New Zealand Jan 2001 - Abel Tasman National Park

We sped north through dull Greymouth, skirted Punakaiki's pancake rocks for a later visit, and made straight for Motueka on the west side of Tasman Bay.
Joseph was too young for us to hire any sea-kayaks, so we walked along the Abel Tasman National Park's paths. This proved to be quite a good choice, as there were only dozens of walkers on the tracks, but there were hundreds of kayakers on the water.
This was a real change of scene, and the only part of the South Island that makes you think of warm climate and palm trees.
Here I met the weta (pronounced witta, which the local person told me only comes out when it's wit).
[Actually, it turns out to be a huhu beetle - and no I didn't make that name up]

It must still rain a lot here, though, as there were lots of tree ferns. There were also lots of sand-flies. Around the campsites, there are feral possums, too, one bailing up Joseph in the dunny at Te Pukatea. The cove of Te Pukatea is simply gorgeous (see photo below). This part of the coast has very large tidal variation (over two metres), making for lots of variety in the bays, and making some estuary crossings impossibly impassable at high tide, so you need to time your walk carefully.



Glen had decided that the sandy paths made for walking in bare feet, leaving him so sore the following day that he and Joseph were dispatched by boat to a spot further north, whilst Helen and I enjoyed a day of unfettered tramping, and sprinted up the track to meet up with them that afternoon.
The last day was a quick walk to Totaranui Beach followed by a boat ride back to Marahau and a drive to Picton to cross over Cook Strait the next day.


As seen on Andrew Purdam's Bushwalking Treasure Box blog.