Survivor
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2004
1
37
51
Trip End
??? ??, 2006
Abel Tasman,
New Zealand
Sunday, October 9, 2005
The perks of hostels in NZ are not to be underestimated. In the Grapevine Diana kindly recorded the football highlights every week for Brian, in Nelson there was free beer and icecream and lots of places have free pool tables. The owners of the hostels are generally sound. One guy in a small place called Murcheston spent ages discussing his planned kitchen revamp with Brian to see if he had any suggestions (Brian's family background in kitchens must have been obvious).
A Tramper's Lunch
Our new mobile home, the tent, is proving quite cosy, warm and dry (especially when we remember to close the windows during torrential rain). Delighted with our successful adjustment to the great outdoors, or at least hostel gardens, we somewhat optimistically decided we were ready to tackle one of NZ's Great Walks - The Abel Tasman National Park Coastal Walk. I've no idea why so many capital letters are needed there. I suppose it makes it seem more dramatic.
The walk is a 3 day walk along the coast staying in huts or campsites at night. A third of New Zealand is national park and the people in charge of all this land are the Department of Conservation (DOCs). DOCs are doing such a good job I think they should be put in charge of the other two thirds. Their info centres, campsites, huts, walks, etc are all excellent. Preparation for the trip involved buying a cool, tiny, camping stove thing that screws onto the top of a little gas canister and a pot. And then an hour at the supermarket trying to decide what food would be the lightest and keep us alive for three days.
After a night camping in Old MacDonald's Farm in Marahau (honestly! - and there were hens and sheep and pigs and a funny animal called alpacas which must have been cut out of the song) we caught a speedboat into the National Park which dropped us off at Totaranui Beach
Abel Tasman National Park
. From there we spent the next 3 days walking and camping 50km along the coast. The beaches were amazing and the water was crystal clear. There were loads of birds and fur seals. The first night was spent at Onetahuti Beach - with only a couple from Newcastle as company. The next night was spent at Anchorage with the noisiest Kiwi family for company. Carrying the tent and food all the time wasn't too bad. Food wise we managed an impressive risotto one night and some fresh (in the 2 days old sense) pasta on the other. At night it was a bit cold without our duvet but other than that it was grand. The weather was great and there wasn't many people about.Our old colleagues from the vineyards have been keeping in touch. Brian keeps getting text messages from his Scottish/Eastern European mate:
"Ay lad. Go 4 the abel tasman. I'm gonna get plastered tonight"
He's threatening to come visit when we get home:
"Cool mate. I'll be happy 2 c u brotha. I will go 2 Ireland one day 4 sure coz I wanna get plastered in every country in the world. I'll let you know when I'm there"
He's not happy about Brian being sacked:
"yeah mate. That wasn't fair at all. I'm sorry you got sacked exactly that day when you were supposed 2 sit at the table with us. That really sucks"
He's liking the locals:
"I have heard heaps of stories about bad Maoris. There r Maoris all around n r so kind n nice. Txt u later"
And when he heard we were going to the glaciers next:
"Oi the glacier must be primo aye? I got plastered y'day"
