The Queen Charlotte track is stunning. Hugging the shoreline or climbing over headlands you move along the peninsula through temperate rain forest, full of ferns and flightless birds (that are extremely cheeky and will go to considerable ends to try to steel your lunch!).After a mere 3 hours or so I arrived at Furneaux Lodge (http://www.furneaux.co.nz/), which is charming and marvelously situated. I am staying in a "single backpacker style" room, called "the Possum's Nest", there being no campsite here. So, for a night, the opulence of sheets and a mattress! The name incidentally is a triumph of marketing over reality.
Better still, Cougar Lines had dropped my backpack off at the lodge, so I have everything I need here but only needed to carry the blue cheese and red wine etc for my lunch.
The day has been in the low twenties and cloudless, which has shown off the dramatic scenery. On arrival, I had a refreshing swim around the bay before retiring to the bar....I was glad to catch-up with my Canadian dinner companions of last night, Marian, Barbara, Scott and Keith on arriving at the lodge. They soon after departed for Picton on the 3 pm boat. Keith and Mariam are regularly in England, so there may be an opportunity to get to know them better.
I shall shortly have a wander around the environs before eating.
Tomorrow morning, as it is a relatively short tramp to Camp Cove, where I shall be camping (in the tented sense), I plan to kayak for an hour or two.
I am disappointed by the lack of "encouraging" (or any) comments from my vast readership, and look forward to hearing from you...
4 comments:
a
hi guy
i am really sorry for lack of comments but i have been trying for ages to email you but everytime i tried it kept crashing. in the end i sent you an email to your home address in the hope you would pick it up.
however,i have just found out how to add a comment but it comes up as 'anonymous'! (the 'a' is a test by me)
i have been reading all your enteries and am very jealous as it sounds fantastic. am looking forward to seeing all your pics.
england are doing badly in the both the rugby and cricket :-(
its freeeezing and snowing here!
Am off to istanbul on wednesday.:-)
take care
saba
x
G'day sport. If this hits the blog then it is a triumph of probability over stupidity.
Great to hear about your journey. The climbing, river crossing, elevated lake, the scenery and wildlife. Keep the descriptions coming!
I particularly like the "sherpa" arrangement with your pack. I'll think on that for Scotland. Maybe we can have a chopper dump them on the first Munro, along with table and chairs ?
Scotland is set bar the tickets, which Scotrail have yet to sell me. We are you and me, Geoff, Ian, Nick, Simon, Alasdair, and Craig.
Enjoy the kayak and walk safely. Best wishes. Stephen.
Hi Guy - nice to catch up on your blog. Looks like you enjoyed the tramp through Queen Charlotte Sound. Sorry we diod not have time for that glass of wwine.
We are finishig our second day in Wellington and leave tomorow for Lake Taupo. Hope your remaining time is very enjoyable. We enjoyed meeting you in Picton and spending dinner with you. We have less than three weks left in our trip before we return to Canada. We will touch base again in a few days after we finish our tramping in Taupo.
All the best from your new Canadian friends
Keith ( for Marian, Barb and Scott)
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