Abel Tasman

After an early start to catch the ferry we were off on our adventure to walk the Abel Tasman track from Totaranui to Marahau. We were supposed to walk from Whariwharangi, with our first night at the Whariwharangi hut, but due to the heavy rain that covered the area before Christmas the track between Totaranui  and Whariwharangi was closed.

This meant a night in the tent at Marahau before setting off a day later than originally planned and started at Totaranui. We got to the start by water taxi, these supply the park with regular services as it is possible to walk just parts of the track as a day walk with drop off and pick up by water taxi.

The first day involved getting to Awaroa where you have to wait till at least 1.5 hours before low tide to be able to cross the inlet. This was a leisurely day as low tide wasn't till  6.00pm. The tidal rise here is about 4 metres so it was with great interest that we arrived a bit early and had to wait before it was safe to cross and so watched as the water drained away!

We did do one thing that made our walking easier and that was to have our big packs taken to each hut each day, by water taxi and therefore only had to carry a day pack with our lunch and clothes essentails.

 The weather up until now had been good, but on the second day it was a bit overcast, although it only rained lightly a couple of times for our walk from Awaroa to Bark Bay. The Bark Bay has a lagoon that is also tidal and we went for a swim in the rain while the tide was still in, later we walked out to the island we had earlier swum out too.

The third day saw the weather take a turn for the worst and it rained all day with it quite persistent at times. When we arrived at Anchorage hut we were absolutely soaked through to the skin with every bit of gear wringing wet. The hut was busy with everybody trying to keep out of the weather by sheltering on the verranda. We at least had dry packs and were able to get into dry gear and try and dry some of our stuff.

On the way we took a detour to Cleopatra's pool, which involves walking along side the Torrent river, however at one point we had to cross the river and it lived up to its name by being a torrent and impassable  so we had to turn round and go back with out seeing the pool. 

The last day and it was still raining but it was only light drizzle but it persisted all day. We finally got back to Marahau where we enjoyed some hot chips and a hot chocolate while we waited for Denise to arrive on the bus from Picton.  The 4 days of walking was very enjoyable and it was great to be walking through lots of native bush, as most of the park was never cleared for farming and it has been left in its natural state. The long golden beaches and bush make for a very enjoyable environment.