After our stay near Golden Bay, we had a couple of days to drive about 4 hours and get ourselves provisioned and organized for our 5-day tramp on the Queen Charlotte Track. Our route took us (you guessed it) over some mountains then along the coast to Nelson, then across more mountains to Picton. Despite the less than spectacular weather, we managed to get in a couple of short outings along the way. The little waterfront town of Mapau provided the obligatory bakery refresh, as well as a short walk to stretch the legs. Past Nelson, we found a beautiful little spot called Cable Bay, which included a short steep hike through pastures up to some very nice views. Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve is a popular swimming hole for the locals, but not so on a drizzly fall day. On the plus side, we enjoyed a short walk through the native lowland forest in solitude! Approaching Picton, we were hugging the coast, providing nice views of the Marlborough Sounds and a couple more opportunities to stretch our legs.
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| Cable Bay |
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| An old Cable Bay resident |
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| Pelorus River in Pelorus Bridge Scenic Area |
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| Competing InterIsland Ferries in Picton. One is run by the government. The other by a trucking company tired of delays and high prices. |
Over these couple of days, weather reports were suggesting that the remnants of Cyclone Debbie, which had hit Australia a week before, was headed our way. As our tramp approached, it became increasingly clear that significant rainfall was expected, and it was aligned with the first day of our tramp. We got ourselves ready to go, but after listening to the rain pound all night, then observing its intensity in the morning, we couldn't bring ourselves to start off in such a deluge. Fortunately, things in New Zealand are very flexible, so we rearranged our tramp a bit to cut off the first day and night. And hunkered down in the dry hotel room. During a minor let up in the rain, we ventured out for a meal before a visit to the Edwin Fox Museum. It wouldn't have been our first choice, but was about the only game in town, and we were going a bit stir crazy. The museum documents the life of a wooden merchant ship built in the 1850's. The climax of the visit was a walk around the preserved hull. Pretty exciting!
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| Video of torrential rain in Picton (from our hotel balcony) |
Activities
- Walk around Mapau
- Hike Cable Bay Walkway on hillside
- Part of the Circle Walk in Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve
- Hike to Cullen Point Lookout
- Walk around Momorangi Bay park
- Visit Edwin Fox Museum (Picton)
5-Star Moments
- None, unfortunately. The goodies at Mapau Bakery were close, though!
Tom's Daily Stress Points
- Will it rain on our tramp? Will it be tolerable or miserable? Should we stay or should we go? (stress level = medium)
Sleeps
- Nelson: A Woodsy Inn (very cool old house, B&B)
- Picton: Harborview Motel (modern, comfortable)
Noteable Eats
- Mapau: Mapau Bakery (very good pastries)
- Nelson: Paasha (excellent kabobs)
- Nelson: Swedish Bakery Cafe (very good pastries)
- Picton: Le Cafe (very good)
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