The Abel Tasman

After enjoying the town of Nelson for a couple days, I joined a group of new friends to do a combined kayak and tramping trek in Abel Tasman National Park. About one hour's drive from Nelson, the park's trails go along the coast of the Tasman and Golden Bays. Abel Tasman was evidently the first European to see New Zealand.

My new friends made great traveling buddies for our adventures in the park. Anthony, from France, and Pini, from Israel, met here in New Zealand and have been traveling together for a few weeks. Patty, from The Netherlands, is doing a solo trip here (she's the one I went to Nelson Lakes with as mentioned in my last post) after being in Australia for several weeks also.

The first day was to be a kayak trip from the starting point in Marahau to the first major stop at Anchorage Hut, where we would spend the night.




Starting the day in the kayaks: Anthony, Pini, and Patty.

Kayaking partners!

We all really enjoyed our kayak gear, and decided to become ballerinas for the moment.

We pulled over along the way for a quick bite and a swim in the chilly waters of the Golden Bay.

There are some very cool rock formations along the cliffs.

Our final destination for the day: the beach at Anchorage Hut.



 Anthony and Pini are quite a pair, very entertaining. The evening was filled with fun, laughs, and getting to know new friends.

While Anthony and Pini were camping in their tents, Patty and I had reserved a space at the camp's hut. The huts at New Zealand's national parks are run by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and in the summer can cost even more than a hostel to reserve for a night. The hut's "beds" are plastic mattresses laid out six next to each other, and six on the level above.

That night, we walked to the end of the beach to check out some caves. One of them had thousands of gloworms lighting up the darkness. They looked like a dark sky with tons of stars.

The next morning, we said goodbye to Patty as she needed to continue her journey up towards the north island. Pini, Athony, and I met up with two friends, Sara and Diane, and continued our trek.



 The views of the sea from the trail were marvelous.

Of course I found a swing on one of the beaches...

There's a swingbridge on the track which was a bit nerve-wracking to walk over. Diane was fearless as she ran across:

Glad there were only five of us, since we saw this sign after crossing!

A little outlook called Sandfly Bay. More on sandflies later.

We finally made it to Bark Bay, another major stopping point on the trail. Pictured clockwise: me, Pini, Sara, Diane, and Anthony.

From Bark Bay, we continued our journey up the trail.

A picture of everyone taking pictures... haha!

A view from the trail.

A view of Tonga Bay.

Resting at Little Tonga

My final stop was Onatahuti (or Big Tonga) Beach, where I said goodbye to the group and waited for my water taxi to take me back to town.

Overall, Abel Tasman, both the people and the place, has been one of my favorite New Zealand experiences so far. Let the adventure continue...