After a bus ride from Nelson to the Abel Tasman National Park, the trip really began with a water taxi ride to Bark Bay. We boarded the boat while it was still on the trailer on land and a tractor was used to launch the boat. The launch was the most unusual I‘ve ever seen. I expected the tractor to back us into the water, but instead the tractor pulled us into the water. As I saw the tractor headed toward the water, I was waiting for it to turn around just before it got to the water‘s edge, but it kept going and going, the water up past the axels. It pulled us several hundred feet thru the water. Salt water. And they left it there as we departed for Bark Bay. It was low tide. After we got past the reef, we picked up speed. It was a little rough and the lifting and dropping reminded me of cruising in my uncle’s boat when I was a child, but it also kept remembering the ride from St. Thomas to St. Croix, back in August, when I had to use the vomit bag. I guess my stomach isn’t as strong as it used to be. No need for the bag today. We arrived at Bark Bay without incident.
There was no boat dock at Bark Bay. They just pulled the boat in as far as it can go on the beach. Again, just like we did when I was a child. I took off my boots and socks and waded in to the shore. The water was freezing and the sand was very course. After just a few steps, the soles of my feet were in pain. I slowly made my way to some large rocks to sit, rest and dry my feet, and put my boots back on. Then I realized that I would have to walk thru more water to get to the start of the trail. After a several minutes my feet got used to it, and I arrived at a shelter near the start of the trail. I rinsed my feet, dried them with my fleece jacket and put my boots back on. After filling up my water bottle I started walking the trail at 9:50 am.
The particular trail I took was a 21 km trail from Bark Bay back to the entrance of the park. Overall, this is not a difficult hike, even with the hills. It is just long. Except for brief stops to take pictures, I was walking constantly for 6 hours. I even ate while walking. I passed several people along the way and more going the other direction. And while I walked with a guy from Spain for about ½ hour, I did this trek mostly alone.
If you’re into native New Zealand flora, there was much to see here, but to me it was just lots of trees and ferns. But there was more to see than that. Lots of stunning views of the coast and beaches too cold to swim at. There was also the sounds of the native birds. When I heard them, I thought of ways to turn their songs into symphonies. Then I soon forgot them.
Crossing lagoon at Torrent Bay presented me with a little problem. Because it was low tide, I could cross lagoon and shave 1 hour of my hike. So I started to cross. About a quarter of the way in, I found out that there was still water to cross. Remembering how the sand had stuck to my feet back at Bark Bay and how difficult it was to dry my feet, I started looking for the shallowest, narrowest section to cross. I found a section where I thought I could get across with just 3 steps. I crossed in just 3 steps, but it was deeper than I thought, so my boots and cotton socks had gotten wet. No problem, when I’ve finished crossing the bay, I’ll take them off, lay them on a rock and let them dry.
Two-thirds of the way across, I came across more water. This time it looked to be about waist deep. If I turned back now and took the long way, I would have added about 1 ½ hours to my hike rather than save an hour. I decided I would follow the water to the edge and crawl over the rocks. But that didn’t work. The rocks were too slippery and I risked falling in, getting completely wet and ruining my camera.
I eventually found a section that was about knee deep, took off my boots and socks and crossed. Then continued walking barefoot thru the clam covered mud until I picked up the trail on the other side. Luckily, just at the end, there was a shallow stream of clear water where I could wash my feet. Standing on one foot, I again dried my feet with my fleece jacket and put on my socks and boots. The socks were damp, but not too bad. I was back on the trail again.
I had decided to give my GPS unit a reason for its existence by doing a little geocaching along the way. Geocaching is fairly simple activity where someone - anyone - hides a small container with a logbook and posts the coordinates on a website so that other people can find the container and sign their name in the logbook. Geochaching at Abel Tasman, while racing to catch my bus, didn’t work out to well. Because the coastline has many inlets and bays, when the GPS units says the cache is 1 km away, you’ve got 3 km or more to walk and there is no telling which bay it may be in. After ½ hour, I got within 300 m of the cache, but I was facing a steep drop-off and no trail in that direction. So I gave up and went back to the main trail.
I reached the end of the trail 35 minutes before the 4:30 pickup time. It was a beautiful hike and unlike my Tongariro experience, my knee did not give me any trouble. Ok, I didn’t really hike 21 km. The low tide crossing took a few km’s off, but still… The next time I visit Abel Tasman National Park, I’ll do a multi-day trip, in the summer, with kayaking and camping. I’ll be back in 3 years!
There was no boat dock at Bark Bay. They just pulled the boat in as far as it can go on the beach. Again, just like we did when I was a child. I took off my boots and socks and waded in to the shore. The water was freezing and the sand was very course. After just a few steps, the soles of my feet were in pain. I slowly made my way to some large rocks to sit, rest and dry my feet, and put my boots back on. Then I realized that I would have to walk thru more water to get to the start of the trail. After a several minutes my feet got used to it, and I arrived at a shelter near the start of the trail. I rinsed my feet, dried them with my fleece jacket and put my boots back on. After filling up my water bottle I started walking the trail at 9:50 am.
The particular trail I took was a 21 km trail from Bark Bay back to the entrance of the park. Overall, this is not a difficult hike, even with the hills. It is just long. Except for brief stops to take pictures, I was walking constantly for 6 hours. I even ate while walking. I passed several people along the way and more going the other direction. And while I walked with a guy from Spain for about ½ hour, I did this trek mostly alone.
If you’re into native New Zealand flora, there was much to see here, but to me it was just lots of trees and ferns. But there was more to see than that. Lots of stunning views of the coast and beaches too cold to swim at. There was also the sounds of the native birds. When I heard them, I thought of ways to turn their songs into symphonies. Then I soon forgot them.
Crossing lagoon at Torrent Bay presented me with a little problem. Because it was low tide, I could cross lagoon and shave 1 hour of my hike. So I started to cross. About a quarter of the way in, I found out that there was still water to cross. Remembering how the sand had stuck to my feet back at Bark Bay and how difficult it was to dry my feet, I started looking for the shallowest, narrowest section to cross. I found a section where I thought I could get across with just 3 steps. I crossed in just 3 steps, but it was deeper than I thought, so my boots and cotton socks had gotten wet. No problem, when I’ve finished crossing the bay, I’ll take them off, lay them on a rock and let them dry.
Two-thirds of the way across, I came across more water. This time it looked to be about waist deep. If I turned back now and took the long way, I would have added about 1 ½ hours to my hike rather than save an hour. I decided I would follow the water to the edge and crawl over the rocks. But that didn’t work. The rocks were too slippery and I risked falling in, getting completely wet and ruining my camera.
I eventually found a section that was about knee deep, took off my boots and socks and crossed. Then continued walking barefoot thru the clam covered mud until I picked up the trail on the other side. Luckily, just at the end, there was a shallow stream of clear water where I could wash my feet. Standing on one foot, I again dried my feet with my fleece jacket and put on my socks and boots. The socks were damp, but not too bad. I was back on the trail again.
I had decided to give my GPS unit a reason for its existence by doing a little geocaching along the way. Geocaching is fairly simple activity where someone - anyone - hides a small container with a logbook and posts the coordinates on a website so that other people can find the container and sign their name in the logbook. Geochaching at Abel Tasman, while racing to catch my bus, didn’t work out to well. Because the coastline has many inlets and bays, when the GPS units says the cache is 1 km away, you’ve got 3 km or more to walk and there is no telling which bay it may be in. After ½ hour, I got within 300 m of the cache, but I was facing a steep drop-off and no trail in that direction. So I gave up and went back to the main trail.
I reached the end of the trail 35 minutes before the 4:30 pickup time. It was a beautiful hike and unlike my Tongariro experience, my knee did not give me any trouble. Ok, I didn’t really hike 21 km. The low tide crossing took a few km’s off, but still… The next time I visit Abel Tasman National Park, I’ll do a multi-day trip, in the summer, with kayaking and camping. I’ll be back in 3 years!
2 comments:
Hi Jamieele. I have just caught up with you and have created a blogger account to send a message. Seems you are having fun. I have downloaded some of your stuff so that your grandmother can follow you
Orlando
(uncle)
Good! Show her the pictures and maybe we could convince her to take a trip.
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