Abel Tasman... 11th - 15th October

Day 1

Sunny today when we began the walk... AND it was sunny ALL DAY with NO RAIN and CLEAR SKYS!!!!! Lovely walking by the coast, track is easy to walk and beautiful.

Stopped for lunch at Apple Tree Bay and had lunch next to a nice chap called Frank and we discussed the issues facing Obama's Nobel Peace Prize winning.

Stopped at Anchorage Bay Hut with an eclectic mix of people, saw Glow Worms in a cave and enjoyed night walks on the beach under the stars. Oh yes, the extra delights of cheap salami was a good plan for dinner, along with the green beans!

Day 2

Continued to Bark Bay today, a short walk followed by plenty of time to enjoy the area around Bark Bay Hut and I even managed a proper swim. Warmed up well after as mild hypothermia set in...

Day 3

Continued the walk to Arwora Hut, taking our time alog the way and stopping for cuppa soup lunch on the beach. Even managed to chop some kindling at the Hut and had a good chat with the DOC Hut Warden, about the different "caliber" of people walking different paths in NZ... all started when we started talking about people not turning up as booked...

Day 4

Woke up to pouring rain this morning in the hut, waiting for the tide to drop so we could cross the estuary. A poor chap got told the tides for the day before and made the crossing an hour and a half before it was clear, and he was up to his chest and arrived through the FREEZING water (as we later found) soaking.

After an hour and a half to Toteranui beach, absolutely soaked through, we feet and freezing after bucketing rain. Thankfully we were able to rearrange our pick up for today instead of Thursday (which would have involved two more days of walking face down into the rain) and got our water taxi early, along with a few other sodden souls, through high and rough seas!

Arrived back at our little van then made our way back to Nelson to find a motel for a night or two. Sadly, the lovely place we stayed in before was full, so we looked around, and generally were not impressed at all! In the end, (after visiting a very scary man's motel) we stopped at a place flying the Welsh flag and found a cosy wee place to nest and plan for two days... More pics here!