Queen Charlotte Track - Day 3

It was another hot day, and this part of the hike was exposed. We went through another saddle and the climb back onto the ridge was quite tiring. But after that, the rest of the day was mostly downhill.

We passed some fragrant Mahuka shrubs. They are white flowers from which NZ makes its famous Mahuka honey.

We had planned to finish the hike and leave the park that day. Instead, we decided to stay one more night at the finish. That way it would be less rushed and we could swim during the heat of the following day. By the time we finished it was already cooling down. We had some drinks at a restaurant at the edge of the water and enjoyed the sunset.

The following day, we loaded our stuff into Sonny and Anna's convertible. They had been allowed to borrow it from their WWOOF'ing host. We drove the windy coast, with the top down, singing Abba!

Back at the start, our van was still waiting for us. We jumped into the water from a large dock and lounged on a small floating platform. It was great. We cleaned up our gear and went our separate ways again. It had been nice doing the trip together.Read more