QCT: The Final Day

On Monday (Waitangi Day), I awoke to beautiful weather after a great night’s rest in Lochmara’s amazingly comfortable bed. I enjoyed a breakfast of fresh fish hash and eggs on the restaurant porch overlooking Lochmara Bay while I contemplated the day ahead of me. Just like DeBrett’s, it was hard to part with this magical spot, but I had to make it to the end of the track by 3:00 pm to catch my water taxi back to Picton, where I would then catch a ferry back to Wellington. I had about eight or nine miles left to go, so I headed up the winding path out of Lochmara and towards the QCT.

Views. Enough said.

I had plenty of time to reach Anakiwa, the small town at the end of the track, so I was able to take my time for a lot of the trek.

This portion of the track was the most varied, with a lot of farmland and dense forest punctuated by wetland and outstanding views. The cicadas were out in full force and I often had to hustle through swarms of them, occasionally feeling them collide with my face. Yuck. While their cacophony wasn’t my idea of great hiking music, the scenery made it easy to tune out.

I always love a good boardwalk, too (and I don’t mean the Jersey Shore/Hampton Beach type).

New Zealand has some great plam trees.

One minute, you feel like you’re deep in the jungle, and the next, you get a pastoral scene like this:

I wonder if the livestock know how lucky they are.

I passed quite a few people on the last day. Many of them were finishing after having done the entire track or doing day walks in the other direction from Anakiwa.

The color of the water became increasingly surreal as the track wound down towards the coast.

The next portion of the track was a descent through the forest. Parts of it reminded me of the woods back home, except for when I caught glimpses of the turqoise bay through breaks in the trees.

I guess the palm trees don’t really scream “New England,” either.

Since I don’t want to bombard anyone with TOO many pictures in one post, I’m going to save the second half for another day. For now, I’ll leave you with this teaser of what’s to come.