Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman Kayaking

I booked a full day kayaking trip to Tonga Marine Reserve. I was picked up at 8:15AM and taken to the Kayaking office. There we got our gear and had a briefing. Our guide's name was Vince and he was from Montreal. Three of our group met us at the beach because they stayed at the very nice (and expensive) Awaroa Lodge. We loaded up on a boat pulled by a tractor which towed us down the road to the water. There it pulled us down to the water and backed us up until we were deep enough to be launched. I have never seen anything quite like it. Our boat trip to the put in point at Onetahuti lasted about an hour. There I met my paddling partner- Mark - from California. Mark and his wife and 13 month old baby had hiked down from Totaranui to Awaroa Lodge the day before and then down to Onetahuti the kayak morning. They had originally wanted to to kayak with their 13 month old child but the kayak company wouldn't allow that. Imagine that - instead of remembering the 3 B's if you capsize [Boat, Blade and Breath] there would be 5 B's [Boat, Blade, Breath, Baby, Baby Breathing] (insert sarcasm). So on this day the wife hiked with the baby and the husband was my kayak partner. Unfortunately he brought no water. Later I found out that he had made the tidal crossing in two feet of water with his infant because they had not researched the tidal information. Well enough about him but I think you get the idea.

We kayaked up to Shag Harbour and then onto Tonga Island and saw heaps of New Zealand seals. Some of them swam by us and others were sun bathing on the rocks. An interesting fact about these seals is that they are sea lions. They were improperly named.

We kayaked down the coast the to Bark Bay for our water taxi ride home. There we left very late because my kayak partner's wife and child had not arrived. It turned out they were at the wrong place and eventually everything was sorted out and we got home [an hour late].

Hiking Abel Tasman Totaranui to Onetahuti
I bought a three day pass for the water taxi and I am going to walk most of the Abel Tasman Track but return each night to my backpacker (the Barn). The first section is Totaranui (the farthest north the water taxi goes) to Onetahuti.

The walk was so beautiful. The beaches and coastline were gorgeous. I had lunch at the best spot a bench on the hill with an incredible view. Check out the photo of it.

There is one tricky part where you need to cross an inlet at low tide. I hit it perfectly where the maximum water was an inch or two. (Unlike my kayak partner)

On my way to Onetahuti Beach I saw a really big oyster catcher. I went to take a photo of it. I think it was nesting because it flew at me. I was caught off guard and fell over backward. It must have been quite funny to see. Luckily I didn't get much sand in my camera.

At Onetahuti Beach I ran into Emma (one of my Queen Charlotte Track friends). We arranged to meet for a beer at the end of the day. It was a really, really good day. It turns out that Emma was chased by one of those Oyster Eaters as well.

Hiking Abel Tasman Onetahuti to Torrent Bay
On the way to my drop off at Onetahuti the water taxi driver did a pass by Tonga Island. There we saw a baby seal. It was so little that it didn't show up in my photo. There have been very few female seals around because they have been hiding out ready to give birth. This was one of the first baby seals of the season. What a really good start to the day it was!

The hike was mostly inland today with fewer views. I did see two smallish waterfalls. One was a side trip from the track called Cascade Falls.

Hiking Abel Tasman Torrent Bay to Marahau
This was the last day of my hiking. I did most of the Abel Tasman track. I only missed out on a bit at the top. If I come back, I will make sure an do that bit and visit Golden Bay. I added two side trips to the track today. I visited a rock pool called Cleopatra's Pool and did a hike out to Pitt Head for some really good views of Anchorage. The rest of the track back to Marahau was very pretty with lots of views of beaches. I could have spent more time here but having been here five days it is time to move on. I treated myself to a chocolate brownie with ice cream at the end of the Track. The water taxi tractor driver was there. I think he has seen enough of me.

A selection of my photo are here