We woke to beautiful weather for our final day on the Nydia Track. After enjoying breakfast on the porch of the lodge, we packed up our rucksacks and made our way down to the track. The hike took us along the shore of the bay for a while and we enjoyed glimpses of the water through the trees.
After a while the track started to climb and as we continued up towards Nydia Saddle and we were able to see further into the Sound. From our vantage point we could see one of the many mussel farms in the area, the Green Lipped Mussels grown in the Marlborough Sounds are well-known throughout New Zealand and are one of the largest species of mussels growing up to 24cms (almost 9.5 inches)!
The trail continued to climb steadily up towards Nydia Saddle as we made our way up through the thick bush. We would occasionally get glimpses back through the forest towards Nydia Bay, the two small islands serving as reference points as we wove our way around the bay.
Once we arrived at the saddle we were able to look out across Tennyson Inlet, the bay that runs parallel to Nydia Bay. From the top of the saddle we had great views out over the water to the outer sounds and the maze of hills and inlets that make up the Marlborough Sounds.
The track descended gently towards the water and we followed the path along the shore of Te Mako Bay, catching the occasional glimpse of the Sounds as we made our way through the thick bush. Before long we reached the end of the track in Duncan Bay and were happy to climb into the car we had left there a couple of days previously.
From Duncan Bay we drove back towards Havelock where we had picked up the water taxi at the start of the hike ready for a well deserved meal. With a bit of extra time before dinner, we stopped off at Pelorus Bridge, a rather rickety bridge that crosses the Pelorus River.
This section of the Pelorus River flows quite swiftly through the rocky gorge and was where the barrel scene in the film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was filmed. After a hot day of walking, we couldn’t resist heading into the cool waters for a quick float down the river ourselves. Although the water was chilly enough we were equally eager to get out and head into Havelock for some Green Lipped Mussels and fish and chips!