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| View of Mutton Cove on the Abel Tasman Track |
Day 1, Marahau to Apple Tree Bay
It's always a little sad to begin a long distance hike in the rain. When
we hit the trail at Marahau at the late hour of 6pm (after traveling
all the way from Wellington that day) we told ourselves the occasional
drops of rain we were feeling would soon clear up. As it goes, by the
time we reached Apple Tree Bay, the rain had increased to a light
drizzle, the sky was looking ominously dark and it seemed best to stay
put rather than continue onto our intended destination, Te Pukatea Bay.
As consolation, the Apple Tree Bay campsite is on a beautiful golden
beach which I am sure looks very lovely on a sunny day, and still makes
for a pretty decent picture in the rain as well.
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| Apple Tree Bay |
Day 2, Apple Tree Bay to Torrent Bay
It rained most of the night and we woke the next day to a steady
downpour. Boo! As we knew the forecast called for clearing skies in the
late morning, we took opportunity to sleep in and enjoy a late breakfast
in "bed". By the time we finished packing up the tent, the rain had
ended and the sun was trying hard to break through the thinning clouds.
We crossed out fingers, hit the trail and hoped for the best...
We hiked for a couple of hours along the coast and over a short inland
section and soon arrived at Torrent Bay. Happily, the bay looked
gorgeous under much-welcome sunny, blue skies. Yay! We decided to stop
for the afternoon to swim and eat a meal at the Anchorage Hut. For those
of you who may be considering hiking the Abel Tasman with a tent, I
believe the campsite at the Anchorage Hut is one of the best on the
trail. Though many campers seems to bypass the peninsula to head
straight to Bark Bay, I would recommend including a night at Anchorage
in your hiking itinerary, especially if the weather is fine.
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| Anchorage Hut |
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| Lunchtime at the Anchorage Hut |
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| Stopping for a swim at the Anchorage Hut beach |
After enjoying an afternoon in the sun we hiked across the bay at low
tide to Torrent Bay Village, where we camped for the night. It wasn't my
favourite campsite on the trail, but it was a good enough spot to pitch
our tent for the night.
Day 3, Torrent Bay to Waiharakeke Bay
After two relatively short days of hiking, we found ourselves faced with
a mammoth 25km hike on day three. Happily, the going was fairly easy,
with the exception of one steep and onerous climb just past Bark Bay.
Keeping our priorities in order, we managed to squeeze in time for some
swimming (and a shower!) at the Bark Bay Hut.
We ended the day at the lovely campsite near Waiharakeke Bay which has a very fine swimming beach.
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| Low tide crossing near the Awaroa Hut |
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| Waiharakeke Bay at sunset |
Note: The shower at Bark Bay isn't really much of a shower, it's just a hose with a shower head
out in the forest (yes, the water was super cold) but it'll get you
clean.
Day 4, Waiharakeke Bay to Whariwharangi Bay
This section turned out to be the Abel Tasman Track of my dreams. With
most of the trail behind us were able to hike the days' 12km at a
relaxed pace and spend the majority of our time lounging at the many
stunning beaches we passed throughout the day. Heavenly!
Goat Bay and Mutton Cove ended up being my favourite beaches on trail.
Surprisingly, except for the occasional group of hikers passing
through, both were pretty much empty. What's not to love about that?
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| View of Goat Bay from a distance |
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| Goat Bay |
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| Mutton Cove |
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| View on the way to Whariwharangi Bay |
Day 5, Whariwharangi Bay to Wainui Bay
Our 5-day hike ended as it began, on a bit of a sad note. Sad
because our happy days enjoying the sand and sun of New Zealand's Abel
Tasman Track had come to an end (sniff!) If we'd been able to carry
enough food I would gladly have turned around and hiked the 55km back to
our starting point in Marahau. Instead we took at advantage of one of
the many transportation companies who service the Abel Tasman,
TrekExpress, who picked us up at Wainui and drove us back to Marahau.
You need to make arrangements in advance for pickups, so if you're
looking to do this trip in the future I'd recommend consulting the DOC
for information on companies you can contact.
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| The campsite at Whariwharangi Bay |
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| Wanui Bay on the final day of the hike |
Now, after enjoying such an amazing time on the Abel Tasman you might be wondering why I don't just declare New Zealand an easy victor in the "is New Zealand better than Canada?" debate and call it a day. Well, I'm hesitating on two counts, coincidentally both of them are German travelers I met on the Able Tasman who happen to be huge fans of Canada. They reminded me that there are a few sights to be found back home that might compare very favourably to Abel Tasman's stunning views. Take a look at my flickr photo set from our
6-day hike on Vancouver Island's North Coast Trail for example and let me know what you think.
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