Tramping the Abel Tasman trails

---

Geo: -41.006, 173.01

We arrived at the last motel just before the park entrance at lunch time - a great location, and good views from the terrace of the garden and fields. We walked into the park in the afternoon for several hours and found a great beach where I had a wonderful invigorating swim on a hot afternoon and saved up our expensive water taxi ride for the next full day on the abel tasman trail. This was a great day - sunny and windy again and off on another adventure. At 9.00am we booked in to the water taxi office just next door and climbed onto the speed boats while still in the car park for the 10 min ride down to the beach. The tide was out a long way so tractors towed the boats miles across the sand and backed them into the sea. The easterly wind was whipping up the sea so it was a bumpy, fast, exhilerating ride along the coast to Bark's Bay where we waded fron the boat onto a deserted beach and set off to walk South for 3 hrs along a well trodden fairly flat coastal path. There were lots of other walkers passing in both directions, some youngsters carrying big packs to camp overnight in the park, but sometimes it was wonderfully peaceful , the vegetation beautiful and the views of the sea and inlets stunning. A tuneful warbling bird made the forest with its silver fern and tree ferns sound very exotic. Although the sun was strong when we emerged on an open beach the strong wind fron the sea was cold, but fortunately we found a sheltered inlet that was just filling up wiith the rising tide and I was able to swim. If it had been low tide we could have walked across this inlet, but unfortunately we had to walk an additional 2 hrs round the bay on the path. Some youngsters who set off too late waded up to their chests with their packs above their heads because they had miss timed the tide. We made the rendevous at 4.00pm for the water taxi to whizz us back home across choppy seas- a great business given their charges! Another beautiful part of New Zealand's great outdoors.
The I in the report above is Liz!

---