NZ Day 3

The clear blue sky reflecting on the deep azure waters of the Queen Charlotte Sound, the steep forest-clad mountains reaching up into the cloudless heavens, and the two pleased as punch travellers winding their way around the sharply cornered road, gasping in pleasure at each available view spot. It was a day of glorious panoramas and splendid temperatures, fabulous forests and dreamy coastal scenery. We spent longer than expected meandering around the ridges, following narrow sealed roads that had beautiful vistas around almost every corner.

Then Georgie generously offered to rest in the shade with the incredible scenery stretching out below her whilst Rod wandered eagerly off to check out the u-beaut Kiwi scrub. Having said he may be only half an hour or so, he finally arrived back at the car more than two hours later, grinning ear to ear.

Yes, we found them, whole hillsides coated in native forests, huge numbers of enormous tree ferns nestled amongst Antarctic Beech rainforests. We now feel complete.

We saw old paintings depicting the hills around Queen Charlotte Sound as having been denuded of forests way back long ago, but now the native bush has been allowed to come back and in many places is looking rather splendid. Rod’s walk took him through fabulous tree fern forests that were intermingled with tall Leptospermum trees in glorious flower. Those ‘ti-trees’ back in Oz are usually just shrubs or bushes but in these forests they grow to a good size. He pushed his way through thick tree fern stands, following what might have been difficult to discern deer trails and discovered densely overgrown dells and delightful grottos.

It was a day of delights and very, very pretty country.