Tramping (no not women...)
Trip Start
Oct 29, 2010
1
24
79
Trip End
Oct 28, 2011
Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand
Monday, December 13, 2010
I only brought a bivy sack, and luckily it didn't rain (it would keep you dry but that's about it) but I did have to zip into it due to the bugs, sand flys specifically, little biting flys that suck (literally).
Woke up the next day and tramped on down the trail passing several bays and getting to Tonga Quarry about mid day. The sun was out and there were few others about. A dip in the sea and I walked around checking out the scene, which was a granite quarry in the early 1900's, you can still see the drill holes in a few of the rocks at either end of the beach where the workers hammered metal wedges into weaknesses in the rock to break it into rectangular pieces, which were loaded onto boats and taken to cities such as Nelson, where the cathedral steps are made of the stone. Was joined later by a couple and two women, we all shared a picnic table for dinner.
The third and final day I tramped on, it began to drizzle and then rain, and so there was not much point stopping along the way, I passed a fancy Lodge and cafe and arrived at the beach where I'd be picked up by lunch. There you take a water taxi back to the beginning where my car was. I caught an earlier taxi and was back into dry clothes and car and off down the road in no time.
It's strange seeing holiday homes and fancy lodges while hiking in a national park, but apparently the land was private before the park was established so it got grandfathered in.
Hopefully one or more of the hundreds of pics I took are good!
