Abel Tasman Trail – Part 2

Saturday 9th of September was the beginning of the best five days of my year abroad so far. We polished off some bacon and eggs before shuttling everyone to the start of the trail. I was in the first shuttle. While we waited, we threw the Frisbee around (it became a popular pastime) and once we had all assembled we took a group picture under the Maori arch and then we were underway. I should probably give some background information. The Abel Tasman National Park is named after the Dutch explorer who is the first known European explorer to reach New Zealand. The coastal route that we had planned to take is between 60km and 70km long (depending on detours) and although doable in three days, we decided to take our time and do it leisurely in five. In hindsight, I am very glad we made this decision as it meant we were able to have mini adventures off the main track, gave us three full days away from civilisation and allowed us to really absorb our surroundings.

We began hiking up hill to what would be our highest altitude of the trip, 200m, looking out on the first bay. We continued up through the bush to our high point where there was a lookout onto another bay. We soon discovered that the hike would consist of hiking along a beach, up over a headland through the woods and then back onto another beach. We stopped for our break at a small hut where we met the Weka. This is a small bird that is almost always alone and tries to steal camper’s food. Harry decided that this could be quite a fun game and would wait for the weka to get close before turning and running after it. There were signs at each campsite telling us not to feed the weka. We had reached our first campsite, Mutton Cove, by lunch so had our fill of wraps, peanut butter, jam, cheese and a ration of spinach. With the glorious weather, we threw the Frisbee on the beach before having a quick dip in the sea. We set up camp and then before dinner we went on a mini adventure to a lookout point. When we arrived we heard some rather loud bird noises. As it turned out, there were several fake gannets and a speaker playing their song to try and attract a real colony. There were also several seals sunning themselves although we had been warned not to go within 20m of a sleeping seal.

Once back at camp Harry went on a wood collecting mission while Bobby and Mathias collected muscles. I set about cooking our grated potatoes while Charlotte tried cooking pancakes (using water and a pre-bought mix). Unfortunately, they were both very inefficient things to cook so we had warmed spicy potato with a pancake each. We did then try make the pancakes like a broth with added porridge oats but it was not very successful. The abomination was buried, along with Harry’s spoon. Thankfully Mathias remembered before we left the next morning. With the fire roaring we roasted marshmallows before heading to bed content after our first day on the Abel Tasman Trail.

On the 10th we woke to a beautiful sunrise after a cold night and enjoyed some coffee and oats while Harry, Charlotte and I discussed the morals of changing the genes of a baby before it’s born. We let the tents dry from the morning dew before packing up and setting off once more. We stopped off at another hut to have our mid-morning snack on our way to our next campsite at Waiharakeke Bay. This was the only campsite which wasn’t right next to the beach. About 50m inland there was a small clearing where we pitched our tents. We hung the tarp between two trees for some cover as there was a very light shower before the sun came out again and we went to the beach. Harry and Seb did some rock climbing while Harry, Charlotte and I went exploring along a chilly freshwater stream before we all did some yoga on the beach. This location was also our first encounter with sand flies. They come with a nasty bite which left most of us with some nasty sores but it was all a part of the experience. After rice and lentils for dinner we enjoyed smores by the fire and headed to bed early ready for our sunrise expedition.

The next stage of our journey required us to cross an estuary at low tide which meant getting up and leaving at sunrise. It was a stunning morning as we watched the sun fill the estuary as it rose. We still had to paddle through parts of it in bare feet but it was a great way to wake ourselves up. Once we had crossed we had breakfast at the hut on the other side where we had our permits checked by a member of the Department of Conservation. We hiked on through the woods (after explaining to Charlotte that she couldn’t take a pair of socks that were hanging outside the hut) and down onto another beach. At this stage the tide was in but we had another tidal river to cross. Rather than wait for two or three hours we stripped down to our underwear, put our packs on our heads and waded through. I felt like I was in the film Swiss Family Robinson! While we were dressed for it we had a swim in the midday heat before having a bite to eat. We soon arrived at our next campsite called Bark bay. This was the only night where there were other people camping at the same site and they were far enough away that we didn’t notice they were there.

Harry, Seb and I saw that there was a waterfall marked on the map not too far away and decided to go find it as it was only the early afternoon. We worked our way along the edge of Falls river through the bush before descending to the river itself where we jumped from rock to rock until we reached the waterfall. The light was filtering through beautifully and the falls had a large and deep plunge pool so Harry and I decided to strip off and go for a swim. It may have been chilly but this was probably the highlight of my trip. Once back at the campsite we had pasta and muscles for dinner, roasted marshmallows and then when the tide was out we went down to the beach and lay down to look at the stars. The sky was incredibly clear and I saw several shooting stars. Harry did try to sleep outside in his hammock but it proved too cold and he retired to his tent. Little did Harry know, this was to be the least of his troubles in the next 24 hours.

The morning of the 12th was much more chilled as we enjoyed the sunrise and made tea from the local Mānuka or ‘tea tree’. The hike followed the slow trend of the morning. We had lunch, more wraps with peanut butter and cheese, just outside of a small settlement of holiday homes before we headed for Cleopatra pool. This idyllic pool has a naturally occurring water slide where moss and algae has grown along the rocks. Once again stripping off we slid down the slide several times, having a blast although I did pick up a couple of grazes on my backside! We took a cross country route from there to our campsite through the bush and off the beaten track. It was actually one of the most enjoyable sections, if a little tiring. Our campsite, Observation beach, was at the bottom of a rather steep hill right on the beach. After about four hours of hiking we came to set up our tents. It was at this point that Harry started asking if anyone had taken his tent poles. Alas none of us had and he came to the realisation that his poles were back at the previous campsite. So he took some food, the rest of his tent and my day pack and headed back with about three hours of daylight left.

The rest of us set about prepping for dinner. Bobby and Mathias collected their largest collection of muscles, Charlotte claimed to not have the lentils for dinner, everyone searched their bags for the lentils, Charlotte found the lentils in her bag, Seb went on a mini adventure and touched one of the ‘Do not touch’ possum traps, Seb made sure he washed his hands well and we cooked up cous cous, lentils and muscles for dinner. As we sat down to eat Mathias announced that he had a surprise for us and pulled out two packets of glow sticks to create some atmosphere. Just as we were finishing up our last dinner of the hike we heard a call from above. Shortly after Harry reappeared! He had walked the up hills and jogged the down hills and managed to do the whole return journey in about four hours, clocking up around a marathon in distance over the course of the day. We made our final campfire and roasted the last of our marshmallows before we headed to bed for some well-deserved rest.

Everyone was up for sunrise on the final morning although it was about 9am before we set off. We slowly finished out the final three hours of hiking, making the most of our final time there. At the end, we asked a stranger to take a photo of us as a group. Unfortunately, the camera got the better of them so I had to take a picture myself. Harry then took a shuttle of cars to the next town over, Motueka, before he, Charlotte and I went to collect the other car from the starting point. Charlotte and I stopped into Pupu Springs (supposedly the clearest water in New Zealand) on our way back. The others went to The Sprig and Fern for a drink. When we were unable to locate it at first Charlotte asked for directions, only to discover it was right behind us! The drive back to Nelson felt longer this time but soon we had arrived, returned the cars and eaten.

As Nelson is a domestic airport only, it closes at night so our plan to sleep at the airport fell through. The beach was only a 40min walk from the airport so it seemed like a good starting point. You technically can’t camp on the beach in Nelson so we didn’t pitch our tents and just took out our sleeping bags and camping mats and slept under the stars till around 4am. Thankfully it didn’t rain (much) and we made it to the airport, caught our flight and were soon back in Auckland. I don’t think I have ever been so thankful to shower, shave and put on clean clothes (I had been wearing the same ones for two weeks) but as I reflect on the adventure now it was truly fantastic and one of the happiest times of my life.

You can see all the photos from the trip here.