New Zealand Walk: What makes a Great Walk?
How do you create an iconic walking trail? First, take a pinch of initiative, a handful of funding and a bucketful of foresight. Mix this together with a breathtakingly unique natural environment and then throw in an historic site of international significance for good measure. Journalist turned track guide and owner of Wilderness Guides Marlborough Sounds Juliet Gibbons deliberates on the ingredients that make the Queen Charlotte Track a great New Zealand walk . . .
Most New Zealanders who walk the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds are surprised to find out that it isn’t one of the Department of Conservation’s official Great Walks. In the minds of many, it is one already.
Located in the Marlborough Sounds and accessed by boat from the seaside town of Picton, the Queen Charlotte Track entices walkers from all around the world.
Wilderness Guides have spent the past 18 years hosting walkers to experience the Queen Charlotte Track and have packages to suit all tastes and budgets. From family trips to backpacker style accommodation options combining hiking with kayaking and mountain biking through to the premier hotel and boutique lodge guided and independent walks, there is something for everyone. All feature the Queen Charlotte Track’s unique bag transfer system meaning you walk with just a day pack along the way.
One of the keys to the track’s success has undoubtedly been its setting in the stunning natural environment of the Marlborough Sounds, an area of sunken river valleys, fjord-like in appearance. It is a landscape that is unique geographically and undoubtedly a national treasure although surprisingly, not a national or even a maritime park. This is due in part to its complex composition of private ownership which sits alongside numerous mainland and island reserves belonging to New Zealanders and managed by the Department of Conservation.
Traditionally known by Kiwis as ‘the place you pass through’ on the ferry to Picton, more and more tourists now appreciate the beauty of this place (as locals already do) with its patchwork quilt of sheltered bays and inlets.
The Queen Charlotte Track has largely been developed on the goodwill of the landowners whose properties it crosses as well as utilizing crown land managed by the Department of Conservation and road reserve belonging to the local Marlborough District Council. It is a national showcase of an enduring public/private partnership between these entities who have worked alongside the commercial operators to attract the visitors.
The track itself has been easily walkable from the start at historic Ship Cove in the outer Queen Charlotte Sound to the end at Anakiwa in the Grove Arm since the early 1990s. A joint project between the Marlborough District Council, Department of Conservation and the local tourist board at the time saw the track established with the support of landowners. Bikers starting using it a few years later, with some limitations in the peak season.
Normally walked over four days, the track is 71km long and parts of it date back to pioneer days as it uses original bridle paths which linked the early homesteads in the area. These hardy folk who came mostly from Great Britain to eke out an existence on a new land would never have comprehended the water taxis now making a living from shepherding walkers to and from this track.
These days it is the walkers who trace historic footsteps between campsites, backpacker lodges and upmarket resorts where they can rest their weary feet at the day’s end over their own freeze-dried goodies or, if they are smart, a three course meal and glass of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
Most visitors tend to choose independent packages while still making the most of luggage transfers to avoid heavy packs and fine lodge accommodation. Many internationals join an experienced and knowledgeable local guide with companies such as Wilderness Guides.
Maori have appreciated this area long before the European settlers arrived and it is believed that they have had a presence here for more than 1000 years. The Marlborough Sounds were an important trading route and home to several prominent iwi.
The first known European to visit Queen Charlotte Sound was the famous English explorer and navigator, Captain James Cook, on the HMS Endeavour. He sailed into Ship Cove, today the start of the Queen Charlotte Track, on January 17, 1770 and made this small cove his South Pacific base for the next seven years.
Cook was to return many times. It was here the first prolonged social interaction between South Island Maori and the European took place. It is regarded as a place of iconic significance by the Department of Conservation and will, in 2020, be one site marking 250 years since Cook first visited these shores. It is a place all New Zealanders should visit.
Recently the marketing organization responsible for promoting the Queen Charlotte Track to the world, QCT Inc., was successful in securing funding from the local council and government towards enhancing the track surface and improving the gradient from Ship Cove. This funding and the ensuing works will broaden the access for all New Zealanders, be they on foot or by bike, and improve the quality of the Queen Charlotte Track experience from this historic site.
It’s a fitting time to see this injection of capital into the track, the first significant funding since its inception, and great timing with the eyes of the world on Ship Cove as part of the 250 year celebrations. It will further cement the Queen Charlotte Track as a great walk in every other way than a ‘Great Walk’ – so perhaps it’s time to just make it official?