Queen Charlotte Track Walk
December 18th - 21st
 
My first adventure in the south island was walking the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds.  There are two more popular tracks in the south island (both of them shorter, in fact), but they're very crowded during the summer and you need a reservation to walk them.  I didn't feel like walking in a crowd was a good use of my time, so I chose this option.  I'm glad I did because I enjoyed every moment of it.  I did my walk through a package where they arranged my accommodations, provided me with a packed lunch and maps and transported my pack each day to my next lodging.  Pretty nice deal, if you ask me.  Most people do the track in this way - or similarly, making arrangements for themselves.  Hauling your pack on this track would be quite a chore, that's for sure. 

The track is 71km long (approx. 44 miles) and provides beautiful views of the sounds along the way.  I took the 4 day option. 

Queen Charlotte Track - overview
Day 1
Ship Cove to Furneaux Lodge
14 km (~8 miles), 4.5 hours
Day 2
Furneaux Lodge to Punga Cove Resort
12km (~7 miles), 4 hours
Day 3
Punga Cove Resort to Portage Hotel
20km (~12 miles), 6 hours
Day 4
Portage Hotel to Anakiwa
20km (~12 miles), 6 hours

NOTE:  The distances listed here are from the travel company and must be approximate.  They a.) don't add up to 71km and b.) didn't match the distance markers along the track.  For one thing, I'm positive that Day 3 was longer than 20km and Day 2 was definitely under 12km.

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