Queen Charlotte Track

an old lady was shouting at me to shut up cause she could not talk to two people at once. i merely wanted her to ask the lady on the phone if they connect with the bus back from the track. that was the start of the best two weeks of my trip so far.

after some more shouting, a few nasty looks and mumbles about israelis and generally pushing my nerves to the limit – my ferry was about to leave in en minutes – i had all of my track transport booked and i legged it to the boat to the q. charlotte track.

there was not much to tell about the track itself. although it is labelled as an easy walk track it was extremely steep at times. when you got off the boat you just walked straight uphill. it was a deceiving track – things look really close, just on the other side of the water, 300 meters away, until you look around the edge of the bluff and realize the inlet is about 5kms long.

i stayed the first night in the backpackers’ section of an expensive resort. i only did it twice during my trip and it was a pretty bad experience. this one was an awful one – it was just me and a dutch guy staying in an old farm house [a croft]. it was cold and windy. hot showers were extra. everyone else had nice rooms which looked nice and warm. we had crappy bunk beds and we were cold and drafty. i did have a great cup of hot cocoa at the bar [a luxury in the middle of a hike] but i would love to have a DOC hut instead.

the next day’s morning started bad. i hoped those rich resort people would help me change my bookings for the track. they just pointed a finger at the payphone and told me to pay $2 for 10 minutes of internet just to get a hostel number back in nelson. i spend a hour on the phone moving around my booking – cutting a day and 20kms off the charlotte track – to have a rest day between it and the heaphy.

after that bad start the tramp was lovely and uneventful until i reached the place for the night. it was half an hour off the track [ i thought it was half a hour i would not have to walk the next day, not extra walking] a small homestead at some really old lady’s house. for some reason or other she hated me. i was blamed for messing up the compost and the rubbish bins and leaving the kitchen in a mess [i forgot to wash one pot]. another guy who was staying there for the night caught up with me the next day and told me she complained about me, and loudly, the next morning.

the last day was a big one – 25kms of walking, plus extra half an hour, plus another couple of kms to get some ice cream before taking the boat back to picton. i spend in the company of said guy. ice cream was consumed and i slept on the ferry back to picton. i then had an encounter with the worst transport company in the south island – Southern Link K Bus. it took us 3.5 hours to get back to nelson, a trip which lasts less than two hours on an intercity coach.