In the Marlborough Sounds

The heavy ferry cruises peacefully on the dark waters of the fjord that marks the entrance of the South Island. Dense brownish smoke follows its trail, obscuring the sky of the eerie twilight while the low growl of the massive engine resonates in our ears. We step on south island ground at 22:00, at Picton harbour. Soon we doze into deep sleep, listening to the thundering cicada songs under the green canvas roof of our home-tent.

Marlborough Sounds

Only freshly arrived, we are already back on the side of the road, thumbs up with the ambitious project to go exploring a quite remote area: the Marlborough Sounds !
Abraham, a young local farmer, gives us our first ride since our hitchhicking trip in Australia. He drives us up the winding Queen Charlotte Drive and drops us at the crossroads from where we have a chance to get to the Sounds. Not much traffic here. And even less car stopping. A bloke on a bike driving passed us shouts an amused « good luck, guys!” Now we know what to expect!

But it must be a lucky day. Fifteen minutes later, we are picked up for 40km by a nice British couple enjoying their wedding anniversary weekend! From the car, we discover the wonderful scenery of the Sounds and their sparkling emerald-green waters. The Brits drop us nearby a small campsite, but the sun is still high in the sky so we decide to continue our adventure further north, deeper into the Sounds. Patrick, another guy from England, displaying terrible sunburns on both of his legs, brings us to the campsite where we initially wanted to stay.
As we watch the car drive off, we realise that the campground is overcrowded with tourists! Where do they all come from?? The next campsite is two kilometres away; let’s walk there! Anyway, there is absolutely no car passing through. We don’t have much choice…

The walk gives us the opportunity to fully appreciate the beauty of the Sounds. The water is especially amazing. Such a blue! A milky, nearly green colour, covered with thousands of silvery light reflections captured by the rippled surface… The wonderful smells and the louder-than-ever cicadas add to the magic of the moment!
After a time walking under the heavy New Zealander sun, we are sweating profusely, completely ruining the efforts of yesterday’s shower!! Those two kilometres seam to never end and our backpacks seam to weight tons!!! We are largely rewarded when we reach the campsite. We set our tent under the trees along a fantastic turquoise bay. Shells and strangely shaped pebbles coming from old fossilized trees cover the quiet beach.

En route to Nelson

On the morning, we walk back the way we just came yesterday. A fine drizzle turning quickly to heavy rain quenches us from head to toe! And there is absolutely no traffic whatsoever! Dripping, we finally manage to reach the crowded campsite from yesterday. That’s where we meet Rochelle and Dan, an awesome young English couple living in Christchurch. They kindly bring us back, wet and smelly, to civilisation. On the way, they propose us to visit them in Christchurch when we will be passing there! Amazing!
They drop us in Havelock, the mussel capital. We didn’t even start to hitchhike when a car pull over to pick us up! A chatty old bloke with a strong kiwi accent brings us all the way to Nelson. We settle down in a nice backpacker hostel for the night, to plan our next adventure on the Abel Tasman costal walk!!!

Cheers

Tintin & Riette

Tips :

In Picton :

• Have a look at Murray’s shop, Brereton Blue Pearls, to discover his fabulous work on abalony pearls, and learn more about the farming of those mother-of-pearl jewels.

Hitchhiking into the Sounds :

• From Picton, place yourself on the begining of Queen Charlotte Drive (SH1), and put your thumb up after the roundabout. The car are not going fast, and there is enough room to pull over in security. Around 40km further, Penepuru Rd, the road going deep into the sounds will cross Queen Charlotte Drive. Wait next to the tourist sign, all the cars going that way are going into the sounds.

Sleep into the Marlborough Sounds :

• There is 2 DOC campsites half way to the end of the sounds, just before, and just after Portage, in Picnic Bay and Nikau Cove.

Randonner dans les Sounds :

• To discover the Marlborough Sounds, the best option is probably the Queen Charlotte Track. 70km on foot through the wonderfull sceneries that the area can offer to you.
  Water taxis can drive you back to Picton from the end of the track.
  Queen Charlotte Track goes through private lands, so you’ll have to pay a 10$ permit to hike on it.
• A lot of short walks, or day walk can be done to discover the Sounds without going on a several days trek. More informations : http://www.qctrack.co.nz/day-walks/