waterfront takig pictures of thr supertyachts and having lunch at one of the new cafe/bars in the re-developed area.
We met up with Chris and Philippa at our apartment for a drink then went to Euro for dinner. It is right in the same complex as our apartment and an old favourite. As it would happen in such situations we got to bed a bit later than planned.