Heading south!

I spent my last hours in Wellington mainly planning the days to come.
I will let you know what I have planned in a few minutes, but first:

I'm on the South Island :D

This morning, the Bluebridge Ferry took me from Wellington to Picton, marking my first step onto the sister island. I've never been this far south before!

The ferry ride took about 3.5 hours and was already an experience in itself. From the water, we had great views of Wellington and the southern tip of the North Island. Not far from the capital, we even encountered a group of dolphins - it couldn't have been better.
And as soon as we left the 'safe waters' and headed towards the open sea, I could already catch a glimpse of the mountains of the South Island on the horizon.
It was very windy on the ship, especially on the top deck, but the sun was shining and I hope I didn't get sunburned.

To reach Picton, you have to travel through the Queen Charlotte Sound - mountains, bays, forests. Beautiful.
There couldn't have been a better welcome.
Picton itself is a charming little town and is only known because the ferry docks there. The hostel is run by a family, which gives it a nice cozy atmosphere.
I saved a big city tour for later, I actually only left the hostel for two things: the Visitor Centre and the supermarket.
The rest of the day, I spent preparing myself mentally, morally, and in terms of luggage for my first big multi-day hike.

Tadaa!

The Queen Charlotte Track surprisingly leads through the Queen Charlotte Sound and is said to offer spectacular views of the landscape. I believe that already.
The path winds along the coast for a total of 71km, with some steep ups and downs.
Since I'm a poor backpacker with limited time, I want to complete the track in three days. That's quite ambitious, but on the other hand, I have the whole day at my disposal.
There are campsites along the way, so I will have to spend two nights in the great outdoors.

Now, it's not like I came to New Zealand fully equipped for camping. In fact, I only have a sleeping bag, which theoretically doesn't even belong to me.

But I don't want to spend too much money on proper equipment since I will probably only go camping three times in New Zealand. So I improvised a bit and bought a $20 tent. Please, let there be no bad weather. I'm using a yoga mat as a base (which is also suitable for Pilates!). It's not ideal, but it will have to do now. At least everything is in blue.
Since I'm so poorly prepared, I decided to splurge on baggage transport, which will transport my luggage from one campsite to the next. However, a large part of the space is already taken up by the tent and sleeping bag. There's only enough room for some food and a change of clothes.
A toiletry bag is too bulky, so I'm only taking a toothbrush, toothpaste, a brush, and some Nivea cream. The bikini, microfiber towels, and water bottles go in my suitcase, along with the rest of the food and my eReader. If it runs out of battery, I'll have a big problem.
Oh, and I don't have a power bank either, so I'll have to rely on a full battery charge for the whole hike. So I'll only take photos when absolutely necessary, otherwise, my phone will be off.

As you can probably tell, I'm feeling a little panicky because I don't feel prepared at all. I've been on multi-day bike tours camping before, but I definitely had more stuff with me then.
Basically, nothing can go wrong on the way and it can't rain - then everything should work out.

I'm young and naive, so I can do these things! And it will be worth it to tick off multi-day hiking in New Zealand and see a spectacular landscape. And then I'm willing to come stumbling out of the woods on Monday, dirty and smelly like a wild person.

But that also means that I definitely won't be able to upload a post in the next three days. Depending on how I feel on the 14th, I will either check in in the evening or definitely on the 15th. I'll need that day to make myself presentable again and properly organize all the stuff that I don't need and have now deposited in lockers. Boy, I'm carrying around a lot of stuff!

The boat leaves tomorrow at 8 o'clock and an hour and a half later, it will start. Fingers crossed for good weather, everything else will somehow work out...