Queen Charlotte Track.

Rolling on the ground as we got all our bags packed
and ready to get on the boat

everything goes in the mouth--that was our map

he fell asleep within minutes of being on the boat and slept quite
soundly on liz most of the way to our drop off



As you can see, it wasn't sunny but it didn't rain that first day
and the clouds shrouded the sounds in mists

the water taxi

the first day we walked to Endeavor Inlet and it took us about 5 hours
with stops to feed the boy along the way


Ship Cove is where Capt. Cook stopped during his expeditions in the 1770's
and here Mike stands in front of the sort of shelter they stayed in when here


The water in the bays has this emerald quality





Weka birds and lots of shots of my boys

Once he gets fed and is warm he pretty much falls asleep


the scenery



He fell asleep just before we arrived at our campsite so we leaned the pack
up against a tree and wedged a pack in front to keep it upright as we got all settled in




Getting some good floor time in the shelter after 5 hours in the pack

After an "ok" night of sleep, we headed to the nearby jetty to drop our packs so they
could be taken to our next destination


starfish




He fell asleep while we waited.


Muddy track

The track was pretty easy in most places-a good walk but really
muddy in some spots



Our feeding technique while tramping so serious mess is avoided--cape
on and hands down.


More emerald water

View from the jetty

And he was asleep again as we waited for the taxi




With Auntie Alice on the boat home

the rain we escaped as we boated away

We drove north from Christchurch to Picton 4 hours where we caught our water taxi. Picton is also where the ferries leave for the North Island. Our boat ride was just under an hour as we stopped at a couple other bays before stopping at Ship Cove which is the start of the Queen Charlotte Track. There are hundreds of bays in the Marlborough Sounds and we saw only a few.

The first day we walked about 15 kms to our camp site. The weather was great-not hot and not cold. There are beautiful views of the bays. It was lovely even in the misty weather but I am sure it is also spectacular when clear. Our boy seemed to like being in the pack again and settled right in especially after eating. Mike carried him on this tramp and we had the water taxi take our bags to oyr detination so we didn't have to lug them the whole way which made the walk more enjoyable. It is included in your water taxi ticker. Nice perk.

At camp, Mike cooked us up our pasta dinner and we enjoyed hot chocolates and tim tam slams after--chocolate cookies you dip in and suck up the hot chocolate. The night provided us as good a sleep as one can get sleeping in a small tent with a 6 month old. In the morning, liz and Alice walked down to the water and saw 2 dolphins jumping and playing around the jetty but we were still asleep. After some of liz's homemade muesli,we packed up, dropped our bags at the jetty and headed out for a short 2 hour walk.

As we neared our campsite the rain came. We found a relatively sheltered
site for our tents and headed to one of the little resorts for a hot chocolate. Many people

who walk the track stay in one of the lodges or resorts along the way. You don't have to tent, its just a lot cheaper. It started to rain quite steadily so we found a sheltered table and opted to sit there as opposed to having to sit in our tents in the rain. We thought it would stop but it would come and go quite consistently. In the end, we opted to get a taxi out because we got word that it was going to rain through the night and into the next day and we were meant to walk 24 kms and it was going to be a long day even without the rain.

So our walk was cut short by inclement weather but the 2 days we did have were lovely. Disaster was adverted when the hat liz knitted for our boy was lost on the track but i found it. He is going to need that hat back home in frigid Vermont!

his first tramp/hike.

starting out--the boy has the shade cover on his pack.

sunny wear and bundled up

emerging from the treeline

the hut

view from the top. he's asleep and i was tired.

sunset

mike cooking up dinner in the hut

grabbing grandad's dinner roll

early morning view

view from longdrop/outhouse

actual sunrise

my sleeping boys

getting some mat time before going in the pack

getting ready to head out

before splitting ways with liz and pete

it was quite windy up there


the lead runner in the trail race

mt.cook in the distance





the end

Yesterday we got back from an overnight tramp on the Croesus track over towards the west coast with liz, Pete, Mike, myself and our boy. He was fantastic little tramper and only got kind of scratchy when he had been in the pack for hours on end--fair enough. The weather was great and the track wasn't too hard but I haven't done much exercise recently and with a 16 lb. boy on my back, I was feeling it,but it felt soooo good to be out moving my muscles.

The first day we walked up a slow incline through forest for about 4 hours until we reached the hut. We had to take a break along the track to get the boy dressed up in some warmer clothes and once he was bundled he fell asleep.The last 15 minutes we emerged from the treeline to a beautiful view of the valley below. The hut sleeps 16 and once we arrived it was full up. We didn't get up until about 9PM so people seemed a bit surprised to see us rock up with a baby so late. Mike cooked us up some yummy pasta and we got into bed. He slept between me and Mike and only made a few little cries in the night that I quickly hushed with some feeding :) He made no more noise, in fact less, than some other snorers in the hut. Well done boy.

I went outside around 5:30AM to take a picture of the bright sunrise and noticed that there was also an amazing view from the longdrop (outhouse). We had our breakfast and packed up for the descent. Mike and I were taking the boy down the other side of the mountain and liz and Pete went down the same way and drove around to get us. The hike down towards Barrytown follows the ridge line of the mountains before heading into the treeline. The views really were spectacular and the pictures don't do it justice but we could see all the way to Mt. Cook (NZ's highest mountain), the green valleys to the east, and the beaches of the west coast. It felt like we were on top of the world.

There was also a trail race going on so we were passed by about 100 runners on their way down to where we started the track. Some of them running what it took us 10 hours to walk in 3 hours. I thought I might want to run the race too someday until I spent the 3 + hours going down some pretty steep zig zags in the forest. My quads were so tired by the end, they were shaking. Our boy actually slept most of the 6 hours and only got a bit fed up towards the end. I found that he would quiet down a bit when I sang so I ran through my repertoire which I realized is not very extensive. The winner, Guns n Roses, "Paradise City"--I didn't know I knew the guitar and drum solos so well. Pretty much sang it at the top of my lungs and it was probably shock of my Axel impersonation that kept him quiet.

It also feels so good to get the pack and boots off after a big walk. We stopped by Punakaiki--cool rock formations on the oceans and then drove the 3 + hours back to ChCh along the beautiful Buller river through the Lewis Pass onwards. Dad, you would really like to ride a motorcycle along this road; it would be perfect.

I had such a good time and our boy is just so easy. I feel lucky to be part of a family who really get out and enjoy each other and this beautiful country. They have so many stories and it is exciting that our little family has begun to create our own history of adventures together. This was a good warm up to this weekend where we are doing a 4 day walk up in the North of the Island.