Ship cove 1695km to Anakiwa 1765km (day 91 – 95)

What a beautiful way to start Te Araroa South Island. The weather was perfect, the Sounds sparkling. We felt rested from our week in Wellington, and ready to start the second leg of our adventure.

It is funny though, to have day trippers, and non-pack carrying walkers around you. Especially the first day, it felt more like a main thoroughfare than our previous pathways. Still lovely to see people appreciating the awesome scenery. It was also our first encounter with weka this trip. Welcome to the South Island.

It’s not flat, at all. Some hot sticky climbs along the ridges and down to saddles. The views of the Sounds made it worthwhile though. Plus, we met some fun people at the camps. Some just starting the TA, others just doing this trail. Kiwis, French, Australian, Canadian – a lovely mix. (Interestingly, we were the only couple, and older by at least 20 years).

We had one sleepless night at Bay of Many Coves. It was a beautiful camp, with tent sites dispersed amongst a manuka stand. We were wary though, looked like it may be popular with mice. We decided to hang our food. Unfortunately, it was bigger vermin we needed to be wary of. Pete woke to shine a light on a possum, hanging from its tail, hugging a food bag!! We took the food bags back to the tent, stowing them inside a backpack, but that wasn’t much of a deterrent either. Twice I shone a light to see a possum inside the vestibule beside our packs. Scary!!

A 4 day, 3 night beautiful tramp, ending at a friend’s bach in Anakiwa. So chilled, we just had to stay another day. Perfect!!