Abel Tasman Coast Track

  Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand
Sunday, November 30, 2008

    Abel Tasman Coast Track is one of NZ's "great walks".  A coastal trail through the Abel Tasman National Park with endless perfect beaches and views.   The track is equipped with sleeping huts and dozens of campgrounds along the beaches.  Water taxis offer the less adventurous with easy access to the beaches and kayaking is also a transportation option.  I noticed many people took the option of having their packs dropped by water taxi at their campgrounds.  At first I thought this was lazy, but considering the number of beaches and inlets you can explore, losing your big pack for the day would definitely have its advantages.  So if you're coming here and you can afford the extra expense of having your gear moved, I say go for it.

I set out from Marahau and started my way North the first night's hut at Anchorage.  Here is a visual chronology of my day.

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The track has four sleeping huts in which bunks can be reserved.  "Bunks" vary from a platform with seven pads to bunk bed style individual bunks.  I opted for the sleeping huts since I didn't bring a tent.  In bad weather I can see their merit, but in general I would say camping is a much better option than the sleeping hut.  Downsides to sleeping huts are zero privacy, trying to sleep in the same room with 13 other people and their various bodily noises and the late night versus early morning crowd.

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As luck would have it, almost everyone I encountered along they way was German.  Apparently, NZ is a big destination for German tourists.  Having been to a few places, I can safely say that American tourists don't always have the best reputation with the classic "ugly American" sterotype floating around the world.   I've seen this "ugly American" behavior at times and it is embarassing.  Well I'm happy to say that when it comes to self-absorbed, rude behavior or overly opinionated statements, German tourists can sure make us look good!  My German hut-mates really didn't get the whole communal living scene.  They just did whatever they wanted to do as if they were the only people staying in the hut.  By day, they never observed trail right of way rules and by night they'd carry on full volume conversations in the sleeping rooms while other people were trying to sleep.  I even had to listen to one woman monologue about how the people of NZ need to learn from the Germans about how to preserve their green spaces.  Of course, it's unfair to generalize even though this experience was consistent with every other encounter with German tourists on our year-long trip.  So I will say "thank you" to the German tourists in the Anchorage and Bark Bay huts for making us Americans look so  polite and considerate!

Day two started very early to make the morning tide crossing of Torrent Bay.    Three sections of the trail must be crossed within a few hours of low tide or they become impassible.  Here is  the photo log of day 2.

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Apparently, there is active pest eradication ongoing as this trap and various cyanide bait traps were posted.

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Dramatic tides leave navigable inlets barren and offer forced relaxation for boaters.

Tea Time

 

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Once the water recedes the tidpool life emerges.









Tidepools give a different angle view to the scenery.

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The track is absolutely amazing.

I had planned to spend four days on the track, but after two nights and some conversations with locals, I hopped a water taxi back to Marahau and bussed back to Nelson.  The locals unanimously agreed that while beautiful, the scenery would change much in the next two days of walking.  An extra two days should be useful for seeing more South!