The Queen Charlotte Track

From March 3 to 6, we hiked the Queen Charlotte Track, one of New Zealand’s easiest Great Walks through the Marlborough Sounds – the same region where the Lazy Fish is located. I say ‘easiest’ as our backpacks were ferried each day by the local water taxi service – all we had to do was pick them up at the end of the jetty and take them to our campsites. Because we’d been working at the Fish, we got a two for one deal on the backpack transfers making the hike even more attractive.

We walked the QCT over four days: Ship Cove to Punga Cove (26 km), Punga to Portage Bay (23 km – Kirk’s worst day), a leisurely Portage to Mistletoe Bay (10 km), and a final stroll hand-in-hand from Mistletoe to Anakiwa (8 km), the end of the QCT and home of New Zealand’s Outward Bound School (make link?). The under-the-table beers and blueberry muffin from the Blister’d Feet cafÈ were more than appreciated.

The weather was perfect; the possums were in fine form (they shriek death calls at night); the views were turquoise bays, long jetties, sailboats, and tree-topped hills; Drew’s hiking outfit of plaid knee-length shorts and black socks pulled up his calves (aka Hancock) did the British proud; and the forests of giant fern trees were a relief to walk through during the hot afternoons.