NZ Day 3 - Abel Tasman National Park

Tuesday, 4 April 2017

Jon and I got up early today to go for a short run  - it was pleasant running along the coast but everything looked a bit gloomy in grey morning light, particularly with the tide a long way out and everything wet from the overnight rain..


 

This is our freedom camping site.. we're the britz van.

 

 

Our plan for today was to take an extended boat tour in Abel Tasman National Park, and then get dropped off so we could hike the 11ish kms back to a beach where we’d be picked up again by the boat.  The forecast was pretty bad but we had all our rain gear and warm gear and lunch stuff packed so we were prepared to go regardless of the conditions. Unfortunately when we rocked up at the ticket office in the morning we received the news that our extended tour wouldn’t be running due to the large swell and poor weather.  Our alternative was to do a much shorter boat trip, then hike back down to the entrance of the park and get the bus out. This still sounded pretty good to me - for a moment there I thought we weren’t going to get to go at all, so it was a relief we had another option.   With our new plans organised we had to scurry along to the next beach to get onto the boat.. 

 

Once safely on board we cruised up the coast, checking out Split Apple rock, and some other sites along the way.  

 

 

 

The eroded granite rock formations reminded me of Flinders Island, and the slightly tropical feel of the vegetation reminded me of the national park we visited in Penang - minus the tonnes and tonnes of rubbish of course!


Once on the beach we did a walk to a lookout which was about 3k, then we started on the longer (12.4k) hike back to the park entrance  

 

When I looked at the land from the boat I assumed our day would be spent hiking up over steep spurs then down into deep gullies, but in actual fact the track was nearly as smooth and flat as it could possibly be, it wound its way around the hill sides - a treat for all the overnight hikers I reckon.  The campsites and huts looked really nice, grassy and lovely with beautiful views of the beaches. One day we’ll come back and do some kayak-camping here - with better weather this place would be stunning.


It was a great day out and although it wasn’t exactly what we’d planned I still feel that we got a great sense of this national park.  We had planned to do a half day kayak trip tomorrow, but again the weather will make that impossible, so we’ll head southwest to Westport tomorrow. Oh - and today the rain actually held off - it wasn't wet at all! So I'm extra glad we came up here a day early.
2017List
Cool things Wednesday, 3 May 2017
NZ Day 30 - Long Distance Final Sunday, 30 April 2017
NZ Day 28 - Rest Day 3 (HA!) Friday, 28 April 2017
NZ Day 27 - Long Qualifying 2 Friday, 28 April 2017
NZ Day 26 - Long Qualifying 1 Wednesday, 26 April 2017
NZ Day 25 - Rangitoto Island Tuesday, 25 April 2017
NZ Day 24 - Unexpected Outcomes Tuesday, 25 April 2017
NZ Day 23 - Sprint Qualifying Sunday, 23 April 2017
NZ Day 22 - Goodbye Rotorua, Hello Auckland Sunday, 23 April 2017
NZ Day 21 - Rest Day 2 (HA!) Saturday, 22 April 2017
NZ Day 20 - Rotorua Orienteering & Adrenaline Forest Thursday, 20 April 2017
NZ Day 19 - Rotorua Orienteering Thursday, 20 April 2017
NZ Day 18 - Rest Day (HA!) Tuesday, 18 April 2017
NZ Day 17 - Oceania Middle & Rotorua Tuesday, 18 April 2017
NZ Day 16 - Goodbye South Island Tuesday, 18 April 2017
NZ Day 15 - Milford Sound Saturday, 15 April 2017
Milford Track - Day 4 Saturday, 15 April 2017
Milford Track - Day 3 Saturday, 15 April 2017
Milford Track - Day 2 Saturday, 15 April 2017
Milford Track - Day 1 Saturday, 15 April 2017
NZ Day 9 - Pastries and Packing Saturday, 15 April 2017
NZ Day 8 - Pools and Puzzles Sunday, 9 April 2017
NZ Day 7 - More Glaciers & Amazing Views Sunday, 9 April 2017
NZ Day 6 - Gorges and Glaciers Friday, 7 April 2017
NZ Day 5 - Seals & Rocks Friday, 7 April 2017
NZ Day 4 - Old Ghost Road Wednesday, 5 April 2017
NZ Day 3 - Abel Tasman National Park Tuesday, 4 April 2017
NZ Day 2 - Hot Springs and Long Drives Monday, 3 April 2017
NZ Day 0 & NZ Day 1 Sunday, 2 April 2017
NZ (Planned) Wednesday, 29 March 2017