On the right track

'Cause each step's indispensable when you're on the right track

'Cause each step's indispensable 

I was met off the ferry in Picton by Shane, one of my next hosts. As we drove up to the house (which was called Gaybles) we chatted about my travels as he had only found out about my blog a couple of days before. He had found the Facebook page and had been worried about the references to Dean as he had thought he was agreeing to host just one person. I reassured him that Dean, given he was a two inch tall plastic toy, wouldn’t take up too much space and that he usually stayed in my bag so wouldn’t need an extra bed. Once at the house I was introduced to Damien, Shane’s husband, and the four dogs.

They asked me if I had eaten dinner and I explained that I had eaten plenty (and drunk plenty) on the ferry on the way over and that I didn’t need any more food. While they had dinner I settled myself into my room and flicked through some of the leaflets for local activities, looking for something to do the following day. I wanted to make sure I made the most of the full day I had exploring the beautiful countryside that was on the doorstep. I asked the boys if they had any recommendations and told them I liked the look of a kayaking trip. They told me that the kayaking was good fun and that the weather was supposed to be good the following day. The other option they suggested was a boat trip out to Ship Cove and then hiking the Queen Charlotte track, which would give me some great views of the Queen Charlotte Sound. I called the kayaking place but they must have gone home for the night so I left a message and a contact number. My evening was rounded off with the three of us enjoying a bottle of wine while relaxing in the hot tub. The clean air, cold wine and hot water soon had me feeling sleepy so said goodnight to the boys and headed to bed.

When I woke the next morning and hadn’t heard back from the kayaking place I decided to go with Plan B and booked on to the boat trip and Queen Charlotte Track hike. I could book that online so I got my computer out and booked. I had a response within minutes of making my booking. They had emailed to check that I had meant to book on to the cruise for today as it was only an hour until it departed. I said yes and that I would be at the harbour within the half hour. Damien dropped me off on his way to work and I headed in to the office to pay for the trip. I chatted to the woman who had emailed me back. She asked me if it was just me. I said it was and she took my payment. I had enough time to pop across the road and grab a coffee and muffin to take with me. As we boarded the boat a different woman was checking the passengers off on her list as we boarded. I handed over my ticket. “Are you on your own?” she asked. For the second time in less than half an hour I explained that yes, I was on my own. I suddenly felt very single. I wondered whether there was a skewed ratio of women to men in Picton so that the arrival of a single man generated a disproportionate amount of excitement amongst the Picton women.

When you're on the right track

As we sailed out of Picton the clouds cleared and the sun came out. It made for a great little crossing over to Ship Cove. Our boat driver gave us some of the history of the place and then those of us who were off on the hike disembarked. We had just over 4 and a half hours to cover the 15km of the Queen Charlotte track before the boat would collect us. My fellow hikers, all couples, set off on the hike. I had company too in the form of Sandi Toksvig on my iPod as I was listening to my back catalogue of podcasts of The News Quiz. I was pleased that there were only a few of us on the walk and there was nobody near me as I must have looked like a bit of a nutter walking along on my own laughing out loud every now and again. I hoped that the route was well sign-posted as I didn’t want to get lost. There was only one path however so it was easy to stay on the right track. The hike was a little challenging, there were some quite steep hills and they were muddy but I made good progress and settled in to the walk.

There was a picnic spot at the top of one of the hills about half way along and I stopped there for a bite to eat. I watched a French couple sat on the bench next to me leave their picnic unattended for a moment during which time the local wildlife pounced, a Weka bird running off with a big hunk of bread. There was a lot of swearing and shouting in French. I’m not sure the bird understood as it came back to have another go at the picnic. I assume it was trying to get something to put in the bread and make a sandwich.

At the end of the trail was the Furneaux Lodge. I had some time to kill before the boat was due to collect me so I sat on the decking with a cold beer, purely for rehydration purposes. I sat for a while writing a few postcards while finishing off my second beer. The rest of the walkers slowly returned too, most enjoying a drink on the deck. We headed down to the dock having seen the boat come round the headland and we were soon on our way back to Picton.  As we approached the harbour in Picton we were joined by a couple of dolphins. I managed to get one decent photo before the battery on my camera died. I walked back up to the house in time to shower and change before heading back in to town with Shane and Damien for dinner. It was a nice evening and we got a table outside Le Café, a great little place where I had an amazing goat curry. After dinner we headed back to the house where we once again finished off our evening with a glass of wine in the hot tub.

After a great night’s sleep I woke the following morning and was pleasantly stiff (in the legs, from the hike of the previous day). I got out of bed and got myself mobile, getting myself ready and packing my case ready to depart. Damien was headed off to work early so I said goodbye and thank you to him before Shane gave me a lift into town. Shane dropped me at the bus stop and I said goodbye and thanks to him for everything too. The bus to my next stop, Nelson, was waiting and I climbed aboard.

“'Cause each step's indispensable when you're on the right track” 
Lyrics from On the right track from the musical Pippin