Picton - Queen Charlotte Track

I took the earliest ferry from Wellington to Picton so I still had plenty of time to organize my hike for the next few days. I wanted to hike the approximately 70km long Queen Charlotte Track and needed to book three nights at campsites, the water taxi, and purchase the Queen Charlotte Pass. The Queen Charlotte Pass is necessary because part of the hiking trail crosses private land, and the owners want to be compensated if they let people walk through their properties. According to the staff member from the Department of Conservation (DOC), they are not particularly pleased about this situation, but unfortunately, that’s the way it is for now.

I also discussed my hiking plan with the DOC staff member, as three of the four stages were quite lengthy. This was because the first two campsites are 22km apart and the hut in between was already fully booked. So, I had to choose between hiking 6km or 28km on the first day, which subsequently made the other stages longer or shorter. I opted for the shorter stage on the first day, and the DOC staff member was optimistic that my plan would work.

Proactively, I had already borrowed a tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping mat from Rainer at the beginning of my trip in Christchurch. Even then, I knew that the equipment was not ideal, as it was a two-person tent and a huge sleeping bag. But you take what you get. I didn’t have a camping stove, but I could manage to eat for four days without cooking.

When I packed my backpack for the hike in the evening, I realized I may have been a bit too optimistic: with the tent and sleeping bag, the backpack was almost full. I attached the sleeping mat to the outside of the backpack, and then added rain gear just in case, along with all my valuables, including camera and tablet, and supplies. In the end, I had to attach another bag to the outside of my backpack alongside the sleeping mat. But there was no turning back.

Day 1: The water taxi left Picton promptly at 8:30 am, and during the ride, I learned why you often see forests with dead trees all over New Zealand: these are pines that were planted in the 1930s for commercial purposes. Since they displace the native trees and plants that would normally grow there and alter the original view, they are intentionally poisoned. This is to restore the original vista.

An hour and a half later, I was at the starting point of my hike: Ship Cove. From there, it was about 2 hours to Schoolhouse Bay, where I planned to spend my first night. Especially on the 250 meters of elevation that I had to hike up and then back down, I realized my backpack was really heavy.

Exhausted, also because I had barely slept the previous nights, I arrived at the campsite, set up my tent, and slept for two hours straight. During dinner, I met Wekas for the first time. These are brown, chicken-sized flightless birds that are incredibly curious and cheeky as they closely inspect everything in search of food. Even when I was lying in the tent that evening, I could often hear a Weka sneaking around my tent looking for something to eat.

Day 2: When I got up around 7 am, the three other tents of people who had stayed at Schoolhouse Bay Campsite with me were already packed away, and the people were long gone. There were 22km and an additional 500 meters of elevation between me and my goal for the day, Camp Bay. Since the last day also required 20km and about 2,000 meters of elevation to be covered before the water taxi picked me up at 3:30 pm, I timed how long it took me to pack my things to know how much time I need to plan on the last day.

I actually wanted to reach Camp Bay by 3 pm at the latest to see when I had to leave on the last day at the latest. The hike was truly arduous again, especially because it was incredibly hot, and I kept meeting people along the way who had only done a day stage and asked me affirmatively: 'It's sooo beautiful, isn't it?' I always agreed, but to be honest, I couldn't see it...

Ultimately, I reached the day's goal one and a half hours later than planned, after more breaks than I intended. After setting up my tent, I changed clothes and jumped into the pool that a small stream had carved out of the riverbed. The water was really cold, but incredibly refreshing!

Day 3: To escape the midday heat, I got up at 6 am and was ready to depart by 7 am after chatting for a while with two couples who had similar stages ahead. I had 26km and about 1,700 meters of elevation to go to Cowshed Bay. I kept 3:30 pm in mind as my arrival time again, but this time more as a rough direction.

At Eatwells Lookout, for which I intentionally took a small detour, I saw for the first time how beautiful the Queen Charlotte Sound actually is: many lovely bays, clear water, green forests... Today I could enjoy the hike much more, especially from the moment Ken, a retiree from Picton, caught up with me. When you can talk with someone who is going through the same experience, the backpack feels half as heavy, your shoulders and hips don’t ache as much, and you hardly notice the blister on your foot.

Speaking of the blister on my foot: even though I had been wearing my shoes almost daily for half a year and would define them as ‘broken in’, I developed a huge blister on the sole of my foot. Nice of Ken, he popped the blister for me, and I immediately disinfected it first in salt water and then with disinfectant. Nonetheless, I could only hobble when I walked with Ken and Lissy to the small town nearby, where we wanted to eat and drink something. At least it couldn’t get any worse until the next morning.

Day 4: In good spirits, I could start the last stage with Ken, as the blister hardly hurt anymore. To be on the safe side, Ken also gave me some Hikers' Wool (similar to cotton), which I placed as a cushion on the blister and secured with my sock. This made the last 20km and 2,000 meters of elevation to Anakiwa nearly a non-issue, and Ken and I even managed to take a swimming break 2.5km before the finish in Davies Bay before we devoured the best ice cream in the world in Anakiwa. It had to be the best, after all, we walked 70km just for that!

While we waited for the water taxi, Ken invited me to his place. I could then take a shower, do laundry, and finally sleep in a real bed after more than a month. It was an unbeatable offer!

Before I set off again the next day, Ken lent me a smaller sleeping bag and a smaller sleeping mat. He even offered to lend me his one-person tent, but I declined since he only has one of those - unlike the sleeping bag and mat - and may want to spontaneously take another hike before I can return the gear to him. He also invited me to his holiday home in Westport on the West Coast. I just had to let him know when I wanted to come, he was always up for a road trip :)