Day 6 - Mistletoe Bay - Anakiwa(4Hr)

(1st March 2025)

Hello Everyone,

As this would be my last day on the Queen Charlotte track and a short one at that, I thought a later start wouldn’t be so bad so 0630 was the go!

I knew that today as I descended to Anakiwa the views would change and the number of people using the track would increase and it did.

I started the day on the way up to the QST, I was lucky to get a lift back to the track (800 mtrs) and then it was a gentle up slop for some time on from this point is was a gentle up and down until I got to the end. Surprising enough I came across a lot of people doing section hiking/riding, so many.

I know I have said it before the view just keeps on keeping on.

Just a couple of the some 50 riders I came across going both up and down the track.

Amazing how often over four days you can take a picture and catch both the Bluebridge and the InterIslander at the same time.

At the end of a quick 13 kms and the end of the Queen Charlotte Track for me. Hopefully with a little luck this won’t be the end of my Te Araroa Journey.

Day 5 - Mistletoe Bay - Zero Day

(28th Feb 2025)

Hello Everyone,

Well after a big day yesterday I spent today relaxing and catching up on the blog.

Mistletoe Bay is an Eco Village that is run by DOC as an Education facility with very limited Facilities that can impact the environment. It is so far out of the way that there is limited signal (internet) reception and no TV.

I spent almost 4 hours during the day catching up on day 3 & 4 Blogs.

Mistletoe is also known for the Bioluminescence that can be seen in the Bay at dusk, unfortunately it is also a very random event that relies on weather, tides and time of the year, just my luck I didn’t catch it at all. The next day I spoke to 2 people, the managers son who thought it was awesome and a Canadian guy who also thought it wasn’t worth staying up for.

Whilst waiting down an the dock for the bioluminescent I watched this stingray looking for his evening dinner.

The views across both Sounds change hour by hour affected by the sun light and the weather I have to say that later in the day the feeling of solitude becomes very prevalent, when either sitting in the shared kitchen, alone or with other campers / hikers or the vast open space of my tent with only the sounds of the wild life to keep you company. This has not changed from the top of the North Island or here in the South.

Day 4 - Black Rock Camp - Mistletoe Bay Camp Ground (23.5k)

(27th Feb 2025)

Hello Everyone,

First of all a lesson learnt the hard way.

Some of the notes for the QST state that there is a problem with the water supplies along the way.

So from the start I had cut down the size of my pump bottles from 1.25 later to 600ml, this was an effort to reduce weight, what a great idea NOT.

So moving forward the 2 Camp Sites that I stopped at along the way the water as noted was almost a rust red in colour, so we had to filter to get the big bits out and then use Catadyne Tab to get rid of the micro bits. Nothing like adding some hydro lite tabs to add some yummy flavour.

So being as smart as I am and not wanting to get my water bladder contained with the water I thought the 2 Pump bottles alone would get me through to the next water supply not realising that there was no next water until Mistletoetoe Bay.

So a 23 degree day and a very hard up and down day lesson learnt, you can give up anything except your water even if it is rust red.

Moving right along I hope you enjoy the views as much as I did.

I woke up a little weary thanks to the War of the Worlds that went on most of the night, how about the sun rise.

I’m sorry, but you will see a lot of these pictures today, as I got higher the views just got better.

The last 2 pictures are of the start of Kenepuru Sound, looking this Valley, to the right, it was very easy to see what it looked like before it was flooded. Remembering the Sound is 25 Kilometres long.

Firstly, the last 2 pictures have a common theme, at this point the track wasn’t too bad however we were still going up!

This is a close up of the previous picture, so Manuka Honey use to be harvested at this altitude however it became unviable and stopped some years back.

Anybody for a Bed and Breakfast, no matter what you have to carry your bags along way.

This was my first glimpse of Picton.

The way the Trail runs you rarely get to see both Sounds at one time, that view is coming. Notice the Oyster farming, very remote.

The first look at the InterIslander Ferry, early run to Picton from Wellington.

A quick stop to rest the legs, these guys just don’t give up.

War Memorial, for all Veterans that died in many Theaters of war, back as far as World War 1 from this area. If you take a few steps backward you are on the main road.

Look at that, the InterIslander Ferry going to Wellington on the afternoon run, shows how long I have been up on the ridge line.

Hmm it was a very hard 408 metres above sea level.

So the last 2 pictures were taken from the only place I found that you could see both Sounds from the same place.

So here I am at Mistletoe Bay, very nice little camp ground. It is mainly used as a school educational camp.

I have decide to stay here a second night, this will help to recover from today’s gruelling effort.

Day 3 - Furneaux Lodge - Black Rock Campsite.

(26th Feb 2025)

Hello Everyone,

As always the trail provides a lot of twist and turns that change your plans for each day. Today was forecasted for some misty rain “ALL DAY”. As you can imagine at the start this provided some relief from hot and sweaty, by time I had reach the camp that day I was now hot, sweaty and wet through. -

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As the day wore on the weather did not get any better and there were not a lot of photo opportunity’s. Apart from the distance markers there was this swing bridge, it looks solid however it was like a trampoline. Now I know why they sign post it for 2 people at a time.

This fellow jumped out onto the track in front of me, I immediately thought of Adam and his expertise. This fellow disappeared as quick as he appeared. Later in the day I came across this fellows big brother who was grazing at the emergency heli pad.

The Hand just hanging around, just one of those days.

So many of these signs, as you can see at this point Black rock Camp Site was 18 kilometres, I ended up covering 22 kilometres for the day.

I finally came across a spot to sit down undercover, the view wasn’t so great as you can see.

As a reminder, we are walking along a ridge line, on the left hand side is Queen Charlotte Sound and on the right hand side is Kenepuru Sound, we haven’t started to see that as yet.

So this is the start of Kenepuru Sound, hard to believe that it is a drowned Valley almost 25 kilometres long.

So this is the view from Black Rock Camp Site, there are 4 Medium Camp/Tent sites behind the Hut.

So, whilst we were reading the Intentions Book I noticed that a number of people had mentioned a problem with the Weka’s and the Possums.

I woke up to hear this fellow scratching at my back pack so I scared it away however he just moved to the other side. At his point I moved my pack inside my tent. This guy was not going to give up so he started scratching at the netting on my tent, I managed to flick him with my camp shoe and then spray Aero Guard on both side of my tent that seemed to keep them away. During the night it sounded like there were hundreds of possums having a prehistoric battle all around us, I believe that It was only a few of these guys making all of the noise. So much Fun!

Day 2 - Ship Cove - Resolution Bay (6.5k)

(25th Feb 2025)

Hello Everyone,

Well today did not turn out as I thought it would, I originally thought I would do 4.5 klm I ended up doing 16.6 klms and ended up at Furneaux Lodge. It will make tomorrow a lot easier. :-)

For those of you who don’t know Ships Cove is where Captain Cook first Anchored the Endeavour Out side of Marlborough Sound. Believe it or not the Sound wasn’t big enough for large sailing ships.

So this is what the track was like today.

How is the for a view, you could see views like this almost most of the way, apart for the last 25 minutes and the it turned to rich Kiwis batches (shacks)

Look very close at the right hand side of my pack, this little fella is a Weka and they will pinch anything you leave out.

That’s it for today

The Journey Continues

Hello Everyone,

Its been some time, whilst my fingers have been idle I have been very active, when the weather permits I am out hiking 3-4 times each week.

OK, I should take a step back, for those of you who don’t know I am going back to New Zealand to continue a journey unfinished. Many people have said that when long distance hiking the ‘why’ is the most important, not the how and one should not lose that focus.

This time I am dropping down to the South Island and for starters I will be hiking The Queen Charlotte track for a warm up before continuing onto the Pelorus Track which is considered to very technical. The 2 tracks should take 8-9 days.

At risk of stating the obvious I need to get there first. Monday the 24 Feb, the day starts with a 0630 flight to Sydney, then onto Auckland, then Blenheim on the South Island and then a car to Picton. My head should hit the pillow at about 1030 that night.

I hope you will all follow me on part 2 of my Te Araroa journey

A Week to go!

Hello Everyone,

With 7 days to go until I leave for New Zealand I thought I would give you a brief look into what this week has in store for me as fa aas trasining goes. Remember all of the hiking is done with a 13.5kg pack on my back.

Sunday : Mt Lofty, tick this one off. It did take me 1 hour and 40 minutes return and whilst this track is not technically challenging it is rated 4 (hard) as far as effort goes.

Monday : (am) Spin Class & (pm) Ansties Hill short course (4.5k)

This was a good day, Ticked both boxes.

Tuesday : (am) Gym

Ticked this box.

Wednesday : (am) Gym & (pm) Ansties Hill Long Course (8k)

Took a rest day :-(

Thursday : (am) Spin Class & Ansties Hill short course (4.5k)

Friday : (am) Gym & (pm) Ansties Hill Long Course (8k)

I am not sure what I will do on Saturday & Sunday, most likely take the days off to allow my equipment to dry out and then re pack.