Abel Tasman Park Visit-Tracking-Walk-Kayaking

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Abel Tasman Park Visit,Tracking,Walk,Kayaking

Today we are headed to Abel Tasman National Park. There had been a fair amount of discussion yesterday and today as to where we should start our Abel Tasman adventure – Kaiteriteri or Marahau. Kaiteriteri is a little closer, they rent bikes and kayaks, and you can catch one of the water shuttles up the coast, but it is a few km south of the park. Marahau offers all that Kaiteriteri does, with the exception of bike rentals, and it is where the park begins. The forecast for today is cloudy with a good chance of rain, which made Rose and I reluctant to rent bikes, and Jake and Amanda reluctant to kayak. In fact, we received a text from Sarah our Airbnb host suggesting if we take a boat shuttle, be sure it has a canopy to keep us dry.

We decide to go to Marahau because we want to be in the park when we start. As we pull in to Marahau, we are shocked to see how low the tide is. As we enter the beach town, we see HUGE dry land "valleys" which hold lots of water during high tide, but are empty now.

Abel Tasman Park Visit,Tracking,Walk,Kayaking

 

Low TideThere are several sailboats moored in muck several hundreds of yards short of the current water's edge. One scene evoked fond memories for Rose and I, as we were driving by the “dry flood plain”, we saw two young boys playing in the mud – they were totally covered in mud (just like Jake up north almost 20 years ago). We drive to the boat shuttle/taxi building and temporarily park there until we find out about the various activities, prices, etc.

Rose and I decide to just cruise on one of the boats, while Jake and Amanda decide to walk on the “track”. We book a boat taxi for noon (the last one for sure going out today, as there are big swells predicted on the ocean later in the afternoon). Since it is only 11:15 am, we have some time to kill, so we decide to hike the trail for a little while. Jake and Amanda decide to walk to the Anchorage campsite, a 4 hour hike, from which point they can take the water taxi back to Marahau. We ride our SUV the ½ mile or so to the start of the park, and start walking. The first part of the track is along the coast and it is a cool collection of tropical plants and wild flowers.

Tropical Forest Occasionally, we see a tiny waterfall, and hear song birds singing. By 11:40, we have to start making our way back to the car so that we are on time for our noon boat taxi, while Jake and Amanda trudge ahead – on their way to Anchorage.

Abel Tasman Park Visit,Tracking,Walk,Kayaking

The Start oi the Hike

We drive back to where we bought our tickets, and park our car behind the building. There are a half dozen or so other folks waiting for the taxi as well. Shortly after noon, a Ford tractor, pulling a smallish ocean-going water taxi pulls into the parking lot and we board the boat. The tide varies the water’s edge so much that we have to be trailered by tractor to launch. We are the only “pleasure cruisers” for the loop along Abel Tasman Park, everyone else boarding the boat is going to be dropped off along the way, from which point they will backpack and/or camp in the park. Once we launch, it is evident why we are the only cruisers – the sea is rough, and the boat taxi does not absorb the turbulence well. It reminds me of Joe Powers’ bow rider on Lake Huron with the “big waves” – only a lot worse! The ride is fun, but certainly not relaxing. Early fears of sea sickness are proven unfounded.

It is interesting to watch the groups of people who are picked up/dropped off by the taxi. Some travel lightly, others have huge backpacks. Some are day trippers, others camp overnight . Some are older, others, like the family from Wisconsin, are young (with a 2 year old daughter!). It is also interesting to watch Haley, the taxi captain set anchor and back the taxi up to the shoreline as he stops at the half dozen stops up the coast (and back). Haley points out a few interesting highlights (including a stingray sighting), but this was a taxi, not a tour shuttle. The three hour cruise morphs into almost a 4 hour cruise, as the rough seas slows everything down.

Abel Tasman Park Visit,Tracking,Walk,Kayaking

 

Rocky Cliffs from Water Taxi

Cloudy skies give way to rain for the final 15 minutes or so of our trip. We are near the front of the boat, protected from the rain, but not from a leaky roof. We reverse the boat launch process to return the taxi to dry land. The tractor takes our taxi to a different spot, close to the entrance to the park. It is raining steadily now, so we are grateful Haley takes us back to our car in a shuttle bus. Once we return to our car, we walk in to the café attached to the ticket booth, and order lunch (my eggplant pasta ball was delicious!). Since the café also sold beer, we thought we would be remiss if we didn’t order one while waiting for the kids to return. The wheat beers we ordered went down especially well after our topsy turvy taxi ride. After relaxing for about a half hour, Jake and Amanda appear – wet but not too bad. They had hiked and caught the taxi out of Anchorage just as planned. They didn’t want lunch so it was time to head back to Nelson.

Abel Tasman Park Visit,Tracking,Walk,Kayaking

Once back in Nelson, we all went to the grocery store to buy the fixins for dinner. Amanda decided to prepare a lamb roast, which sounded good to all of us. Of course dinner became gourmet in a hurry, with Amanda at the helm. Jake deboned the roast, and it was cut into medallions. A green salad was prepared as well for the meal. Amanda was disappointed with the meal, but I thought it was delicious. After dinner, we sat in the living room (listening to the rain come down in buckets), and chatted about the future, including Jake and Amanda’s future travel plans. We drank a couple of margaritas, and ate some chocolate – it was very relaxing and decadent.

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