Abel Tasman National Park was one of the first places on our ‘must see’ list when we booked this trip.
After a year of planning, would it live up to the expectations? Especially as we’ve started noticing the leaves are beginning to change colour with the first signs of Autumn in the air.
Reaching the campsite was a bit sketchy.
The evidence of a very wet summer was visible along the twisty, hilly road through the forest to Mārahau. Several small land slips are still partially blocking the route and in a couple of places the one lane of road has entirely slipped off the mountain.
Emerging from the forest we arrive at Mārahau Beach Camp and are greeted by golden sands and a turquoise sea. We can feel the heat of the bright sun again and for a moment we mistakenly think we’ve been transported to the Caribbean.
Expectations have been exceeded.
Abel Tasman Coastal Track
The Coastal Track is one of the reasons that Abel Tasman NP is so popular.
It runs the 60km along the entire coast of the park from Golden Bay to Mārahau. It’s possible to walk and camp the entire length.
Our plan is more modest. We’re hoping to use a water taxi, which are the only way to get about the national park, to take us up the coast to Anchorage. Then we’ll walk the track back to base.
As for our base, we’ve picked a great one in Mārahau. It’s only a couple of kilometers from the entrance to national park and is on a beautiful sandy bay. Conveniently, the water taxi’s go from just across the road, there’s a small shop and a tasty looking bistro pub.
The water taxi experience is unexpected and fantastic. We’re loaded up into the boat whilst it’s on dry land, on a trailer behind a tractor. Our captain then drives us down the road, into the sea, and then jumps out of the tractor and aboard the boat.
We get the typically succinct New Zealand safety briefing. “I’m your captain. This is basically a speed boat so sit down. You, at the back might get wet. Ok, let’s go.” And we’re off.
The boat ride first takes us to see Split Apple Rock and then up the coastline. The views are amazing. It gives us a totally different perspective to see the cliffs, forest covered mountains and the myriad of sandy coves from the sea. It feels fantastic to have the wind and spray in our faces as the boat bounces out across the sea.
Disembarking our taxi is a wetter experience than getting on.
Somewhat unhelpfully, the captain informs us of this as we arrive at the beach.
“There’s no ladder so you’ll have to jump into the water”
Somewhat smugly, we’re prepared for this with wearing shorts and our wet/dry Tropic Feel trainers. Everyone else though is wearing trousers, walking boots with socks and they’re not terribly impressed at the news. Particularly those with young kids. No-one has a towel.
The walk back is pretty easy and mostly along the cliff tops. After some longer drives in the van, it feels great to be out walking amongst the unfamiliar sounds and smells of the forest. For lunch, we find a steep trail down to a quiet beach to enjoy our picnic and then clamber back up to the main track to carry on. Every so often the trees open up and give us a glimpse out over the islands of the bay beyond.
It’s a great hike and after 17 kilometers, we reach the bar bistro where we started. We decide we’ve earned refreshments.
Hooked
When we arrived, the menu at Hooked caught our eye and made our mouths water. The highlight for us was chef’s fish special – Red Snapper with a Thai style chilli salad.
We decided we deserved dinner out too.
The food arrived and was even better than expected. Unfortunately, we were so hungry that there aren’t any photos to share.
Trust us though, if you’re in the area, it’s well recommended.
After two days at the park, we’ve got to be moving on. Our next stop is also on our must see list and somewhere Sally has been looking forward to visiting.
Thanks for reading,
Sally and Toby
