NEW ZEALAND (S.) - ABEL TASMAN – an entire day of ½ day hiking

Thankfully, I met a fellow “Rammie” (CSU Ram,) Lindsay, at Accents on the Park (as she’s working there!) in Nelson. Not only was it wonderful to meet a fellow alum, it was also great to find out that the bus picking us up for Abel Tasman at 7:20am doesn’t actually leave the town of Nelson until 8am from the bus terminal… so Julie (friend from Ireland) and I walked to the bus station at 7:45 and allowed ourselves more time to chill in the morning! ;) …always a good thing to have the ‘inside scoop’ on things that you do!

Cruising past vineyards, shortly after sunrise… the Tasman Bay absolutely still in the early morning… picking up a few school kids and local workers to transport them to Motueka with us - love it! Motueka is a cute town filled with many more backpackers and cafes than I ever imagined. This is a spot I will look forward to spending time in during a future visit back to the area… when it’s warm enough to enjoy kayaking along the coast of Abel Tasman.

Marahau – the entrance town to Abel Tasman National park is extremely tiny. Big tractors pull trailers with kayaks and boats (filled with all of us!) through the streets and down the boat ramps into the shallow tidal waters. Most day-trippers take a little speed boat up to one of the coves along the coast and then walk back to town – along the famed Abel Tasman track. The track is actually the flattest, most well-kept hiking spot I’ve ever encountered… it was no wonder that a local guy went trail-running by us around hour 2! The trail winds in & out at each little inlet of beach and water and maintains a pretty steady, and very easy traverse along the coast. In the shade, the cool temps kept us moving. Julie and I managed to find a little overlook spot (due to a “green room run”) that was off-trail and also enjoy our packed lunches sitting in the beach sand at Apple Tree Bay, alongside some kayakers and seagulls. The crazy part – the shaded sections of the beach were covered in a snowy frost… talk about “cool” …literally!

The highlight of returning to Marahau was purchasing a hot beverage, from the local artist’s gallery, and stretching in the glass-sheltered open-air entrance at the trail-head. Our bus showed up shortly thereafter and we endured an insane bus ride back to Nelson, as our driver had some sort of speed-demon mission within him – had those of us in the front relatively on the edge of our seats!