Queen Charlotte Track

Katie and I have been in New Zealand for about 16 months and we have had a ball, we've done a lot of great things since coming here but since arriving we have actually not had a proper long-ish holiday where it's been just the two of us - sounds strange doesn't it? Every holiday we have had so far we've been really lucky to have had visitors from home or friends in NZ to share the adventures with - needless to say all of our holidays have been packed full and absolutely brilliant.

This time however we were on our own and it felt pretty nice, so we thought we would do something a bit different - and include some hard work and a splash of luxury along the way!

I would have been happy with four days of wine tours in Marlborough but Katie had the brainwave that we should cross the water again to the South Island but instead do a trek called the Queen Charlotte Track. The "spin" on it though was that instead of walking the 71km we thought we should attempt it on mountain bikes!

If you are interested in the history of the track then a good starting point would be

http://www.qctrack.co.nz/about/track_history.asp

If you just want the basics, it is at the very top of the South Island near Picton, the start is only accessible by boat and begins at Ship Cove where Captain Cook spent his most time here in New Zealand  - oh, and it covers 71km in total from Ship Cove to Anakiwa.

Stunning scenery everywhere, wildlife, great weather, it was everything we were looking for. But it was bloody hard work!

A view from the Interislander

Picton

Day 1   
Ship Cove to Endeavour Inlet 15km


We took the 8am Interislander to Picton, checked in with the Adventure company, dropped off our backpacks (which were to be delivered to our accommodation) and we picked up our bikes.

At 1.30 we got on the wee boat to take us to Ship Cove, arriving there at 3pm.

The plan was to cycle from there to Endeavour inlet - it was supposed to take 3 hours by bike and sun down was at 5.40pm so we were cutting it tight.

Now, if I was a betting man the odds were on that it would be me that would take the first tumble off the bike - however Katie fell first, traveling uphill she almost careered off the track. Heading for a very long drop she slammed on both breaks, tipped forwards and then backwards, falling onto some rocks - sympathetic as ever I ran over with the camera and took some photos. Damage report - a few bruises and a graze. (katie thumped me for taking photos ;o) only joking)

The abyss

Now, disaster number two happened just a short while later...and this time it was me. Going uphill and changing gears whilst powering the old pedals my chain snapped! At the start of the day they had asked us if we knew how to change a tyre ( which i do) but they didn't ask if I knew how to repair a chain (which I didn't) So there we are with daylight against us, a long way still to go and me not being able to pedal. Queue a lot of jogging with the bike and skateboarding-esque movements on the flat. I could of course still hurtle downhill - but we were running a bit late now. Here is me trying to work out how you fix a chain - whilst trying to pretend I was having a great time.

Here we are trying not to worry about not making it on time and just enjoying the solitude and scenery.

In the end we managed to make it just as the last light of the day disappeared and we arrived at our crazy accomodation called Endeavour resort.

I put a call in for a new bike to be sent by boat the next day and we settled down in the "luxury" TV lounge and watched a VHS video version of a Kiwi movie called Whale Rider. (yes, we remembered to rewind the video after use - those were the days eh?)

Here are some photos of our room....

I make the pasta feast

Katie rests her battered body

Day 2
Endeavour Inlet to Portage
35.5km


We had a very long day ahead of us today but we had to wait for the boat to arrive with my new bike.

When it arrived the fella said something about how to change gears - I laughed and said, "I bike in Wellington you know", he then said that perhaps I should use less horse power. These tree trunk legs, the trouble they cause with their powerful ways.

We got underway at 10.15am and we had to cover the distance before sun down so 6pm was our target again. It was once again going to be tight.

After the first 20 minutes however we suffered another incident that delayed us for a short period of time. Unfortunately on the track there are an awful lot of wasps and unfortunately for Katie one had become lodged between her back pack and herself. The little bugger decided to give her a sting and her already aching body took another hit.

Katie sees the funny side 

Bravely, Katie jumped back on the bike and we pushed on into the the mountains, heading for Portage and a hotel that promised to be a bit better than the previous nights accommodation. The thought of a nice dinner, a bottle of wine, a cooked breakfast and a hot shower kept us going through the very difficult uphill sections.

Very few photos were taken on this day as it was honestly non-stop and we had to get there before dark.

We got to the Portage Resort at 5pm which was a spectacular effort - especially after having to stop for 30 mins in Camp Bay for a bite to eat and a stretch. I think we were both close to chucking it after this - there were so many steep uphills where we had to get off the bike it wasn't much fun.

There was a private spa pool at our resort and our bags were waiting for us with a bottle of wine stashed in there for just such an occasion.

Day 3 - going absolutely nowhere!


Katie in her wisdom had always planned for day 3 to be a relaxing day - we had booked two nights at Portage which was absolutely what we needed. It was a very nice place to chill out.

We did very little but in the evening there was a free wine tasting and then we splashed out on a really expensive dinner - we had earned it though.

After dinner we went to the pub onsite and there was a pub quiz on - we were recruited into a team of posh old locals which was very funny. Katie and I managed to take them from last place after round 1 to 2nd place at the end. They were very grateful and invited us around for lunch the next day but, tempted as we were, we had the last bit of the track to complete.

Day 4
Portage to Anakiwa
20.5km


Everyone had told us that the last day was a really enjoyable cycle and that we would probably be able to stay on the bikes the whole way. We weren't too sure what to believe but in the end they were telling the truth and we had a great cycle for 4 hours to finish the track off.

What a great feeling to have finished it - we were both very tired but very happy. We had fish and chips for dinner and got on the Interislander again at Picton at 6pm - arriving back in Welly for just after 9pm. 

Needless to say we slept well last night! Back to work on Monday - booo!