Abel Tasman National Park

  Marahau, New Zealand
Thursday, January 17, 2008

Backpacking without backpacks (sort of). 

Hello to you all. 
 
We have spent the past few days tramping through the Abel Tasman National Park in the north of the south island of New Zealand.  Abel Tasman was the first white man (who, of course, followed the first white woman) to set foot on New Zealand.  The park itself is made up of miles of beaches, ocean view cliffs and bush trails.  We started out from Nelson, a very "enlightened" little hippie/tourist town about an hour from the park.

Nelson, NZ

Andrew left the details on transport, etc., for this tramp to me, so we ended up starting a day late.  But then we did get a chance to spend some nice down time in Nelson, packing and re-packing our backpacks, so all worked out just fine.  Once we finally got going, we took a bus at the break of dawn to Kaiteriteri, a tiny little beach front area overrun by tourists on rental kayaks, and took a water-taxi to the beach near where we had planned to camp the first night.  I shouldn't mention this, but for the sake of full disclosure, our backpacks carried on with the water-taxi to the beach where we planned to camp after that day's hike.  Sort of a water sherpa, New Zealand style. 

The first day was long but definitely worth it for the amazing ocean views and beach swims.   We lost each other several times, managing only to meet up at the swimming hole and then not again until our destination of Bark Beach. 

The "cleopatra "swimming hole

I got to the campground at Bark Beach first and chose some prime camping real estate, complete with little log chairs and a tree stump table for cooking and eating dinner.  It seems I was not as protective as I needed to be of the location, because within minutes some bossy old european tour group in sea kayaks had pushed their way into our camp and plopped their gear all over my stump table.  (The camp grounds in New Zealand are very cramped, not like in Oregon where you have some semblance of privacy.)  Rather than move camp (it was a long day) we slyly threw their stuff back on their side and called it good.   After relaxing on the beach for awhile, Andrew cooked up some delicious pasta and veggies and we called it a night.  The weather was fabulous, no cold or rain. 
 
Day 2 was all about the hurry up and wait.  There are three tidal crossings you have to make on this leg of the track and you have to time your hike so that you get to each at the exact right moment of low tide.  Not wanting to risk being stuck on the wrong side of the ocean, Andrew got us up, packed, and on our way shortly after the sun came up.  (Some bird ate all the oatmeal we had for breakfast, so that was one less thing to deal with.) We headed off for a two hour uphill sprint to get to the first tidal crossing right on time.  Or rather, 2 hours early.  The Awaroa Lodge is a little slice of luxurious heaven located right before the second tidal crossing, so we decided to hang out there for the next few hours waiting for the tide to go out.  We were not the first to think of that idea - there was a big sign outside the restaurant saying "Leave your packs outside."  We also picked our packs up at the beach in Awaroa, which made for a tough patch on the second leg of the journey.  (It was either that or the two beers we had at the lodge.)  Anyway, we headed off on our merry way, oblivious to all except the beauty of the scenery until we came across a couple swimming across the ocean with their backpacks.  We decided to wait a bit before attempting the third crossing.  Once the tide was out, the ocean floor was covered with crabs and clams, making it a very popular spot with the local sea birds.  One feisty fellow was feeding right in the path Andrew chose for his crossing.  The little nutter was quite angry and started dive bombing Andrew's head.  He'd fly up, squawk, then swoop.  Fly up, squawk, then swoop.  I don't know if he was just trying to scare Andrew (if so, I believe he was successful) or the bird had really bad aim, but there were no injuries.  Andrew defended himself mightily with a handful of clam shells.  I stayed far enough back so neither of them could hear me laugh.  Camp that night was a small little grassy enclave, about 100 meters off the beach.  There were far less people staying there and we passed the night chatting with some very nice folks, including a man from Canada who had spent the past few years protecting the spotted owls in the pacific northwest.  He and Andrew became fast friends.  The sand flies were out in droves that night, worse than any mosquitoes from home.  We are now covered in terribly itchy little red bumps. 

Day 3 broke to a storm passing through.  Just enough rain to soak everything before it had to be packed.  The trail that day was gentle and short.  The views from the cliff tops were just gorgeous and the sun was shining brightly.  

Fall River Beach, Abel Tasman Ntl Park

Around noon we came to the final beach and caught a water taxi back for the two hour ride back to the start.  On our way we stopped for a bit at seal island.  I am not sure if we have a picture to post of this, but its an entire island covered with seals right there about ten meters off the shore.  Back in Marahue, we got on a bus (the bus drivers here are ridiculous in how fast they drive on these tiny roads) and made it safely back to Nelson.  The next morning we said goodbye to New Zealand and headed for our next adventures in Australia. 
 
We are now in Sydney.  Yesterday we went jogging through the city, around the Opera House, through the Queen's Botanical Gardens and over the Harbor Bridge. My mom would have loved to see this, she always wanted to go to Australia.  We are staying in the heart of Chinatown and today took a tour of the town hall, built in 1883.  Thinking it was going to be really hot, Andrew got another haircut.  And for those of you climate-change nonbelievers (Pam).... it is raining.  We will be back with you soon.  With our love and thoughts, Andrea and Andrew