We did the Queen Charlotte Track!

We are back in Picton at our same very nice hotel, no worse for wear except for some bug bites - Bill got stung by a NZ wasp, but took three benedryl and survived with no reaction (he is very allergic to US wasps) and I have three bites from ankle-biter-no-seeums from three days ago, which are still itching. We did very well on a very challenging track. We walked a total of about 32 miles in four days, stayed in excellent lodges with great food, and struggled over two ridges on the third day that were 400 meters above sea level, and we did walk up from sea level.

It was an incredible experience, one of those self-challenging things you do when you think you are getting old, and know very well that you are. The scenery was magnificent from the tops of the ridges, and I'll download some pictures tomorrow when we get to Wellington. We leave on the ferry at 10:00 a.m. We are doing laundry now, and planning on dinner and an early to-bed. Last night, we were in bed by 8:00 p.m. It's tough, you walk four -five hours, arrive at a great lodge, take a shower, drink some wine, eat a gourmet dinner, and go to bed. Get up and do it again. We are not of the camping generation.

I'll try to get the pictures off the camera tomorrow and catch you up. It was a great four days, and we earned the T-shirt, but there don't seem to be any available for purchase! I think someone should have been at Anakiwa with gold medals!

You can check out the Queen Charlotte Track on the internet. There are all the details there, but I will write more later.