I spent a bit of time putting together a post of the Queen Charlotte Track and the Richmond Range, but then lost it. Argh! Then lost all interest in blogging. I’ll at least post some photos, as the words escape me and it already feels like ages ago that I walked these trails.

The Queen Charlotte Track is one of the Great Walks in NZ. The Great Walks are cream of the crop, like cherished hikes in US National Parks.

The South Island is known for its sand flies (black flies actually). They are simply horrible creatures and I hope they serve some useful purpose of which I’m quite ignorant. Luckily I’m pretty good at setting up my tent quickly and diving in before they can follow.

The Queen Charlotte Track is an easy walk, certainly by NZ standards. The Richmond Range however, is different. It was hard; steep steep scree, steep boulder hopping, rock scrambling, all of it. But, once on top, it’s quite something.

There were several pictures I would have liked to have taken to capture this day of the Richmond Range. But it wasn’t possible, because I needed all four limbs, often. And ‘needed’ is not an overstatement. It was the hardest day I’ve had, and frankly, made me a bit crabby. Trails notched in a steep sided river canyon, walking on endless ‘paths’ of volcanic boulders, and just being tested for hours. I passed though. Thank you Richmond Range for showing me what I’m capable of.