New Zealand Diary, Day 11

Day 11: “The Snout”

We slept in just a bit before checking out, partly because of the mid-night interruption, and partly because the cool, rainy weather was conducive to it. We’d made a booking on the BlueBridge ferry for the next afternoon. Our plan was to stay in Picton, the ferry’s port town, this night, so we wouldn’t be rushed getting to the pier on time. We traveled back up Highway 1, past Postman’s Road, past the Ohau seals, past fog-shrouded forests and hills, past the salt farms of Ward, until we got to the township of Seddon. We hadn't eaten anything substantial, so we stopped at the Seddon SuperValue market (look it up on Google Maps Street View) for some fruit and yogurt, or maybe lunch fare. We took our time in this store, as well, looking over the warm pies, the cold sandwiches, the fruit & dairy selections, and the chip section. I wish I’d had the camera with me in the store, because they had chip flavors I hadn’t seen before. The ones that stuck with me the most involved bacon. There was bacon, bacon and sour cream, and bacon cheddar.

We had our lunch, and went on to Picton; it was overcast but not raining, and the iSite was open. After all, even though Nelson and Blenheim are the centers of activity for Marlborough, Picton is the point of entry for many people. In the iSite, we were helped by an effervescent young redhead, who booked us an ensuite room (private bath/toilet) at the Buccaneer backpackers’ inn on Wairawa Road, with sheep in the yard and an almost close view of the marina. Being close to the marina was desirable, because there is a walking track that begins there, and the price was right.

We checked in and got settled in to our room, which did in fact overlook the marina, part of the town of Picton, and the sheep in the front yard. We changed into hiking shoes and grabbed our water bottles, and armed with a map from the iSite we set off for the trailhead. To get there, we walked down a couple of residential streets, and between a couple of houses through a council-maintained shortcut. We found the trailhead directly across the street from the marina entrance, and started around the densely vegetated hillside. On the other side, the track was interrupted by a cul-de-sac from another neighborhood, then it continued on up the sea-side of the hill. Eventually we came out of the brush at the end of a dirt road, with a sign pointing the way to the “Snout Track” through a gate designed to bar access by vehicles, including bicycles.

The Snout Track

“The Snout” is a narrow, crooked finger of land that separates Picton Harbour from Waikawa Bay to the northeast, in Queen Charlotte Sound, and the western face of this spit (plus a few more hectares) is a reserve called the Victoria Domain. The Snout Track climbs through the Domain along the relatively steep hillside that descends to Picton Harbour, reaching its highest point at Charlotte’s View. It then continues down through the ferns and totara trees to the very tip of the spit. The total distance of the Snout Track by itself is about 4 km, or 2½ miles, so it took us about an hour to make the walk one way, after the 30 minutes or so it’d taken to get to the start of it. It was certainly worth the time, though. While going out, we saw only two other parties, and we were alone the whole time we were at the Tip of the Snout. We met a few more parties going out as we were coming back, but we were still impressed with how few people were on the track for such a populated area.

I disappear around
the corner.

A sloop,
on the sound,
from the Snout

Notice the kayak

Charlotte’s View is on a peak about 2½ km from the start of the track. When we passed there on the way out, the sky was cloudy bright, no rain, about 70°F. By the time we got to the tip, it was beginning to darken, sprinkle, and cool off. It stayed fairly mild as we climbed from the marina back to the hotel, but when we were yet about 8 blocks away, suddenly a chill wind came up and started whipping the rain at us sideways. As we climbed the outside stairs to our room the rain slammed into our backs, relief coming only when we turned the corner to cross the deck to our door.

After drying off and changing clothes, we decided to go for coffee and explore the downtown area, defined as High Street between Broadway and London Quay, with a little spillover onto Wellington Street–that’s about four square blocks. The storm was still raging as we ran down to the car, but by the time we got downtown, the wind had died down and the rain was a light drizzle. We drove around for a few minutes before finding a 2-hour parking space, then went looking for a likely place for coffee. We stopped in a nice little restaurant with a courtyard that I can’t remember the name of, and decided to have a couple of the specials they had posted. There was a coffee pot and cups set out on a table by the bar where we ordered, and the barmaid told us it was normally $2 a cup, but it wasn’t very fresh so she wouldn’t charge us. For free coffee, it wasn’t half bad. The food was very tasty, and came in almost American-sized proportions. We ate our fill, then looked around downtown a bit more, but there wasn’t really anything that spurred our interest. We did, however, locate a grocery store where we could get something for breakfast in the morning, and got a bit of sweets for later. Then it was back to our room for the night, again quite exhausted from the day’s activities.