Sunday morning’s leisurely ferry crossing to the South
Island from Wellington, was like a sail on a mill pond. However, this three
hour crossing, through Cook Strait, can be one of the most perilous in the
world. The Strait is named after Captain James Cook who discovered this region
in 1770. In honour of King George III, Cook named the Queen Charlotte Sound after
the King’s consort. It is more than a simple crossing of two bodies of water as
we pass by numerous islands, fjords and sounds. Once again we had occasion to meet
some really interesting and genuinely nice young people on our voyage, who were
on an “Outward Bound” youth program. Let me introduce you to Tom and Julian in
the attached pictures. The day was perfect and the seas were calm as we arrived
in the picturesque gateway town of Picton.
The following day was to be one of our highlights as we
embarked on a 14 Km hike of the Queen Charlotte Track. With our guide Ollie, we
boarded our mail boat/water taxi for a 50 minute ride to an out island bird
sanctuary. I love birds and this was a wonderful experience to take in the two
winged species with 360 degree views of the Queen Charlotte Sound. After an
hour and a half another mail boat showed up to take us across the Sound to Ship’s
Cove, next to Resolution Bay, to start our hike. This world famous hike did not
disappoint as the views and commentary by Ollie proved to be exceptional. Lunch
at Lookout Point was particularly fun as we met Marie from Belgium and Rolph
from Germany. She had been travelling for the past eight months, with a working
stint at Jamie Oliver’s Sydney Italian restaurant and Rolph was walking the
entire 3700 km trail around both islands! The trail concluded with a beer at
some recluse location in Endeavour Bay and another mail boat taxi back to Picton.
All in it was a 10 hour outing but well worth it as we sat back on our balcony,
sipping on another bottle of Chardonnay, watching the ferries continue to arrive
and set sail for other out islands.
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