Day Five - the final day!

Looking down on Mistletoe Bay

The last 13 kilometers of the Queen Charlotte Track today! And it's the first day that we have any kind of a deadline. We are headed to Anakiwa, where we will catch the water taxi back to Picton at 3:30. Something tells me that we will be able to make it.


Really?! Over so soon? It seems like we've been on the trail forever and yet only just started. Maybe that is because this is just the beginning of our tramping, or possibly glamping, adventures.

The track is mellow today, mainly walking through undulating farmland with just a bit of native forest to give us a send off. It no longer feels like we are hiking in a remote place as little bits of civilization are ever more present - boats whizzing by, holiday houses and farm animals. The hills are no higher than our own Mount Maunganui at home so it's pretty easy. We catch up with some of the other hikers along the way and enjoy the relaxed pace. Apart from Clara's bee sting it was a perfectly peaceful way to end our big hike.

Spontaneous sister love - my favorite picture from the track

The end of the track!

By the time we reached Anakiwa we could feel the 70 kilometers in our legs and I was very happy to sit in the shade by the dock and rest my legs while the kids jumped off the water taxi jetty.

The Queen Charlotte Track has been a fantastic experience on many different levels. It has cemented in my mind that the greater outdoors are accessible and fun with a bunch of children. It has reconnected our family to the natural beauty of our country of New Zealand. It has given us all a space in which to breath, relax, joke, stretch and grow together away from the busy-ness of life. And it is has left us with memories that will last a lifetime.