A New Year
Where to begin?!!!!
The new year brought the sun, and it has continued since. Our little cabin in the hills, even more beautiful when the☀️ shines…
The views as the sun rose and set were incredible!!!!
We had taken Bananagrams, between that and our books, downtime was taken care of nicely. I have completed 2 novels so far on this trip, it is wonderful to be able to read uninterrupted.
Our little friend and her family were always around at mealtimes, looking for any leftovers 🙂
We awoke on the first of January to see the Spirit sailing into our cove (Endeavour), such a wonderful surprise,and a perfect way for us to greet the new year!
Once the anchor was put down, the kids rowed ashore in little boats, and then it sailed off again…
They apparently did a 5-hour hike that day to Ship Cove, and the ship picked them up at the other end. Luca said it was a really tough hike, and this is a kid used to hiking!
We did not go near, content with being able to see through the binoculars, it was good to see the ship in one piece after the rough weather, just knowing Luca was close was enough ❤️
The next day Rich and I made the most of the change in weather and hit the Queen Charlotte (QCT) for the rest of our time there. One day heading in one direction and the next in the other.
The first was toward Punga Cove…
In the above photo Rich has many large stingrays swimming around his feet! They quite happily swam with him; I just kept having images of Steve Irwin!!! I did go in for a swim, but not in this spot 🙂
Punga Cove has a cafe, we stopped for a coffee and hot chips before hitting the trail again. We were both feeling so happy and content!
It was a 16km hike that day, we celebrated with wine and cheese in the evening, watching the sun set.
It is fair to say we ate well the entire time; it was worth the effort of bringing it all in, without a doubt!
Some of our meals…. lamb chops, bacon and eggs and steak were the top 3 😊
The next hike took us in the other direction towards Furneaux Lodge.
Originally the family home of the Howden family, it now a Lodge.
In 1903 Mr Howden brought 1406 hectares of land in the cove and built the house. His foresight, insisting on preserving that patch of virgin native forest, and that of his son Harry, to make it a private scenic reserve in 1937 makes this section unique and utterly beautiful. The photos don’t do it justice. The way the sunlight filters through the trees is magical, you can feel how ancient this forest is.
After exploring up on past the Lodge, we returned and had a beer. Outrageously priced,(this is a high-end Lodge), but we splashed out and enjoyed anyway ❤️
On the 4th it was time to say farewell to our cabin in the woods and head back to Picton. The ride this time very scenic and enjoyable
Rich managed to get this shot of our cabin from the water, on the way out of Endeavour Cove…
Picton, was in all her glory. We sat in the park and watched the comings and goings, eating lunch, enjoying the ambience of people in holiday mode. That is the ferry that crosses to Wellington in the background.
Hitting the road again we headed back towards Havelock.
There was some exploring on the way including climbing this viewpoint, which turned out to be a little more challenging than expected but worth the view
That Mountain above Havelock village is Mt Takorika, intimidating, isn’t it? This was one of the reasons I wanted to go back to this area, to climb it,
and climb it we did, the next day though 🙂
Back in 1993 I did Outward Bound, it was a life changing experience for me, much like we hope the Spirit is for Luca. I knew it was around the Sounds somewhere, so we went looking for it. Turns out unbeknown to me, it sits right at the entrance to the Queen Charlotte Track at Anakiwa.
It brought back so many, many good memories for me.
Not long after doing this I left NZ and headed overseas alone, without Outward Bound, I do not think I would have had the confidence to do this. I was away 2 years that first time, but the bug got me, and I have spent most of my adult life living and travelling around the world,
We did a portion of the QCT while there, doing a little more than anticipated but it was just so lovely that we just kept walking!
Me in 1993…
Me in 2026…
We headed on to Havelock, arriving early evening. Our accommodation the “Rustic Nook”, the owners call it the “Hobbit House”, it is tiny and Rich’s head almost touches the ceiling, but it is cute, the bed is so comfortable and the outdoor area lovely!
The hike up Mt Takorika was an anticipated challenge, but oh so worth it! Rich and my legs are still in recovery mode though, it was the downhill that was the killer!
The viewpoint that we took the initial photo of Mt Takorika from looks so tiny in this photo, and it was a decent climb in itself!!!!
We took the “goat track” down, it was quite tricky! We are very glad we took the other side when we climbed up! It was however very pretty following the creek down, watching it getting wider and wider until it became a waterfall.
The next day we headed into Blenheim for a look around, it was a very hot day, so it was a gentle stroll around. It is a thriving little town with lots going on, especially with it being the height of tourist season. The main industry here is wine, there are grapevines for miles and miles!!!!!
Wednesday the 7th we were up super early, we wanted to be in Nelson by 8am to see Luca as he disembarked!
More on that in the next post….