Louise Down Under: Abel Tasman National Park

Abel Tasman coastal view from the water taxi

It's hard to know where to begin and end with the day we spent boating around and hiking through the Abel Tasman National Park. My astonishing number of photographs indicate the same wonder at the sheer number of beautiful images in this park. Abel Tasman is on a peninsula Northwest of the ensconced northern town of Nelson. We started our day early, driving about an hour to the town of Kaiteriteri, to catch a water taxi that ran along the coast up to the top of the peninsula. Our party of 10 or so (including a border collie named Tip who I was ready to steal) were unloaded at various destinations along the way, until we were the last, with another young woman, B from Bavaria, at the furthest stop. The plan is that you take the boat out, and then hike back through well-marked trails along the coast and through the jungle-ish mountains, arriving at the pickup point which is about halfway back down the coast, where the water taxi will pick up you no later than. . .

A cove along the hike: water color is real

Than. We were told it would be a leisurely 4 hour walk, but that didn't account for the fact that it was high tide, so instead of walking along the shoreline for quite a bit, we had to take the inland route. The three of us only stopped for 15 minutes or so for a brief lunch, and we made the boat with just 15 minutes or so to spare. There were a few challenging climbs, but mostly it was just long and too beautiful not to stop for photographs.

It was really a lovely day. With the exception of a couple of rainy days, we have been so lucky with the weather. It's mid-winter here, for goodness sake!

Split rock in Abel Tasman

We did see a bit of a cautionary tale. We passed another American couple on the trail. They looked a lot fitter than we were, but apparently they were just thin. They were due back on the shore 45 minutes ahead of us, and still hadn't made it when we left. There is no way to communicate out there. . .no cell service, at least. I asked our water taxi driver what would happen to them. He replied "They'll get a very frosty reception. . . "

I think I'll record the rest of this trip via images only. Enjoy!