After 3 1/2 days of tramping through the Marlborough Sounds, I am now sitting at Hopewell, a gorgeous little hostel on the banks of Kenepuru Sound. The sounds in general are absolutely stunning, and the weather has been amazing.

The Queen Charlotte Track was well worth the blisters and exhaustion that came with it. We were all treated to nearly cloudless skies on the first two days, which made it quite hot but also made the sounds sparkle. They are such a brilliant blue, with turquoise around the rocky beaches. The panoramas made every long uphill worth it–and believe me, there were quite a few! Right out of Ship Cove, which is a historic site where Captain Cook first landed on the South Island, the track climbs pretty steeply for 30 minutes; the next major climb takes place on the third day, which is a 7- to 8-hour marathon of uphills and downhills. The worst definitely had to be the 4th day, which I only did half of, but I had to carry my full pack (on the other days, the water taxi that took me to the beginning delivered my pack to my stopping point for the night). I quickly realized on the 45-minute climb out of the campsite that I need to lose about 10 pounds from my pack. Either that, or it will eventually get thrown off a cliff like I was seriously contemplating doing yesterday.

The accommodation on the Queen Charlotte is quite different from other tracks. Instead of Department of Conservation huts, there’s private hostels and resorts at every stop, along with a few campsites. The first night I stayed in a normal dorm room with a few over the sound (and a great hammock just outside), the second night I ended up staying in a caravan at the wonderful Mahana Lodge (since the campsite at Camp Bay looked like it might not have any other people in it for the night and I didn’t really want to be alone!) and the third I camped at Cowshed Bay, which was good once I figured out how to pitch my tent (with the help of 3 other people)!I met some really great people on the track as well. You get to know the people that started the track on your day pretty well since you either end up walking with them or passing them many times during the day–and then the best part is having a cold drink and hot dinner at the end with them! I know people were worried about me hiking into the wilderness for 5 days on my own, but I definitely wasn’t. All in all, a great experience, and I’ll definitely be doing other tracks, starting with the Abel Tasman that I’ll probably get to some time next week (if it’s not all booked up)!

I’m about to go kayaking on the sound (I know, hard life). I really love this place and I’m glad I chose to spend a couple days resting up here. Unfortunately, I can’t post many pictures yet, since there’s only a dial-up connection here, but I’ve managed to upload one of the Queen Charlotte so you can see how beautiful it is!