Abel Tasman Coast Track Nelson

9th of October

We left Kaikoura early morning and started to travel alongside the coast to Nelson. We travelled through the Marlborough Sound and the Wine districts. The views were beautiful and there was always something to see so the journey went quickly.

Our first stop was Ohau Point. After a short walk into the forest, we …

Great day walk along the Abel Tasman Trail starting at Bark Bay and walked to Anchorage Bay. the scenery was as good as promised with oceanviews, and stream crossings. Took a boat taxi from town and we stopped at an island with seals and their new pups as we boated to the top of Abel Tasman National Park. Upon arriving at our stop at Bark Bay on …

In the morning we went to the WOW museum for Wearable Art and Classic Cars in Nelson. Then for a walk along the Coast Track at Abel Tasman National Park.
Mid afternoon we drove to Takaka. Along the way we were driving in the clouds about 740m high. There was a small area where the first Lord of the Rings was filmed, with Frodo being …

Day 3 – South Island Road Trip

Got up early this morning (7:30) and made our way down to Kahu Kayaks for our Kayaking adventure. Somebody is looking out for us, because it was a beautiful sunny day, without a drop of rain. We decided to do the full day guided Kayaking tour, as this was our first time sea kayaking, just a little …

Sorry, no time to do a blog yesterday – we had a full day in Abel Tasman getting back latish and then another early start to go sea kayaking today.

We've had the most tremendous weather – blue sky and sunshine – a little bit of a breeze yesterday but not a breath today so kayaking was amazing.

We loved Abel …

Om 7 uur op om op tijd te zijn voor de bus die ons ophaalt. We horen nog van Lenore dat er nog twee mensen meegaan vanuit ons motel. Het blijken twee Nederlandse jongens te zijn die de tip kregen om dezelfde trip te boeken als wij hebben gedaan. De buschauffeur vertelt weer allerlei verhalen over Motueka, dat het vroeger een gebied was waar …

Today began with an exciting visit to one of Nelson's grocery stores. We spent a good 15 minutes just staring at the potato chip aisle. Potato chip flavors included: lamb and mint; spare ribs; honey soy chicken; sour cream and chili; and, of course, who can forget "burger rings!" We bought some for our picnic lunch and drove onto Abel Tasman, a …

Our ferry arrived at Picton around 10pm and we then drove to Nelson experiencing an immediate difference between North and South island roads!! We took the Queen Charlotte Scenic Drive, taking one side of a square, rather than the major roads taking three sides of the square! It was very windy going up and around the mountains. I'm sure the views …

Earlyish start again (too many of these for Hannah's liking!) to head into Abel Tasman National Park. We spent the morning sea kayaking round the coastline in glorious sunshine over the perfect turquoise water. Team Muskett in a double kayak again and we were experts after out Doubtful Sound outing earlier in the week so we soon found our groove …

Rise and shine and away we go for 7:30AM to do our kayak trip and walk a portion of the Abel Tasman trail.

Fast Fact:

Ø Who is Abel Tasman?

o A Dutch explorer in the 1740s who discovered New Zealand but did not lay any claim.

Ø How did New Zealand get its name?

o Abel Tasman named the area New Sealand ( …

... little city about which I'll write more after the hike.  Just a pin for now.  Here's a link to some info. about the track ...

We hiked to Marahou and the end of the Abel Tasman coast track in record time, shaving an hour off the estimated time and came out feeling ready for a hot shower and some civilization, although much tougher for hiking with all our ...

... 000 residents), on our way to Abel Tasman. We did some shopping for the next few days and booked everything for the Abel Tasman coast track. In the evening we gathered some other Israelis that we met at the information center and celebrated Hanuka at our ...

... the optional tracks down to the bays and beaches, which were much more of a challenge, but definitely worth the effort! The Abel Tasman Coast Track itself is an incredibly easy track to walk on, and[from what we saw] there are nearly no major inclines ...