Our final adventures in New Zealand

View from the Queen Charlotte Track

Picton is a nice little town, 28km north of Blenheim. Its got a port from where the Interislander ferry departs from to the North Island (Wellington). On arrival there on Friday 16th, we checked into our motel room, then went for a stroll along a short track to Bob's Bay which overlooks Picton. Afterwards we took a stroll around town, and then cooked our dinner.

The weekend's weather was predicted to sunny and warm, perfect conditions for a walk. We booked a taxi-boat from Picton to Torea Bay, a 15 pleasant minute journey. The Queen Charlotte Track is 71km in total, along a peninsula, which is usually walked (or cycled) from Ship Cove to Anikiwa. From Torea Bay to Anakiwa is 20km, so we chose this option (to walk the full track you'd need to stay overnight in hostels or camping).

The flower of the Manuka Tree

The Met service was correct, and after an overcast morning, it turned out a beautiful day. The first hour or two of the walk was uphill, but after that it was mostly downhill. We started walking at 9:30am and reached Mistletoe Bay around 12pm. We were advised by the boat's skipper that the water here was warm, so we decided to go in for a swim, but it wasn't quite warm enough, so we sat in the sun and had our sandwiches.

Not a tree you see at home - Silver Tree Ferns

The final 3 hours of the walk were through bush and forest, but was quite scenic. We reached Anikiwa at 4pm, plenty of time before getting our boat at 4:30pm back to Picton. Back in the town we enjoyed a few drinks in the sun!

On Sunday we visited the Edwin Fox museum, which houses the world's 9th oldest ship (built in India in 1853). It was a worthwhile visit and we noticed many Irish names among the immigrants that it carried from England to New Zealand in the 19th century. We were also able to go on board the ship.

Later we drove about 295km to Hanmer Springs, the South Island's thermal pools resort, and we enjoyed the Sulphur and heated pools in the evening sun. The perfect way to end our trip.

Today we're heading back to Melbourne and catching our connecting flight to Heathrow, then on to Cork!