Hiking the Abel Tasman Coastal Track
Trip Start
Mar 19, 2010
1
9
64
Trip End
May 23, 2010
Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand
Monday, March 29, 2010
Today was Abel Tasman Day! And that meant getting up really early again - 6:20 a.m. I called the Magic office to try and get the dual payment thing settled, and they told me to talk to reception and that they'd take care of it, hopefully that works out. After breakfast I headed outside to wait for the bus, which was a few minutes late and had me worried that I might have missed it. To my disappointment though, the sky was cloudy, again! Go figure, this is the sunniest place in the country and I have clouds...sigh. I want to see some sunshine so I can see that pretty blue water! And it was chilly too, I needed my fleece most of the time, even while walking.
It was about an hour and 45 minute drive to the start of the boat ride at Kaiteriteri where I checked in and enjoyed the view before attempting to get on line for the boat before the hoards of school children! They were rather loud on the boat so I couldn't really hear the guy on the loudspeaker giving the commentary, but I guess they weren't too bad considering the number of them.
We were taken past split apple rock, a large granite roundish rock that is split down its middle, and then basically enjoyed the cold windy ride up to Anchorage. Thank goodness I had my rain coat to block the wind! As I said before, the kids were noisy, and I couldn't hear when I was supposed to get off the boat, so I almost missed my stop...but I managed to make it just as they were retracting the ramp, getting a good sized bruise in the process!
It's hard to say which track I liked more, this or the Queen Charlotte Track. I thought the QCT views of the sounds were amazing, but I think I preferred the golden sand beaches and clear blue water here...or maybe it was just because the weather was now sunny here! I do believe these are the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen! Every time I stopped at a lookout (of which there were many) I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I would swear I was looking at a painting! Also noticeable (and enjoyable) was the lack of noise from the outside world - no cars, boats, or even air planes! The only noises were the sound of the lapping waves, the birds chirping, and bees humming...so peaceful.
One of the best parts of this track was that there were plenty of side tracks that took you down to a beach or bay and usually there were toilets there too. I did get the chance to walk through the water on one beach, I think Coquille, but I was surprised at how cold the water was! It may look like the Bahamas, but it sure didn't feel like it!
The first bay I came to was Stillwater, and this was where I ate my lunch while sitting on the granite rocks overlooking the water. Which reminds me, these coasts were made of granite, unlike the QCT, which makes the beautiful gold color of the sand as the quartz, feldspar, and mica break down into grains of sand. Being that I love rocks, I took 2 pieces of granite back with me :)
As I said before, the views were so amazing, and around every turn the view seemed better and better. Therefore, I have MANY pictures from this park too! The vegetation was similar to the QCT, and it frequently felt like you were walking through a rain forest. It was almost like I had entered Pandora from Avatar, haha.
One of the last views I had was of Marahau, which overlooks a huge estuary/tidal flat. It is one of the longest ones in New Zealand. I don't think I've ever seen something like that, and it was gorgeous, all lit up from the sun that was starting to go down. The very last part of the trail was on some bridges over the damp ground where people had 'written' many many things with granite stones from the area.
The 4 hour walk was definitely a good choice because it actually took about 5 1/4 hours with the optional side trails and sitting to enjoy the bays. I was also surprised at the lack of sand flies as I had read they could be a problem, maybe it was because it was colder than usual.
Anyway, this was such a beautiful, and well maintained park, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has done some hiking before.
The bus picked us up at 4 p.m. and we arrived back in Nelson around 6, kind of late to do anything else. I do wish I had another day here to actually see the town, but I must be moving on. I was almost half asleep on the bus back to Nelson, so once back at the YHA (another very nice one!) I wrote and read more, did some laundry for the first time, had dinner, and headed to bed.
I did have two roommates tonight, they were from Switzerland and so I talked about how I loved it last year. They were fun to talk to because they were in Auckland to learn English and so couldn't speak very well, well they did but they still had to struggle for words.
So that was the end of my 9th day I believe...more than 50 left to go (sounds like a lot when I put it that way, but there's still so much more to do!).
Comments
Can't wait to see the pictures from this days adventure. It sounds terrific!
Can't wait to see the rocks !
hehe i laughed when i read the part about the rocks! but im sure those rocks are much prettier than anything we have here. i still cant believe you are there and have 50 days left!
Thanks for the great description of the Abel Tasman Coast. I have put a link to your blog on our website ww.AbelTasman.co.nz. Hope you don't mind.