CH-Weekend

Three CHs were part of my marvellous weekend: Nice CH-people, 2kg of CHeese and the 71 km long Queen CHarlotte Track.

When five food-orientated people go camping, the supermarket seems to be empty after our purchase and the classroom is full with bags up to the roof. 2 kg Pasta, 750 gr of Risotto, saffron for 10 dollars, dried mushrooms, Zuchetti, capsicum and parmeggiano were our ingredienta only for the two dinners. 15 apples, 12 bananas, about 50 müeslibars, four chocolates, 5 cookiebags, 1.5 kg carrots, 3 packages of crackers, bread, philadelphia, salami and finally 2 kg of cheese accompagnied our hiking trip to the Marlborough Sounds.

On Thursday afternoon, after having spent the morning in an old peoples' house we tried to leave Nelson by car. Well let's emphasise 'tried'. After picking up the rental car we wanted to put all our baggage into the car. Unfortunately the boot couldn't be closed anymore. Therefore a man from the car enterprise had to come, but he was not able to repare it and so we made an extra round to the garage. With 1.5 hour of delay we finally set off for Picton.

In Picton we checked in for the hostel and went off for a very nice pizza. As we knew that we had to get up quite early in the morning to catch the watertaxi, we went to bed by time, but nobody really had a deep sleep. In the morning we went down to the harbour where we could drop off our camping equipment and where we took the watertaxi to shipcove, the furthest point of the sounds. 

At 9.15 our hiking adventure started and we set off for 71 km. The first day was not that far amd we already arrived at 5 pm at our campsite. I guess we were quite fast because of the rain. Fortunately the weather got better to build up our tents and to cook our wonderful pasta. 

Camping means having a nice atmosphere. Especially that evening, when we were sitting at the table and listening to unbelievable stories  of other travellers. And first in my life I experienced what it means when somebody says: 'den sternen nah'. This starry night at camp bay campsite was really impressive. 

The next morning we set off at 8.30 for the hardest part of the track. First of all we had to walk up for about 1.5 hour but once we had reached the top of the hills, every effort was worth: what a view. One the one side views similar to Switzerland and on the other side just... PARADISE! 

Even if we enjoyed paradise, our feet and knees didn't feel like that. Everyone of us was relieved when we finally reached Cowshed Bay campsite where we went for a short swim and built up our tents once again. What comes next was jus delicious: we prepared the most deserves and the best risotto on a campingcooker ever! What a treat :) 

Already with a lot of blisters and other problems we started for the last 21 km on Sunday. Beautiful spots characterized our path until Anakiwa, the last part of Queen Charlotte Track. I was never so happy to take off my hiking shoes and I had never such bad, burst blisters.

It was an awesome weekend but we had to realise that one Kilogramm of cheese is far enough for 3 days. Moreover I once more noticed the openhearted attitude of Kiwis. We had a great time with people we just met on the way, something that would be completely impossible in Switzerland. 

Back in Picton we drove with the car home to Nelson. Happy being home safe and dry, it is extremely nice to step in my hours and be hugged by Grace with the words: 'Welcome back, Simone!'