Tramping

Tramper

Today, I found myself back in my element - on a hiking trail. Excuse me, here, it's referred to as a "track," not a trail, and the proper verb is "tramping" or "tracking." Regardless of what you call it, it was definitely wonderful. We got picked up from our hotel in Marlborough quite early this morning, and went to the nearby town of Picton, which is at the very northern tip of the South Island, and it's where all the ferries from the North Island land. We knew we were going to have to take a boat to get to our tramping grounds for the day, and even though it was a little chilly this morning, it warmed up the instant the sun came out, and we were greeted with some truly spectacular scenery.

Those are clouds, not snow. Magical.

On our way to the Queen Charlotte Track, a trail that runs about 44 miles down the length of the Queen Charlotte Sound, we also spotted my favorite animal, and one I have never had the opportunity to see in the wild.

PENGUIN! You can't see him so well, but he's there. He's a blue-eyed penguin, the smallest species of penguin in the world. So he's a nano penguin. How fitting.

Our local wilderness guide got off the boat with us at Ship's Cove, which is where the Queen Charlotte Track begins. It was named by Captain Cook, who was the first white man to explore New Zealand in the late 1700s. Abel Tasman, a Dutchman, had discovered New Zealand about 80 years prior to Captain Cook, but after the local Maori peoples had a few of his crewmen for dinner before they even got off their rowboats, he, along with all the Europeans he went back and told, decided to steer clear of New Zealand for awhile. Captain Cook was the next European brave enough to venture to New Zealand, and the first to be brave enough to set foot on shore. He survived. Ship's Cove happened to be his favorite Southern port, and once we climbed to the top of the first hill it was easy to see why.

Captain Cook's favorite spot.

I would post more pictures of the views from the Queen Charlotte Track, but they are all equally stunning, and it's simply impossible for me to choose. Suffice it to say that we were looking down at that turquoise water and jungle forest all day long, and I could've looked at it for many more days. Adriana, our guide who tramped with us, was extremely knowledgable and was able to tell us all about the flora (neverending), fauna (there's only possums and bugs...no really, that's all there is here...New Zealand has no native snakes or mammals...only birds and insects...everything else has been introduced and has proliferated...especially the possums...) and history of the area. She also made us hot French Press coffee to go with our gourmet sandwiches and homemade granola bars at lunch. Best wilderness guide ever. After about 7 miles of tramping, we descended the last hill to the bay, where the lack of altitude did not mean a lack of gorgeous views.

Queen Charlotte Track Beach

Another mile of tramping and we ended our walk at Ferneau Lodge, a 130 year old homestead established by a British family that now serves as a gorgeous hotel for trampers on the Queen Charlotte Track. I think the AT could learn something from the Kiwis. Four star AT shelters? I guarantee it would create more thru-hikers. The entire Queen Charlotte Track takes 4 days to complete, and all of the accommodations are apparently as nice a Ferneau. Unfortunately, we did not plan 4 days worth of tramping here, so we boarded a ferry back to Picton. The ferry also serves as the mail boat, since most of the houses and lodges here can only be accessed by water. I'd like to be a mailman here, I think. We took a shuttle back to our hotel in Blenheim for some well deserved showering and a local wine, cheese, fruit and bread supper. I'm very glad that I was able to incorporate some hiking/tramping into this adventure on the other side of the world. I just wouldn't feel like Nano without it.

Happy Trampers