Cruisin'

March 25
Davies Bay DoC Campsite to Cowshed Bay Campsite
KM 1763.5
Distance: 17km 
Elevation: ascent 815m, descent 683m
Steps: 33,900
Time: 8:10am - 2:30pm

Today we had the most wonderful of experiences, waking up to a dry tent! Despite that, we had a slow morning getting going, taking even longer than normal to pack everything up.

The rest of the day continued in this vein, being a slow, lazy day, with gorgeous views all along. The views contributed to the slow day, because we made sure to give them all of the time and consideration they deserved.

We even took a slight detour up to a lookout for lunch. This involved an extra 200m ascent that wasn't on the trail notes; we decided to drop our packs for this bit, which was definitely the right decision! (Lunch was still delicious.)

Also some really cool bits of geology along the way
The only problem with the Queen Charlotte Track, is that it is a joint mountain bike and walking trail. Which means at times the track surface is actually better for mountain bikes than walkers. And by that, we mean slippery clay surface. Especially going downhill, the chance of slipping and landing unceremoniously on the bum, and/or potentially putting some injury-inducing load on a knee, is quite high.

On arrival to the campsite, we reunited with Raewyn, who we had first met way back at Pakituhi Hut, just before we had gone down the Timaru Creek - quite some time ago! It's really good to be reunited with people we have met further up the trail. She has been a day or two behind us for quite some time, but also decided to skip a few days of the Richmond Ranges due to weather (the weather that we got just out in front of, would have been dangerous where Raewyn was on the trail). So she's jumped ahead to the Queen Charlotte, which is great.

We all then went down to the Portage Hotel, and for a complete change of pace from most of the trail, we had a couple of beers, potato wedges, AND hot chips (fries)! 
 

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