Starting out day 3 of the walk, another lovely still day, a little chilly but we warm up quickly when we begin walking.

We walked through some pine forests this morning and really enjoyed how easy it was on our feet.  A lot of the track is very rocky and muddy, so it is quite slippery.

We are now climbing up to the Kenepuru Saddle and the views are magnificent. There are some farms in the area and we cross private land quite often.

This shot was taken by one of the other walkers. We are at a look out called "Eatwell Lookout" named after the family that own the land that the path runs through. In the distance we could see the North Island of New Zealand.

Native clematis...so delicate and pretty.

I included this photo as it shows how tidal the waters of the sound are, all the little inlets look like this when the tide is out.

Isn't this an amazing fungus, I have only seen it the once.

Another amazing plant that is in the gardens at Portage Resort where we are staying tonight.

Day 2 on the track, walking along with pretty glimpses of the beautiful waters of the sound.

After an hour or so we had a lovely view of Furneaux Lodge where we stayed last night, what  a sensational part of the world..

....I never tire of the waterfalls and ferns on the track...

Pete on the track...having him in the photos gives you some idea of how large the ferns are!

As the signs says, midway between Furneaux Lodge and Punga Cove.

Walking along admiring the birch trees and the crystal clear waters of the sound.

Pete on the track..

I loved leaving the track for a moment to have a little walk on some of the beaches, I couldn't believe how still the water was.

Our second night on the track was spent at Punga Cove Resort. This was the view from our bedroom...not bad!

After a glorious hot shower, Pete and I spent the remaining hours of daylight in this cute little bar on the water at Punga Cove. Sebastian from Argentina looked after us.

This was the view outside the restaurant, at about 7 pm..

And this was our view from our dinner table...

    

Early morning, main street Picton....waiting to be picked up for the water taxi to the start of our walk.

On the boat to Ship Cove, cloudy, rainy and misty...

Cormorants on the rocks....

Ship Cove...memorial to Captain Cook who stopped here several times...the starting point of our walk.

The first waterfall...there were many more...

On the track...wet but happy...

a Weka....

....heart shaped leaves, everywhere...

view from the track....

Ferns and mist....

Beautiful little coves that we pass on the track..

Crystal clear waters, almost at the end of day one...

Furneaux Lodge..bar and restaurant inside, beautiful old building and we had a lovely evening there...

Our chalet for the evening, between mountain and the sound, so fabulous...

Our view of the sound from our chalet, so happy...

This morning we flew from Auckland to Nelson in a very small plane, with propellers! 

We had a few hours to look around Nelson before we caught the bus to Picton. In the heart of the town is a walk up a hill to what they say is the centre of New Zealand. I took these photos, Nelson is quite a pretty little town with a port.

Obviously the tide is out...

The flowers were spectacular...

Anzac Park

Sunrise at Melbourne airport....on our way to Auckland.

This morning Pete and I walked to a more distant tram stop so we could admire the views of the water. This is a photo of the Bolte Bridge from a timber structure that had been erected by some university students.

I particularly liked the NAB building on the left with it's bright colours.

We met Chris at the Ian Potter Centre:NGV Australia as we were eager to see the John Olsen exhibition. Wow...it was brilliant. Above is Pete admiring one of the ceiling paintings and below are Pete and Chris surrounded by other paintings by John Olsen.

Quite coincidentally there was a quilt exhibition on as well, how lucky was that. I was in heaven and Pete and Chris seemed to enjoy it as well.

This  quilt was sewn by a sailor in the 1800's...each piece is only a few inches long. It was my favourite.

We then caught the tram to Gertrude street (above) and had a wander up and down Brunswick and Smith Street, stopping for lunch at the "Bricklayer's Arms" for a pub lunch.

One last stop before going home and saying goodbye to Chris was Melbourne Central (railway station and shopping complex) as we had never been there before.

This evening we wandered around Docklands before having a delicious meal with a fabulous view at the restaurant on the left in the above photo.

Our apartment was just to the right of those in the photo.