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Published: August 9th 2007
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Sandfly Bay
View from the Coastal path Before leaving Renwick, we visited a boutique chocolate factory. It wasn't as original as the Chocolate Mill we had visited in Oz, but it still made some nice chocolates. We got a few free samples and then I bought some mint chocolates (just couldn't resist).
Marahau Our drive from Renwick to Marahau took us through Nelson, which was a nice place to stop for a spot of lunch and to stock up on food provisions for the next few days. It was a good job we had, as Marahau turned out to be pretty small with only a small convenience store (albeit, fairly well stocked considering).
Marahau fronts the beach with gorgeous views of the National Park and the sea. That is, when you can see the sea. The tides around here are dramatic, with the water level typically dropping by several metres. With the sea floor initially being very shallow for some distance, this often meant you had to reach for the binoculars to find the sea at low tide.
We stopped at Southern Exposure, which is about a 5 min drive from Marahau. It is a very small backpackers but has everything you need. If you
Frenchman Bay
Making up for Whitehaven Beach have a weak bladder, we'd recommend getting a double ensuite, as although its not a long walk to the loo's, it is absolutely pitch black (good job we had a torch). The doubles with ensuite are significantly bigger/nicer than those without too. Good views of the stars at night from here though!
Abel Tasman Coastal Walk We booked a water taxi to take us up to Bark Bay, so that we could do 20km of the coastal walk back to Marahau. The water taxi ride started off very smoothly, then we started to hit the waves, which in a small speed boat means you get slammed into the oncoming waves pretty hard. It was rather like being on a roller coaster! After cruising up to Tonga island to momentarily see the seals, we were dropped off at Bark Bay. The views from this cliff top walk were amazing. Often limited to glimpses of incredibly blue seas and beautiful beaches through the trees, with opportunites to get down to the beaches along the way. At one point we were looking down onto a bay that was reminisent of what Whitehaven beach should have looked like when we visited several weeks
Kayaks on Bark Bay
A popular activity in Abel Tasman's calmer waters beforehand. The colours were amazing. It took some time for Jason to be as impressed though, as he had done the coastal walk at Noosa National Park in Australia which offered similarly impressive views, so his level of expectation was that much higher.
We had our pack lunch on Torrent Bay, while we were waiting for the tide to go out so that we could walk across the low-tide route rather than take the long way round. Crossing the beach was interesting, as there were still small streams of water you had to cross. I was fine in my sandals but Jason's trainers got a bit of a soaking as he refused to walk barefoot (over all the shells and mud)! There were so many fabulous viewpoints, bays and worthwhile diversions along this walk that it's impossible to mention them all, but hopefully the photos give you a sample of just a few of them.
After doing about 18km, we were getting really tired. We hadn't really taken enough with us to eat and the walk is quite up and down, as is usually the case for a coastal walk. Towards the end we were flagging and couldn't
Tree ferns
There are many along the coastal walk wait to finish it. We could see the end but just when we thought it would be round the corner, the path took us in another direction. Eventually we finished it and just about fell into the cafe for refreshments, which is conveniently at the end of the walk, capturing all who decide to do the coastal walk. That night we slept really well.
Swindled out of money! On a slightly different subject - the Bakers Lodge in Motueka. Initially we were hoping to stay there, as I had sent an enquiry via their internet site to see if they had a double ensuite for three nights. However, after not hearing from them within 48 hrs (they promise to get back to you within 24 hrs), I decided to phone them. The guy that owns Bakers lodge, told me that they only had a double for two nights but could offer a family room for the third night, which was more expensive. I said I didn't want to pay the extra and then my phone card ran out. So, having made it quite clear to him that I didn't want the alternative that he offered, we booked a room
at Southern Exposure. However, a few days later I noticed that he had charged me for the three nights (he had my card details, as I had had to enter them on his internet site to secure the booking if they did have a double room). I rang him back and he said that when the phone cut off, he was about to mention that he could change another booking around and I could have a double for the three nights and he assumed that as I did not ring him back I was going ahead with the booking. Firstly, how was I to know that he could change things when he never mentioned it (am I meant to be a mind reader!!) and secondly, he could have contacted me by email to see if I wanted to go ahead with the booking, as he had my email address. I think it is disgraceful that he has charged me and will be having words with the bank.
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