Blogs from Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

Wildlife much improved.... Tui, Bellbird, Fantail, Pukeko, Weka, cormorants, garnets and even an Albatross! We drove from Picton via Nelson to Abel Tasman arriving in beautiful sunshine with calm seas. Next day we took a water taxi to walk a section of the coastal track. An uneventful taxi ride via a Cormorant colony and more nz fur seals to a stunning but deserted beach. The walk through the bush was really interesting, no noise but birds and the sea.... the wind was whipping up and some patchy showers but under the trees and tree ferns it didn't matter. Taxi ride back was more eventful but more of that next time. Wifi very patchy... this is attempt five or six to blog, so pics and more of our adventure next time...... read more

Another unique vacation day in New Zealand. I spent the day at Abel Tasman National Park. This is a unique park in that the main access to the coastal points of the park are via the water. You basically take a water taxi to one of several drop-off points, then select a point from which to return from scheduled routes. I followed The Falls River outing where I was dropped off at Torrent Bay, hiked to Bark Bay, and picked up for my return trip. I used Abel Tasman AquaTaxi which I found to be excellent. They even provide a pick-up service at your local isite. Once dropped off you are on your own until the pick-up. I hiked 7.7 km to Bark Bay. The initial taxi ride to the drop off was interesting as they ... read more

R : We arrived in Mouteka at about 4:55pm and hadn't got a reservation for the water taxi the next day which is "essential" apparently. We decided not to call the lonely planet and leaflet's combined bluff and headed to I-site - New Zealand's national tourist information service which seems to have an office in any town that has more than a goat and two people. They booked us on the next mornings water taxi and we headed for our next Airbnb which was stunning. It was near Marahau - one of the gateway towns to Abel Tasman which can't be reached by road. It was basically a studio on the back of someone's house but it had a gorgeous deck overlooking the park and was magic with a glass of Pinot Gris we had picked ... read more

Petkovo sončno vreme sva izkoristila za ogled narodnega parka Abel Tasman, ki leži na severu južnega otoka in je znan po kilometrih peščenih plaž v skrivnih zalivih, ki jih z ene strani obdaja modrozeleno morje, z druge pa deževni pragozd. Pot skozi park (Abel Tasman Coast Track) pohodnika vodi od enega do drugega, številni si za pohod vzamejo več dni časa in kampirajo kar v parku. Iz pristaniškega Pictona sva zjutraj krenila proti zahodu. Izbrala sva pot skozi vinogradniško dolino med mestoma Spring Creek in Renwick. Opazila sva številne vinske kleti, ki so imele sumljivo evropska imena: Johanneshof, Georges Michel... (Včeraj nama je na trajektu neki upokojeni kmet s severnega otoka povedal, da so Novozelandce vinogradništva naučili Dalmatinci, ki so zelo kmalu prišli na Novo Zelandijo. Poleg te nama je zaupal tudi številne druge, ta trenutek ... read more

We were treated to a fleeting visit through my old stomping ground Wellington on Monday night before catching the ferry to carry on our campervan travels in the South Island. We caught up with some of my friends with a few bottles of vino in the sunshine at my old workplace Foxglove. It was so good to see them, although the sun, wine and overexcitement obviously got too much for me as I had my legs in the air, dignity out the window, in abra kebabra (Rich and his bloody kebabs) by 9 o'clock post fainting episode. Awkward. I stuck to peppermint tea for the remainder of the evening and we chatted away at Taylor's till the wee ours of the morning. We headed to brunch at Ti kouka, a quirky little cafe on Willis Street, ... read more