SPRING SPECIAL - 3 Day Upgrade Independent Walk - Furneaux Lodge & Punga Cove

Itinerary

Day
1 – Ship Cove to Furneaux Lodge, Endeavour Inlet

We
collect you from your accommodation in Picton to join the water taxi to Ship
Cove where your walk begins. This scenic and historic reserve was a favourite
anchorage for Captain Cook during his explorations in the 1770s as well as
being a site of significance for local Maori. Bush is mainly a mixture of
stunning podocarp and beech forest with ponga ferns and other New Zealand
native foliage. This day is regarded as the premier section of the Queen
Charlotte Track. Your walk concludes at the historic Furneaux Lodge.

Day
2 – Endeavour Inlet to Punga Cove

Today’s
coastal walk takes you from Furneaux Lodge to Punga Cove through mostly
regenerating native bush to the call of bellbirds, fantails and other New
Zealand native birds. From Furneaux Lodge, the track continues through native
bush and over a small swing bridge to the head of Endeavour Inlet. Pause there
to learn more about antimony & the mining industry that thrived there in
the 1880s. Follow the main track onwards and into Big Bay where pristine native
beech forest awaits before working your way towards Camp Bay, only five minutes
on from there is your accommodation for the evening at Punga Cove.

Day
3 –2 options:

• Punga Cove
  to Torea Saddle/Portage Bay (approx. 8 hours/24.5km)
  
  It’s a
  challenging day walking on the ridgeline between Punga Cove & Torea
  Saddle near Portage. Truly grand vistas abound round every corner – a
  wonderful reward indeed. You will be collected from Torea Bay at 4.30pm
  and return to Picton at 5.00pm approx.


• Take the
  morning water taxi transfer from Punga Cove to Picton
  
  The water taxi will come and pick you up at approx.11am return time to
  Picton around 12.30pm/1pm). Cruise around the bays and make your way to
  Picton, arriving there early afternoon.