New Zealand Part 3

I've decided to post some journal entries from my travels in New Zealand for the benefit of those who won't get see the pictures or talk with me about it. Mind you, this is not a narrative meant to explain everything about New Zealand and my time there, only a reproduction of what I thought was worth putting into my own journal. Enjoy, post any questions as comments and I'll respond as soon as I can.

October 29th, Blenheim - Marahau
Sleeping in today! The bus to Marahau didn't leave until 12:50pm, so we had no early start, no rush, no pre-packing the night before. It was a very welcome change, on shouldn't always be in a hurry when on vacation.

Our "Atomic Shuttle," didn't go all the way to our destination, but our driver as very helpful and got us a transfer on another bus. Kiwi customer service is fantastic!

We are staying at the Marahau Beach Camp for 2 nights. It's a great deal at only nz$20.00 a night - and convenient because many of the services into Abel Tasman leave from their parking lot.

We made a dinner of rice, mince, onions, and corn which was fairly tasty but as always it could use some salt! But we made enough for 2 nights, so no cooking tomorrow!

October 30th, Abel Tasman National Park

Today we finally got to do a bit of tramping in NZ! The way to get into Abel Tas is either on foot via the walking track or by water taxi. Anna and I decided to get taxied in to Onetahuti (On-uh-ta-hoo-tee) beach and then trek 15K south to be picked up at Anchorage Beach. It might have been the best thing we've done the entire trip.

We loaded up into the taxi boats in the carpark and were towed out by tractor down to the beach. Tractors are definitely ideal because of low-tide launches - lots of wet beach to cross before hitting the ocean.

The sun was out and no clouds in sight, but the wind at sea as pretty stiff and there were easterly swells of 5-7 feet! Made the going rough and very bumpy, but fun none-the-less. We got a quick tour of "Split-Apple Rock," and the seal colony at Tonga Bay - only one seal had arrived, it's still very early in their mating season.

We put in at Onetahuti in an interesting way. The boats have no open bow, so all exit happens at the rear next to the outboard motor. So all the boats have to back onto the beach, and to get on and off the each boat is equipped with an anchor on a winch-line at the bow which they use to pull themselves up off the sand after dropping the anchor further out.

After a wet landing we set off hiking. It's a great place for a walk, like if Forest Park in Portland were tropical and on the beach. The trails are well kept and not too difficult for anyone. We did hit one tricky bit - some tracks are only accessible at low-tide, and we tried to cross one a few hours after low-tide and it was filling in with water. So we had to get our feet muddy and ford a stream or two but we managed alright and had a good laugh about it.

My favorite section of the track was crossing a long cable bridge. It was very cool, just wobbly enough, and reminded me of Indiana Jones.

We got to Anchorage Beach almost an hour earlier than estimated, so we knew we'd made great time hiking. The ride home was as exciting as the ride in, but a bit faster since we were going with the swell this time.

After leftovers we got desert at the very classy cafe next door. Anna had pavlova and I had dark chocolate pudding. Both were delicious, pavlova is like angel food cake on steroids, so good! Tomorrow we will check out and probably hike to kill some time, then catch a late shuttle to Nelson. And after that, a long ride to the Franz Joseph Glacier!