Pelorus Bridge, Te Araroa

Heading southwest on the Queen Charlotte track, I skirted around the hilltops to Punga Cove. I ascended to the ridge on what would be a long and narrow landform with several bays and inlets butting up against it to the south and the Kenepuru Sound to the north.

The narrow track was well-graded, passing through a sub-tropical rainforest of beech, kamahi, and giant rimu trees. Native ferns, including the iconic silver fern, covered the understory. The silver fern is a widely recognised symbol and the country's national plant.

Stylised versions of the silver fern can be found on several sports teams, such as the All Blacks jersey, the tail end of Air New Zealand planes, and the coat of arms. Koru is the spiral shape based on the unfurling of a silver fern frond symbolising "new life, growth, strength, and peace." It is often seen in Māori art, carving, and tattooing. A Māori legend says that the "silver fern once lived in the sea, and the Māori hunters would use the silver underside of the fern leaves to find their way home. When bent at an angle, the leaves of the fern would catch the moonlight and illuminate a path through the forest."

Beautiful views of the bays, inlets, and sound appeared intermittently. At Onahau Bay, the trail began its descent and ended in Anakiwa, a small coastal village. After a brief rest and refreshment, I connected to another trail and continued to Havelock.

Havelock is a small town that "promotes itself as the green shell mussel capital of the world." During the gold rush of the 19th century, Havelock was a thriving town, with the nearby Wakamarina Valley proclaimed a goldfield. As the rush subsided, sawmilling became the town's economic activity, followed by dairy farming. Today, many of the valleys around town are pine plantations.

Pressing on, I passed Canvastown, another town that expanded during the gold rush and contracted when the gold ran out. My next stop was Pelorus Bridge, a small locality with the most important thing – a café.

Once caffeinated, I turned my attention to the glassy green Pelorus River, one of the filming locations for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Fans of The Hobbit may remember Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves' exciting wine-barrel getaway from Thranduil's realm. Besides an enormous amount of computer graphics and green-screen shoots plunging down the river, live shoots were also taken on the beautiful Pelorus River with its dramatic rock walls and forest canopies.

While a wine-barrel adventure could be exciting, paddling a kayak down the river may be a more practical option. The trip will surely be more relaxing and less action-packed than Bilbo's adventure.