Ship Cove to Endeavour Inlet

17kms

Total 17kms

Its been a good first day back on the trail and a fairly easy one. I was certainly feeling a few aches and pains and a bit sluggish too after all the eating I have been doing over the Christmas period. My fitness should come back over the next few days and it might take a week or two before my muscles loosen up and I get my trail legs back. Its just my hips/glutes/lower back that are a bit stiff.

I had an early flight from Whangarei yesterday and Katie and the kids farewelled me at the airport. That was a bit tough as we won’t be catching up at all for 9 to 10 weeks. Met dad and Janeen in Auckland and flew to Wellington where my uncle picked us up and took us to the Interislander. I had not done the Interislander so that was a good experience. Dad booked us a luxury apartment in Picton for the night and we went out for dinner. That was all very nice. I had to go for a bit of a last minute mission on foot to find gas canisters for our cookers which we could not take on plane. It was 6pm but I managed to get some at a petrol station just out of town.

We caught a water taxi from Picton up to the trail head (Ship Cove) this morning. That took about an hour and other passengers were dropped off at a few different places on the way. There are houses, batches, lodges etc dotted around the shore line, mostly only accessible by boat.


The day started with a short climb to a lookout point where we met our first Weka who came out from under the platform. We thought that was pretty cool and then soon realised there are heaps of them around. Every time we stopped a few of them would appear. I fed some with seeds, raisins and some broken up crackers. They are friendly birds.

The views out over the Charlotte Sound were really nice. Lots of boating activity on the water. Hundreds of coves and little beaches. We stopped at a couple. They are rocky ones but beautiful. The water is so clear and drops straight off into deep.

We are staying at a campsite just past Furneaux Lodge called Miners Camp. There is clean water, toilet and even a hot shower and cooking area. The tent sites are where ever you can find a spot amongst the mini orchard. It is really nice and sheltered here.


Tomorrow will be a longer day. About 27kms. We will finish the Queen Charlotte track in three days and arrive in Anakiwa for new years eve.