Back To New Zealand

I told you I would post again real soon. So my trip to NZ was short but fun. I started off by spending a couple days getting my stuff together. I then needed a plan. That plan ended up being hitching to Picton to hike the Queen Charlot Track (QCT). This involved a water taxi to get to the start, 3 days to hike the 71km trail, and a water taxi back.

While in Picton I ran into my friend Buttercup from the ice. His original plan was to hike the trail in 5 days. I planned on two. Long story short after three days Buttercup and I spent the night out on the town in Picton with new friends we met along the way. It was a lot of walking, but worth it.

Both from the water taxi and from the mountain tops we could see dolphins playing in the bay below. The first night I slept in my bivy sack but didn't have a ground pad and froze. The next night I slept in the tent with Buttercup and on top of my pack and it was much better. One great feature of the track that I didn't take advantage of is that the water taxi will stop off at each campground/resort and pick up/ drop off packs each day. So most people hiking didn't carry a real backpack.

The last day it rained really hard and the trail was muddy. However I made it out and back to town to get cleaned up. I had to make sure I was out in time to meet the water taxi or I was going to spend an extra night out.

I met two Irish girls along the way. They were very amusing. The second half of the trail they hired (rented) bikes. However with the rain on the last day, they ended at the dock covered in mud.

After leaving Picton I had an interesting ride home with a guy that couldn't pay for his own gas (we were stuck at the gas station for an hour). I then went through the PQ process that was all set up and paid for my Raytheon. For the most part it was quick and easy, but did have a little trouble with the blood test (story for later).