New Zealand – 21st Nov 2008 - Day 29

The alarm buzzed at 6.30, so we could wake up, have breakfast and get down to the Water Taxi for 7.30am to catch the 8.00am boat to Punga. We arrived on time, checked in and waited for our boat. We had been told we would get to Punga for 8.45. However, the skipper said we would not get their until 9.30. We had hoped to start earlier as the hike today is expected to take at least 8 hours. The water taxi was just about to set off when John felt water under his bottom. A bottle of water in one of our back packs has leaked all over the pack and onto the seat. We had to empty the pack and then try and dry it out in the wind as we flew to Punga.

The boat did not arrive at the Punga Lodge until 9.45. We set off pronto, hoping we could make up some time. The weather was perfect with blue skies and a strong breeze. We found the directions from Punga Lodge to the Queen Charlotte Track almost non existent and we had to back track a bit in order to find the start, putting us back even further.

Once on the track he hit it hard. Wow, this is challenging walking. For the first three hours it was almost all up steep hills. The views were stunning but the climbs were so exhausting. After four hours we were beginning to tire. Still the views and weather kept us in good spirits and we kept meeting other walkers who agreed it was a hard hike.



Hours five and six were painful. We left a place called Portage heading for Lochmara bay and the track was almost vertical for two hours. At the end of this section we could hardly talk to each other and were dripping with sweat. We had not expected this to be so hard and we had now run out of water. We eventually came across the sign to our Lodge. We had another hour of hiking to get to the Lodge, but at least it was down hill. It seemed to take for ever to reach the lodge. We booked in and went straight to the bar to rehydrate. The walk had taken 7.5 hours which was apparently a very good time, according to the Lodge staff.

The sun was still out, so we flopped into the sun beds and had a cold drink. We also met a lady w had met when we had kayaked here a few days previously.

We had a shower and flopped into bed, falling fast asleep until 7.20. We had booked into the restaurant for 7.30. Our meal was very good ,we both had steak. As we ate a large group of people arrived by sea boat for a social evening at the lodge. They had some TV chap presenting a motivational talk. We were just too tired, so we hit the sack at 8.30. What a wonderful day of breathtaking views and hard hiking.