Queen Charlotte Track

Queen Charlotte – wife of Henry III, besties with Marie Antoinette and the namesake of one hell of a trail in New Zealand. After an incredibly smooth ferry and water taxi combination through Picton, we finally arrived at the head of the TA on the South Island and we were immediately smitten. The boat dropped us off at a small dock nestled in a beautiful turquoise bay and we hit the trail. This was trail like we hadn’t seen yet on the North Island – well formed, just rocky enough to be fun and composed of gentle switchback climbs that brought us to stunning views of the bays and islands that make up Marlborough Sound. The sun was shining and a cool breeze was blowing. I set off with Kazu, Chitan and Kirstin and we climbed in silent bliss. The South Island was everything that we were promised and the Queen Charlotte Track (QCT) welcomed us with open arms.

We had just a short six mile hike to our first campsite and went for a swim in the sound as soon as we set up our tents. I walked another mile to a small store at a nearby resort and bought us all sodas and potato chips and brought them back for us to celebrate the moment. We finally made it and were so excited about what lay in store. The QCT is forty five miles long and is used by hikers and mountain bikers. There are picnic tables and benches placed at most of the view spots and several rustic but elegant resorts in the bays along the track. The resorts all have great restaurants that are open to hikers and I had pancakes, pizza and salads along the way.

Right on cue, the naughty weka showed up. I’d read about these little guys in the trail notes. They are about the size of a small chicken and love all things human. They will carry away all of your stuff if it isn’t packed up inside your tent. Shoes, cell phones, kindles, shorts and entire dry bags disappear in seconds if you have your back turned. They have no fear of people and one even got in between my rain fly and tent last night to see if my tent door happened to be opened. Fortunately, they sleep at night but then come back out in small packs at dawn to hunt down more hiker gear. It’s unnerving to have these little troublemakers surrounding your tent at 5AM waiting for you to wake up.

The best part about the QCT is that I can truly let my guard down and relax into the hike. There are no mud pits, rock piles or roads to worry about and the trail is quiet. I was able to hike hard but peacefully. Listening to the bird songs and wind coming up the hills. The air is so clean and the views of the sunny coves are so nice. It also doesn’t hurt that I can stop and have a coffee at a resort and rest for a while before getting back to the trail. Ahhhh. This is thru hiking! I finished the QCT today after two twenty four mile days of blissful walking. I ended up at the Queen Charlotte Inn – a small roadside restaurant that lets you camp in the front yard and shower behind the kitchen if you buy dinner. What a deal. It’s a little strange to set up your tent in front of where you just dined but super convenient to walk from your table, get some love from Reba the kitchen dog and then snuggle in your sleeping bag. All part of this wonderful and weird adventure.