Abel Tasman Coast Track
Where I left off last time we were en route to Marahau, and it was probably raining. For whatever reason it rained pretty much any time we were on the road in the south island. Rain was in the forecast for the next three days as well, which meant our three-day trek on the Abel Tasman Coast Track would not be as pleasant as we'd hoped.
When we arrived in the sleepy beach-side town of Marahau, though, we found the forecast had changed! Three days of clear, blue skies and warm sun awaited us.
In the way of background information, the Abel Tasman Coast Track is another of New Zealand's 9 Great Walks. It's generally considered the easiest, and therefore the most visited. The ascents on the hike are sudden and steep, but few and far between. Most of the walk consists of easy, flat walking through coastal forest with bountiful opportunities to stop along at the many beaches with pristine sand, stunningly-turquoise water, and fantastic limestone rock formations and caves for exploration.
All told, the track is 51 km long, taking 3-5 days to complete depending on how many hours you let yourself get sidetracked by the beautiful beaches. As we were a little pressed for time on this trip, we opted to hike the first 3 days, or 33 km.
Conveniently our hostel was located just 1 km from the start of the track, so we took our time in the morning to have breakfast, finish packing our bags, and stow the car in a special car park before making our way to the track.
The first day was incredibly easy. We stopped at three or four beaches along the way and still made it to Anchorage Bay, our first campsite, well before sundown. Mike and I had a little excitement at one of the beaches. Inside a small, dark limestone cave I saw the light from a solitary glow worm. I'm not sure what it was doing all alone, but I tried to take a picture. Flash fully illuminated the cave for a split second, and when I looked down at the camera to review the picture I realized Mr. Glow Worm and I weren't alone.
Creepy cave weta! At first I thought they were spiders so I got the hell out of there, but later on I realized they must've been New Zealand's most darling little insects. And by darling I mean disgusting, and by little I mean frickin' huge. They're generally about 4-5 inches long, sometimes longer depending on leg and antennae length.
At the campsite we tried our best to make a fire, but the wind was relentless. On the bright side I learned how to chop wood, adding another valuable life skill to my repertoire.
Early the next morning Mike and I set out on an hour sidetrack to Pitt Head, a promontory which was supposedly the site of an old Pa (Maori fortification). As it turned out, it was only the site of the Pa indeed, as we could find no evidence of the fort itself. We were rewarded for our efforts, though, with great views out across the Cook Strait. We could even see the hazy outline of the north island in the distance.
Back at camp I dragged Alexa from her sleep so we could breakfast and pack up our gear for the next section of the height. From Anchorage we had an option of an easy low tide route (ten minutes) or a long, uphill high tide route (1.5 hours). It was low tide so we could have crossed the estuary easily, but we wanted to see Cleopatra Pools, a series of fresh water pools, so we had to take the high road.
After our stop at the pools we noticed we were running parallel to the low-tide track, so we took a shortcut down a ten foot embankment and crossed the estuary. Thousands upon thousands of empty clam shells littered the sand and under every piece of soaking rotted wood were dozens of miniature crabs. It was like walking on the ocean floor, which made it one of the cooler parts of the hike.
Clam shells scattered across the sand. These are all empty, dead shells. I'm not sure what living clams do when it's low tide. I guess they can burrow?
We eventually made our way to Bark Bay, our second campsite. At Bark Bay a thick line of trees sheltered the fire pit from the wind, so we thought we might have better luck with the fire. Wrong. All but two-three small chunks of the wood provided were too wet to burn, so once again we found ourselves nursing a pitiful flame. Later on, a large group of European travelers happened by. Daniel Boone himself strolled up, smirked at our would-be fire, and with broken English said, "I fix it?"
Not ten minutes later he had the fire going, through some mystical combination of shaving off small pieces from the wet wood, blowing, and flapping air into the coals. With smoke flooding the campsite and our egos crushed, we decided to head into Mike's tent for a few rounds of rummy before bed.
The final day presented us with two gruelling uphill segments and a few pretty beaches to explore. Mike and I found another cave, so we grabbed the flashlight and headed in. This time we kept an eye out for cave weta and spiders. After about twenty feet we came to a large chamber and the only way to continue would have been to crawl on our stomachs through a small gap near the ground. No thanks.
Eventually we made our way to Awaroa Bay, our final beach, and laid out in the sand to wait for our water taxi back to Marahau. Here are a few more pictures from the hike:
Sea birds sitting on a sign in Marahau:
Alexa and I standing at the start of the track:
All three of us standing on a cool limestone formation:
Just a pretty beach from the first day:
Scenic view near Anchorage Bay:
Awaroa Bay, where we lounged and waited for the water taxi.
Picton - Ferry - Wellington
After returning to Marahau and repacking our very, very smelly car (by then the garbage bag of dirty laundry had reached tremendous proportions), our first order of business was getting some warm food in our aching stomachs. We made a fast food stop in Motueka. Alexa got herself KFC, while Mike and I took a more piggish route. In New Zealand, McDonald's offers family meals after 5 pm, so Mike and I ordered the $20 "Family of Four" meal consisting of two cheeseburgers, a McChicken, a Big Mac, two large fries, two small fries, and four drinks. Delicious (not really, but it was cheap).
From there we drove the 2.5 hour voyage to Picton. After an awesome shower to wipe off layers of sweat, sunscreen, and insect repellent from the past three days, we headed straight to bed. The next morning we caught the 8 am ferry to Wellington and drove to our friends Jason and Tammy's flat. Once again they were awesome enough to let us crash at their place.
Over the next couple days we toured Wellington, spending plenty of time just walking around the city, but also made stops at the Botanic Gardens and Te Papa. Since Wellington is known for its night life we planned on having a big night out Friday. Unfortunately, our plans were cut short by ANZAC Day (similar to Veterans' or Memorial Day) being on Saturday. On public holidays employers are required to pay employees time and a half, so many restaurants and bars will either close or charge a 15% surcharge to make up for the difference. We hadn't counted on this starting at midnight until all but three bars closed at 11:59 and the rest started packing on the surcharges. Fortunately Burger Fuel (the best burger chain ever) hadn't started with surcharges yet, so we had a nice midnight snack before heading back to Jason and Tammy's.
Saturday morning we had to pack up and bid Jason and Tammy farewell. With less than a week until Mike had to be in Auckland for his flight home and lots to see and do, we had to get on the road.
Next stop, Taupo. I'm going to end this post here because once again I've written too much! Next time I'll finish up our trip with Mike and get on to what Alexa and I have been up to for the past week, promise.
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