After spending the previous 16 days in sunny, temperate weather in Australia and the South Island…read moreof New Zealand, the weather suddenly turned overcast and threatening rain when we arrived in Picton, New Zealand. As our cruise ship docked at Waimahara Pier at 7:00 am, we wondered whether any excursions would be canceled due to the threatening weather. Most of our fellow passengers had signed up for this and the five other outdoor activities a year earlier, so we would have been disappointed if we couldn't experience the trail. Well, the drizzle and dark clouds weren't severe enough to cancel the 5 various scheduled excursions to explore Picton, so we intrepidly boarded the shuttle bus to Picton Harbor to catch a launch to the Queen Charlotte Track for a hike in the natural, lush landscape. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the 45-mile-long Queen Charlotte Track by speedboat, one of New Zealand's leading hiking or walking tracks. Of course, because we could not hike the entire track during a cruise excursion, as it would probably take several days to complete, the excursion covered only about 2 miles, a 4-mile round trip. We anticipated hiking on uneven, unpaved trails with elevation changes, with fantastic views of the Marlborough Sounds, while learning about the native plants, flowers, trees, birds, animals, and insects. We could have gone farther than 2 miles in, but because of the weather and for the safety of others who weren't as prepared for the slippery, wet, and muddy conditions, our guide turned us back. Also, because our ship was scheduled to depart Picton by 2:30 pm, we returned to the harbor by noon. Our guide was very knowledgeable, vivacious, and uber-fit! She made our trail hiking a pleasure and offered her guiding services to us if we ever consider returning to Picton, since we discussed our "bucket list" wish to hike the 33-mile Milford Track at Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park. I'd recommend hiking this trail to most fitness and experience levels but, I'll not sugarcoat the experience because there are parts of this trail where it becomes quite narrow or elevated where you will be challenged.

I had the pleasure of spending this past Labour weekend at the glorious Queen Charlotte Track also…read moreknow as...76 kilometres of PURE BLISS (at least for the outdoors-obsessed such as myself). There are a few long climbs but, in my opinion, this is a walk that can be completed by any moderately fit (and determined) person. I won't lie to you, getting up to some of those lookout points was a bit strenuous but HOLY HELL, they were worth it. My favorite was Eatwell Lookout #2 which included not only signage to let you know just how far London, New York, Auckland etc. was from that precise point, but also offered panoramic views across the entire, spectacular Marlborough Sounds. Refer to photo and drool. The great thing about QTC is that is offers options that cater to many different categories of trampers (i.e. a wide range of accommodation along the track [DOC campsites, homestays all the way through to to flash resorts]). The water taxi services also offer the option to carry your bags to your accommodation each day which proves mighty handy if you don't feel like walking for 8 hours AND lugging a tent/sleeping bag etc around :) Tips/notes/learn from my mistakes: - A QCTLC track pass is required for the second and third days which can either be purchased in Picton by the water taxis or at Punga Cove ($18). - You can complete the track in three days (albeit long ones). Four days is more than enough to finish it at a pretty leisurely pace. - Mountain bikes are allowed on the track outside of peak season. The MTB option did not look easy (specifically not for Days 1 and 2!) - Bring a camera and try to restrain yourself (unless you want to end up with 200+ photos like my click-happy self. This is what gorgeous landscapes to do to the best of us!) - Save a day for wine tasting in Blenheim before heading home! I mean you're already there, right? ;)

This review is based on my own mistakes planning this trip. We had one day to get from…read moreNelson to Abel Tasman National Park to Christchurch- very ambitious and now I know it was a huge mistake! I tried my best to understand what we could do at Abel Tasman National Park before we got there and what to do there in only a few hours- I read reviews, skimmed the website, and watched YouTube videos. When we arrived to the visitor center it was in the morning and we only had a few hours there before we had to leave, we asked the ladies at the visitor center what they recommend. They weren't the friendliest or the most helpful, they recommended we did a ferry to one of the other islands but we wouldn't have time to come back wt make it to Christchurch. They didn't try to give other suggestions. We saw a beach area and decided we would walk around it until we couldn't and turn back which is when I saw the actual Abel Tasman coast track and decided we would walk that trail until we had to turn around to be at the car in time. We were able to get to three viewpoints and decided to start driving to Christchurch after. Few things I learned about this experience: there are no toilets at the visitor center, there's a horrific portable toilet walking distance from the visitor center however on our way back we found a toilet behind the visitor center that seems clean- near the kayaking companies. You must do a full day at Abel Tasman, if that means staying there overnight- it'll be worth it! Definetly not the best to just do the national park in few hours ( you can't do much! ). I do think if the ladies at the visitor center recommended this trail to us from the beginning we would have made it further down the trail and seen more.

Abel Tasman is beautiful! If lush green rainforest and sparkling turquoise waters appeal to you…read more(and I mean, why wouldn't it?) then by all means do the trek through Abel Tasman. Abel Tasman is one of New Zealand's "great walks" which means the trails are super well maintained, and there are luxurious huts (by trekking standards) to stay in so you don't even have to camp! You can hike from hut to hut and do anything from 2 days to 5 (or even just 1 day if you're wimpy) - you don't have to finish the entire trek as there are water taxis at various points that will take you back to the car park/trailhead in Marahau. The huts are equipped with mattresses, flush toilets, drinking water, and a kitchen area. In the common area there are also wood stoves, so if someone takes the initiative, you can have heating too. You do need to bring a sleeping bag and cooking equipment (and food of course) but all in all it makes for a much lighter pack than if you were straight out camping. For those who prefer to rough it, there are also various campgrounds along the trail. For both the huts and the camps you have to book ahead of time on the DOC website, and for the huts I believe it's something like $34 NZ per person per night. A bit pricey but you also have to consider there's no fee to enter the park, so that's all you'll pay. We planned our trip starting in Marahau and then staying in Anchorage Hut the first night. That meant our first day of hiking was relatively short (8 miles) and we found ourselves with most of the day at the hut. It's on a nice beach with a few shorter walks you can explore, but unluckily for us it rained most of the afternoon and we huddled in the hut rather than sunning on the beach. The next night we hiked all the way to Awaroa Hut, which was quite the trek - 16 miles I believe. You certainly don't have to do that all in one day, as it seems like most people just hike to Bark Bay, approximately half the journey. At Awaroa there's a tidal inlet and you can only continue on during low tide. The tides were not in our favor, which meant we would have had to wait until noon to cross the next day. Instead we chose to hike out a few miles to Awaroa Lodge (very fancy) and catch the water taxi back to Marahau. I do suggest reserving a water taxi trip ahead of time as they seem to fill up! The water taxi took about 1.5 hours to get us back, with several pick up/drop off stops along the way. It was fun to see all the places we'd hiked through from the water - a new perspective!

We had a wonderful time on Wilsons' "Great Day Out" cruise / walk combo in Abel Tasman National…read morePark. The views were wonderful and the service was great. We began our journey at 9:20am by taking a water taxi from Kaiteriteri to Anchorage for 30 minutes (this was because the main boat was at capacity for the first leg) - it was a great experience. We loved the small boat ride - it was nice to have wind blowing against our faces as we sped along the water and took in the lovely views. Split Apple Rock was a highlight. We then transferred to the big white Wilsons boat at Anchorage and sat in the open air rooftop deck to take in the views. The seal colony was neat to see. We took the boat all the way to Totaranui and then got dropped off at Tonga Quarry a little before noon for our two hour hike to Medlands Beach. Our hike was quite pleasant - there were a few steep uphill portions (especially at the beginning), but for the most part, the ground was either level or gently downhill. The scenery was beautiful - a mix of coastal views and forest. We ate our lunch (which we brought with us) at Medlands Beach and had chosen the 3:00pm boat pick up. We felt one hour at this small beach was just right for us. Our boat ride back to Kaiteriteri was pleasant and we sat downstairs in the enclosed area and enjoyed coffees while checking out the views one last time. Tips: (1) When booking, ask for a senior discount and prepay discount, as applicable to you (2) Bring and apply sunscreen and insect repellent (3) Your feet may get wet, so hiking sandals or other shoes that can easily come on and off are a good idea (4) Bring a sheet or beach towel to sit on at Medlands Beach after your hike Overall, a great experience!

Wilson was one of the three Abel Tasman operators we tried in Kaiteriteri and were happy with their…read moreservice. A wide of option of departure and pick up boats. Staff is very helpful with figuring out the routes for you but it's really very straight forward. You can figure it out yourself based on the timetable of their boats. Apart from that, there were no major differences between all three boat/kayak operators. Wilson was running the latest a boat, which worked out great for us. Coming back to Kaiteriteri at 6 pm seemed like the best option as you get a good 5-7 hours in the park during the day. They also have a little cafe on the boat so you can get tea, coffee, basic morning snakes and alcoholic drinks on the boat.