Picton

We travelled back to the north of the island, so we could spend some time walking around the Sounds and to have a look at Picton. It is a most beautiful busy little town nestled in at the end of Queen Charlotte Sound and is the gateway to the South Island, from Wellington on the North Island, by ferry. We saw several ferries about to leave for the north island loaded with camper vans mainly.
We tried the award winning pie shop fare (hotly recommended in Lonely Planet guide), which was very good, and around the corner was a shop called Lattitude 41. There are many pie shops in NZ but this was the first we had tasted on our travels. really good!!
We are staying at a farm called Smiths Farm Holiday Park, and the camping site is surrounded by sheep and cattle. Free home made muffins on arrival, which were delicious and a bag of feed for us to feed to the goats and pigs.
The lady in charge here was very helpful and advised us of a short walk over their land and up through the woods to a waterfall. We fed the sheep, goats and pigs on the way which we did at nightfall as glow worms could be seen at night in the woods. The waterfall has been reduced to a small flow due to drought conditions over here. Whilst we waited for darkness a possum crept out in front of us and crept silently along the waterway. The glow worms on the return journey were quite spectacular, but as it was dark by this point the walk needed care and attention, as the ground was uneven to say the least.
The next day we drove the short distance to Awakiwa, which is at the southern end of the Queen Charlotte Track. We walked for two hours through the forest to some spectacular view points overlooking the Fjord - a much softer landscape than in the south west.
On the way back we stopped for a dip in the sea and a read of our books for an hour or so in the blazing sunshine.Read more