Interestingly, the distance results of this tracking are different to those suggested on the various websites and brochures.
Day ONE - An unsurprising graph, really. Every km had some elevation gain, with the biggest gain being in the first km at 217m. Our 10th kilometer of the day, which was also a mostly-downhill one almost at the Pines, was our fastest of any day on the track, at 13:18.The sign post at Ship Cove suggested 15.5km to Endeavour Inlet, we didn't make it quite that far in our 13.12km to Furneaux.
Fitbit: 29,741 steps
MapMyWalk: 13.12km, 461m gain, 17,848 steps while walking, 16,092kJ
Day TWO - Stopping at Furneaux accidentally added the better part of 5km to this day. Shame about the rain the day before - spending the night at Madsens would have been fantastic in that regard. According to the sign at the head of Endeavour Inlet, it was 15km back to Ship Cove - 0.5km shorter than Ship Cove's sign suggested to get there. This was our first introduction to "Maybe the signs lie" - a theme that became quite common over the course of the walk.
This again was another day where every km had some form of elevation gain. Our fastest km took 13:43, but we also had a series of km's that took over 20 minutes. Our biggest single km climb was 173m at the 17km mark - almost bang on halfway.
Fitbit: 58,700 steps
MapMyWalk: 35.53km, 1,234m gain, 48,331 steps while walking, 39,037kJ
Day THREE - a long, slow day. Fast was the last 40m, technically. At which point we were already crossing the grass at the campground. Our average pace was 30mins / km. Add in all the stops we took and it was much longer. Another day where the signs lied - at Torea Saddle it suggested this would be a 12.5km day. We opted to take the side track for "Advanced" walkers down to the campground. I think it cost us some time, as it wasn't clearly cut in places. Again, every km had some climb, with the biggest (226m) being in the first km - not a pleasant start to the day!
Fitbit: 17,787 steps
MapMyWalk: 8.04km, 479m gain, 10,934 steps, 14,012kJ
Day FOUR - Yay! On the way home! Another day where EVERY km had some uphill - a number in the 100m range, with the biggest (again) being the first at 115m. Our fastest pace was the 11th km, at 16:11. Our overall pace was good at least!
Fitbit: 31,005 steps
MapMyWalk: 13.34km, 374m gain, 18,142 steps, 13,795kJ
TOTALS
Overall, we did 70.04km over 4 days, which included about 3km off the track to get to and from accommodation at Portage and Mistletoe Bay.
The total gain over the course of the track was 2,548m.
THIS TRACK LIES
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| http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/nelson-marlborough/queen-charlotte-map-and-profile.pdf |
According to signs along the way, the track varies in length from 67.6km to 76.6km. The most egregious differences are at Torea Saddle. A short distance (about 1km) before the saddle, coming from the north, is a 21km to go track marker. At the start of the south bound track is a 24km to go marker. The sign here also indicates that the section to Te Mahia Saddle is 12.5km, while every other record shows it as 7.5 or 8.5km.
Also annoying is that the track junction below Kenepuru Saddle says it is 8km to Bay of Many Coves Campsite. Once you reach Kenepuru Saddle (1.5km later), THAT sign suggests 10km to Bay of Many Coves Campsite. Every piece of information southbound says the distance between Bay of Many Coves and Black Rock Campsites is 8km. Its 10km, and the signs heading northbound accurately reflect this.
Mostly, we found the variations hilarious. The only really annoying one was reaching a saddle where we expected Black Rock Campsite to be at about 7pm, and finding a sign indicating it was still 30 minutes away. The sign at Torea suggesting it was going to be a 12km day on excruciating feet and in serious heat was also not so easily laughed off. Thankfully that sign was well and truly wrong.
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