Wednesday 3rd May
Day of planning and spending money.

First things first. To decide where to go. We were still unsure whether to do the Abel Tasman walk or head south. As the weather was supposed to be good in the north for the next four days after the rain tonight, we were leaning towards Abel Tasman. So into the I-site for some information. We spoke to a DOC lady who was amazing. She gave us a plan A and a Plan B. Heading north along the track and heading south. The linch pin was the timing of the creek crossing at Awaroa which can only be done 1.5 hrs before and 2 hrs after low tide. She gave us all the information and we went away to decide. She also gave us a few other track options which DB had thought of but told us one he wanted to do the night time temp was -9′ last night. So that one was out. It didn’t take us long to decide on Abel Tasman as our next adventure. This required a few purchases. Sleeping bags, saucepans, stove and food. After much deliberation as you can imagine we bought the items and hoped they would fit in our current backpacks as by this time it was after 5 and we were running out of time to buy them. So in the Carpark outside Kathmandu I pulled everything out of DBs bag and tried to put in my sleeping bag, food and a clothes bag from my luggage. It seemed I could manage with our 30 litre bag so we thought DB would manage the 38 litre backpack we already had. So we didn’t buy new hiking bags as well which was good. We will wait to make sure we like multi day hikes and try to get them on special at home.

We then drove from Nelson to Motueka and spent the next few hours getting organised. We finally finished packing and getting organised by about midnight. Wow, what a day. We had to be up and on our way by 8.30am as we had over 20km to hike tomorrow.

Tuesday 2nd May
After our big walk yesterday, we woke to another beautiful day albeit a bit cool. We both were sporting a couple of niggles. I had a sore big toe and DBs big toe and leg muscles were sore.

We started walking at 8.15am for the last 24km of our 71km walk on the Queen Charlotte Track. The first 45mins was a tough uphill climb to 407m. Being the 4th day it was a bit of a hard start to the day. I think I needed a quick walk around the block before we started today. The view at the top was spectacular. The first 10km seemed to fly by but the next 10km seemed to go somewhat slower. We saw many more lovely views and enjoyed filtered water views most of the day. It was an easy days walk except it was the 4th day which made it a bit more challenging. We saw R2D2 again today. DB was pretty excited to see a weka family. Their were 3 chicks which had fluffy black feathers like a baby duckling. We made it to Anakiwa at 2.30pm with an hour to spare to wait for the boat back to Picton. We just sat at the waterfront and enjoyed the sunshine as most of todays walk had been in the shade.

We got our water taxi back to Picton and then headed on our way to Nelson for the night. We managed to book a king room with a spa. A little reward for our 71km achievement. Alas we were not meant to have a soak in a bath tonight as when we arrived they could not fulfil our booking so we had to find somewhere else to stay. Booking.com had it all sorted for us and called and emailed us and are reimbursing us the difference in the cost. Great service on their part for the stuff up in our booking.

Tomorrow we will plan our next adventure.

Monday 1st May
As the day started early for our longer walking day, we got going about 8.30am. A little later than we hoped but no deadline today. We hoped the shorter day yesterday would aid our little hiccups in our body and that the 3 days previous had been a good build up to the bigger day. The first 30 minutes of the walk was up 230m in altitude and over 2km distance. DB will work out the angle we climbed and I will let you know. It was a tough heart starter to the day. It was a great day for hiking, cool but sunny. We took many beautiful photos of the little coves, the sound and farmland. The track was less muddy clay and much smoother than yesterday. We hiked through bush like at home as well as a little bit of rainforest. We were too high for waterfalls today as most of the hike was at the top along the ridge line. It would have been okay for mountain bikers today although a bit slippery for them in some spots. DB had his first spill today with a slide out. No injury though. Luckily as we had only been going for about an hour.

We were met by a DOC ranger in his quad bike at about 10.30am coming from Portage Bay who was checking the track for land slides and fallen trees. He hadn’t seen anyone else on the track today. Again it seems we have it all to ourselves. Just the way we like it.

We saw quite a few animals today – a large snail and bug, goats, birds and the famous weka. It appears that the weka are always hanging around the campsites or lunch spots, near chairs at lookouts. They are just like the brush turkey. Scavengers.

Now, food for thought. What do a couple of 25 years talk about on an eight hour hike after they have been together 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the last three weeks. Well here are a few of the topics we discussed.

Altitude and the effects on your breathing, ear canals, chip packets, which led to climbing Mt Everest and heading to Nepal.

The reason for enjoying hiking – was it the views, scenery, different vegetation, animals or the challenge.

Life speculation – Would we be doing this sort of thing had we not met each other? DB not a speculator would prefer to just think about what we can do now. Me – I can speculate and believe without someone’s encouragement I would probably be playing tennis, working and just hanging around the Central Coast. A bit chicken to explore.

They were just a few things – tomorrow we need to start planning our next hike because I think this has just been the start of our hiking adventures.

We saw a couple of birds, one DB nicknamed R2D2 (click here to hear the song of the Tui ) as it had an unusual sound which was quite unique.

We finally arrived at out destination – Portage Bay Hotel at about 3.30pm with time to have a relax with my book and a cup of tea in the sunshine. A beautiful day yet again.

Our room was lovely. Beingthe only guests at the hotel it was difficult enough to tell them we didn’t need breakfast, let alone tell them we would not need dinner. So dine in style again we did. We had our dinner inthe lounge with a lovely warm open fire, served by our personal waiter. The meal was amazing yet again – Calamari squid, Chicken Mushroon Pasta & Canterbury Lamb with Roasted Vegetables, Creme Brulee. Yummy!!

Today’s Stats: Distance 23.88km, time 7:11hours, Ascent 753m, highest alt 479m