January 1, 2026
Endeavour Cove to Black Rock Campsite
TA km marker 1758.0 to 1786.2
Hiked today: 29.7 km

The rain started some time last night and it continued steadily until around 7am. With the lull, we decided to pack up and get moving. We found that the rain had got into the tent and wet a few of our things. This was not a fault of the tent but just the way we had it set up. We were on the trail by 8 am and the rain followed us along the track. Although the rain continued for the whole morning, we were glad that it was neither cold nor windy. With careful eyes on our feet, we managed not to slip in the mud and commenced the steady ascent to Kenaparu Saddle.

On the way we passed Punga Resort which has both a bar and a restaurant. Being New Year’s Day, the cafe was closed but further along we found the restaurant open and shared a large bowl of tasty potato wedges along with hot drinks.

When Rob planned the Queen Charlotte Sound section of our hike, he read that it was a requirement that hikers book their campsites in advance. Due to lack of availability,  we had limited choice and the resultant plan for this section had us walking less than 20 km per day. Having spoken to a number of other TA hikers, though, it seems that this requirement is waived for us. With the purchase of our TA passes, we have already paid for the DOC campsites and are not required to reserve places.

In view of this new information, after arriving at our booked spot, we decided that we had plenty of daylight hours left, and so we chose to hike on another 9 km.  This campsite has a beautiful view over the bays of the sound and from our tent we can see across the water to the town of Picton. We are quite high up in the hills and the wind is whistling overhead. We had set up in an open spot but decided to move the tent because the wind was so blustery.