From the Mountains to the Sky Act 12: Abel Tasman

This weekend we went on a long trip for the first time in a while (since the Glaciers/car crash adventure). We rented a car (a Toyota Vit, like the Echo), and went for a long drive to Abel Tasman National Park, at the North-Western tip of the South Island. Here is a map of our entire route for the weekend.

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We arrived at our lodgings in Marahau at about 10 o'clock on Friday night. We were staying at Old MacDonald's Farm, an eclectic campground/hostel/cabin arrangement complete with chickens, llamas, cows, and a random assortment of other animals. We had a 4 person cabin to ourselves.

Saturday morning, we woke up early so that we would have as much daylight as possible for a tramp along the Abel Tasman Coastal Track. We caught a Water Taxi from Marahau that took us by boat to Bark Bay from where we planned to walk back to Marahau, about a 25 km hike. We started walking in Bark Bay at 10 am and were hoping to be back in Marahau around 5pm before dark.

Along the way, we crossed over a pedestrian suspension bridge,

and visited Cleopatra's Pool.

Hiking was a big part of the things I wanted to do while in New Zealand and this tramp did not disappoint in the slightest. It is one of the most popular tracks to walk in the country and there is a reason why. The track itself is well-formed and easy to walk and the scenery is gorgeous. Bright blue ocean, lush green forests, sandy beaches, and mountains viewed across the bay make for some spectacular lookouts. Here is a small selection of the many photos we took.



This last photo was taken on a beach about 4 km from Marahau. From this point, we decided it would be clever (it was not) and fun (it definitely was) to walk along the beach instead of along the track back to Marahau. With very little forethought, we also decided it would be a good idea to cut across the bay as the tide was low. Everything started out great and we were having a good time discovering tidal wildlife in small pools. Then we came to the first small river flowing to the sea. This should have been a warning sign. It was easily leaped over, but it was a sign of things to come. By the time we were halfway across the bay, I had removed my shoes, and was now wading through very cold ankle deep water. In one place, a river flowed across the plane and the water came up to my knees. It was not warm. Others in the group did not remove their shoes before attempting to leap some rivers and ended up with soaking wet footgear for the rest of the weekend. Despite this, crossing the tidal plain was an exciting finish to the day.

After supper, 'I' and I headed back out to the pier at Marehau for some stargazing. Since Abel Tasman was very far from any major human settlements (Marehau has a winter population of 80) we had some wonderful darkness to work with. The moon was new and the skies were impeccably clear. We spent an hour or so lying on the pier looking for constellations (not that we knew any from the Southern Hemisphere) and making up our own. It was a glorious finish to the day.