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Published: April 27th 2007
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Glimpses
Walking along the track reveals brief glimpses of beaches that I will reach Walking in Abel Tasman
Anna Caswell
View of Awaroa beach
Seal Delayed entry...
After a really enjoyable tramp along part of the Queen Charlotte I decided to spend 3 days walking along the Abel Tasman track. The smallest, and oldest National Park in New Zealand, and named after the first European to see NZ. He sailed across the world, and discovered a new land. The Maoris saw him, and sent out a battleship to warn him that he was trespassing. Not being so good on the old foreign languages (unusual in the Dutch), he thought they were a welcoming party and sent 4 sailors in a small vessel to greet them. Well those 4 sailors were the first Europeans to reach NZ soils. However they were unfortunately pretty dead pretty quickly, so didn’t get much of a chance to learn anything, other than if you happen to meet Maoris in a boat, expect to be dinner, not be invited to it. Abel himself wasn’t really the adventurous type, and headed off home, leaving it up to the more famous Cook to come and discover NZ properly!
Many people say that Abel Tasman is their favourite NP in NZ. Not an easy choice to make, what with there being so many,
1st Day
Early morning view, the clouds did clear and in such stunning locations, so I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. After being stunned by the Marlborough Sounds, this park had a lot to live up to.
I departed on Monday morning, carrying my sleeping bag, a change of clothes, my rain jacket, and enough food to see me through a week if the worst came to the worst. In addition there was the essential insect repellent and being well trained by Zoe, my compass.
The weather was cloudy when I set out, but dry, and I was just praying that the weather would hold. The first day walking was the longest - about 7 hrs in total, along fairly easy terrain. The walk is mainly coastaly, sticking to the sea most of the way, occasionally diving inland in to the rain forest where there are cliffs, at other times opening out so you are literally walking along sandy beaches. As I walked further the sun became stronger, and by lunchtime I was enjoying blue skies. The only disadvantage of the wonderful weather was the biting insects that take advantage of any exposed flesh. The sand flies here are legendary and fierce,
Sandy beach
Just one of the numerous impossibly beautiful sandy beaches tucked along the coastal track so even with 50% DEET I was not immune. It also made sunbathing on the wonderful beaches a fully clothed activity, covering up not from the sun for once!
On the track were pretty little streams, falling into waterfalls, amazing vistas and views, and the sounds of birds in the undergrowth. I finally arrived at my hut for the night - a luxury affair with padded mattresses to sleep on a shared bunk, candles and long drop toilets. As the sun set soon after 6 the evening was spent cooking a delightful meal (packet Pasta), and enjoying conversations with fellow trampers (not too surprisingly I met another vet in the hut, they do seem to get everywhere, and bizarrely I shall even be locuming at the one practice he is visiting - small world). By about 9.30 we all felt as if it was 2am, and turned into slep. With all the bodies in one room it was plenty warm enough, and I slept pretty well.
The next day I awoke to find the sky clear, and by 8am I was out on the trail. Not just due to enthusiasm, but also as many parts of the tract
Me & my bags
Lovely photo of my sweaty face with my backpack on! are tidal crossings - you have to get there a few hours either side of low tide or it can become impossible to pass. Fortunately I made it in plenty of time, and as todays walk was much shorter, only 4 hours or so, I spent an hour playing on the beach and enjoying the sunshine before heading up the next headland. Lunch that day I decided to treat myself - there is a luxury lodge reached by sea for those less inclined to walk, that also has a very nice restaurant. I quite expected them to take one look at me, sweaty, dirty and muddy boots, and tell they didn't cater for my sort, but with my best Pommie accent I managed to get a table outside and a lovely cold glass of Coke!
The afternoon I explored the beach outside the lodge - beautiful sand, sheltered bay and turquoise sea. Stunning - see the video! But regretably for me that was not where I was booked in for the night. Instead I had a further couple of hours walk (could have been 20mins but now the tide was in and I had to go the long way
View from Bark Bay Hut
As the sun was setting I got this panorama, cleverly stitched together by my computer! around!) to reach my hut. When I arrived the tide was almost fully in, meaning that the hut now sat on the edge of the water, with just a small sandy beach out front. By morning the tide would be out, and the estuary mouth would be safe to cross. Still ended up taking the boots off though, as although the tide was out there were still several streams that needed crossing!
Day 3 was a fairly quiet 3 day walk, but the boat wasn't due until 2.45 to take me back, so I found another hill to climb, which had some amazing views back along the bays I had been walking over, the sky still a beautiful blue, and the sea still a wonderful turquoise. The boat on the way back took the time to swing past some of the sights of the bays - including hunting spots of Stingrays and seal colonies - another popular way of seeing Abel Tasman is on the water. For that reason I decided to take a kayak tour the next day.
The main reason I wished to kayak was to go and see the seals that live out on the
Green track
Walking through the temperate rainforest. islands in the bays. After informing our guide as such, he promised to provide seals galore, and off we paddled (after a slight wait as our guide had forgotten his life jacket...tut tut). The sea was an almost mill pond like calm when we set off, although the previous days blue skies were nowhere to be seen, and a thick grey cloud hung like a blanket over the water. The small group of 5 of us set out... within 30 minutes our guide had managed to beach us in our hunt for sting rays. They like the shallow water, and it was the middle of breeding season. Great for spottings, not great when you have to get out of the kayak and wade around in the water praying you don't accidentally step on a rather pissed on Sting ray. Fortunately we all escaped unharmed, and made our way over to one of the islands.
Around the back of the island was a small group of the much awaited seals- and we were lucky when one nosey youngster jumped into the water to investigate our kayaks. Literally swimming right underneath us, and doing dives and head stands to show off
Bay views
One of the many stunning views of beautiful beaches we were treated to a 20 minute display of this very playful creature, literally next to the kayaks! It was wonderful to watch, and made the complete kayak trip worthwhile! After that it was just a quiet paddle to a beach for lunch, more sting ray hunting, and then back to the mainland. We made it just in time, as we dragged the canoes onto the beach the heavens opened, and the rain continued for the 7 days!
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