Roadtrip Part Two: Marlborough Sound

OK – I need to tell you about my trip. It lasted 10 days. I'm taking a cue from Kristin and writing this in parts so as to give full attention to each aspect.

PART TWO: MARLBOROGH SOUND

Picking up from where I left off, in Kaikoura….

We had to leave Kaikoura a few hours after we finished up with the dolphin encounters (though we did sneak in some serious shopping first!) Check out this cool mural on the side of one store in Kaikoura:

We drove then another couple of hours up to Picton, where we stayed in a cabin at a cute little holiday park with funny kiwi-paintings to make sure we understood what different rooms were for.

At this holiday park I had my first ever experience with coin-operated internet. $1 per 10 mins. Now I have a better idea of how much time is wasted online daily. Ten minutes goes by FAST when you’re paying by the minute!

For our time in Picton, we planned to take full advantage of the gorgeous Queen Charlotte Sound. We took a water taxi to nearly the mouth of the sound (about an hour boat ride) and were deposited at Ship Cover to begin a 15km (9.3 mile) leg of the Queen Charlotte tramping track. Naturally, we started out very motivated. The first leg was quite a steady, moderately steep ascent to the top of the first saddle. Once we reached the top, we had an excellent view of the sound. We also enjoyed the sunshine and well-packed track, edged by tree ferns and palms.

A view of the Queen Charlotte Track.

About halfway through, we came to a small stream crossing…not a big deal, really. But, because I’m like the paparazzi, I wanted to document Kristin’s stream crossing. I whipped out my camera and snapped a pic of her hopping across. Then, I stumbled, or something. I dropped my camera right smack into the mud. Thereafter, my beautiful Canon camera, that AP gave me as a going away/Christmas gift, that I cherished and used almost weekly since arriving, that was the most important accessory I possessed on the trip…was broken. It wouldn’t turn on. I felt crushed! How was I supposed to enjoy nature without looking at it through a lens?! (besides the obvious way of using my eyes, duh). Part of the fun of traveling for me is trying to take the best picture I can manage so I can relive my feelings and thoughts later when I look at the pictures. Having my camera broken made me feel like I’d just lost the ability to function as a tourist. After trying unsuccessfully to resurrect the camera, I grudgingly put it away, and trudged forth. With somewhere around 4 miles left to go, I was not a happy camper. It seemed like every view we came to was picture-perfect. I watched as Kristin and Mike happily snapped their cameras at nature’s wonders.

Kristin took this picture from somewhere along the QC-track.

Ooh. Just before I realized how much my camera was damaged. Still hamming it up.

Meanwhile, I grew more and more sullen. On top of my general demeanor degradation, my (theoretically awesome) hiking boots were rubbing me raw. Blisters had started forming within the first mile of our trek and, if they weren’t bothering me before, they sure as hell were now that I didn’t have the camera to distract me. Luckily, I had packed my Asics running shoes…for just such an emergency. You see, someone with hobbit feet such as mine can never have too many footwear options. Truth. I completed the hike wearing running shoes! They felt like heaven for feet!! We were supposed to have 5 hours to complete our track, with the average Joe taking around 4 or so. We took 4 and a half, roughly, but had to hustle because after calculating a bit, we realized that the morning boat had dropped us off about a half hour late. We made it to our destination with about 5 minutes to spare, downed some beer, and hopped on our boat. We all slept quite well that night!

The next day we went sea kayaking on Queen Charlotte Sound. It was an overcast day, but still gorgeous for paddling. Not too warm! We paddled about 6km of the sound and just enjoyed the day.

Our guide, Paul, and I paddling along.

We finished our kayaking trip around noon and commenced with hitting up Marlborough Sounds wine country before heading to stay the night with Kristin’s friend, Deanna, in Nelson. The Marlborough region is really well known for its white wines, particularly sauvignon blanc (which, after many, many tastings, I have concluded is my favorite). I was the driver, so I only did tastings at about every third vineyard. Some had neat cellars.

From wine country, we continued on to Nelson, where we stayed with Deanna and Matt, who cooked us amazingly delicious food. We all drove several hours the next day to stay at a holiday home, or “bach” (pronounced batch) near Golden Bay. That also happened to be my birthday! We had wine, cake, and homemade pizza. Our bach was really neat, too. It had a sod layer on the roof and straw in the walls. We had a pretty relaxing time playing on the beach, exploring beautiful places, and drinking our delicious wine selections.

Myself, Kristin, and Deanna enjoying a late afternoon on the beach.

That concludes Part Two!

The next installment will be Part Three: Down the West Coast...which I will get to soon(ish). I hope