Picton to Punakaiki

When I was walking around in Wellington I went through this - I think - typical crisis in every longer trip. "I'm going too fast. I can't keep up with what I'm experiencing". I get some of that with jet lags too.
As I realized this, I pulled the break and started thinking hard about what I really expect, what would make me happy. The simple conclusion is that there's too much to see, but also that there's a lot I don't want to see, at least now.
Quoting Janeton (drinking song character): "la morale de cette morale" is that I want to see trees, native trees and preferably forest-loads of them.
Picton is a nice base to get an impression of the Marlborough Strait and eventually do the Queen Charlotte walk. I did a the Snout walk out of Picton, as good climber and a bit of native forest, but learned from it that this area is not forest, it is only still reforestation. (Keep up the good work DOC)
A little visit to the Department of Conservation taught me that my dear forests were to the South, not at towards the Abel Tasman area - one down! - and mostly along the West Coast. So off I went.
Today's trip: Inland form Picton, over Blenheim, Murchinson to Westport, a bit of shopping & down to Punakaiki.
I'm staying at the Te Nikau Retreat. Imagin this: small buildings almost just huts, hidden under a jungle of fern trees and other native (yes! :-) growths. The PC I'm writing this from is in the main building but when I'm done, I'll be walking a few steps in the open and then down a narrow path descending into a narrow valley, under a roof of ferns and native trees. Still under this roof, some 20m further, the path franches off in 3 directions and my dorm house is just one of them. To the right it's to the beach and to the left it's to another cabin.
Outside, there's a big chicken without wings going about. It's a Weka, like a kiwi bird but with a shorter beak. Strange.
I might stay here for a few days.
I might even not go much further down the island, maybe just to Arthur's Pass and then back up, over Kaikoura.
Check out Punakaiki and Paparoa national park to find out why I can't leave too fast.
That's all for me tonight.
Check out the pictures in the top slide show here!!