Tour of the dunnies in Queen Charlotte Sound

Tour of the dunnies in Queen Charlofte Sound

After having done a number of club trips in the Picton end of the Queen Charlotte Sound we decided to W something different and head out to the outer Sounds.

he trip started on a nice and calm Friday evening

(unlike my stomach) with an interesting ride out to East Bay on Arapawa Island on a launch that we had chartered. The sight of phosphorescence glowing in the wake of the launch was impressive.

The weather was certainly nice to us this weekend (if my stomach wasn't). Saturday morning saw us making rapid progress to Pickersgill Island and then across to Blumine Island for lunch. Blumine Island must have been quite a strategic island in the defences of the Marlborough Sounds in World War II as there are some very impressive gun emplacements on the island. We had a poke around some of these; it was good that Peter Williamson knew where they were as I had kayaked past them on previous trips and didn't know how to find them. The gun emplacements are quite substantial and with the native bush cover they are not easy to spot from the water. The view from these gun emplacements high up on the island was impressive and the calm Marlborough Sounds made the scene even more spectacular.

ridly

I for rying :hes. rrely ared ight, rg of gent tin". ?ans )any z full rrds. . + ^ ^ I t d 5 ruch

After another trip to the dunny (to calm my stomach) we left the Blumine campsite and were off to Ruakaka Bay. We were not the only ones out enjoying the calm weather and the warm May sunshine as en route we came across a number of dolphins jumping and diving around. Unfortunately they weren't interested in heading in the npq d9S' , , W Q sock 3ical ably r the and lack lrive

'ratt,

Rob kck ryish

Tramping and Mountaineering 20Ol /2002

Wayne Stevens direction that we were heading, as there is nothing like having dolphins swimming around a kayak when paddling along, but it was great to see them, as well as a few seals basking in the sunshine.

Ruakaka Bay has one of the nicest campsites in the Sounds and is one of the best campsites around for kayakers. My stomach wasn't the best and I was beginning to wonder what the heck was happening to me. We had Thai Green Curry for dinner - nice. There is nothing like kayaking for having decent food on a club trip... yum.

After a few trips to the dunny on Sunday morning we were off , heading back to Picton. Again the weather was great - another perfect calm day, and progress was good down the Queen Charlotte Sound. We pulled into Kumutoto Bay for lunch (and a few trips to the dunny) and spent the afternoon looking for tame fish in Double Cove, and then it was time to head back to Picton.

As for the dunnies - as an expert on this trip, I found The Sounds are well provided for in terms of dunnies (well done DOC). I found out later that I had contracted giardia on my recent trip to Cambodia and having these dunnies meant I didn't introduce any nasties into the environment.

Punters: Peter Williamson, Peter Bates, Sue Walsh, Nick Graham, Angela Barnes, Simon Ward, Allison Clark, Lyndsay Fletcher, John Hoffeins, Wayne Stevens (leader).

ss cD

S

!

q)

-a q)

a,