New Zealand Day 15 and 16

Last day on the Abel Tasman Coast Path - today was 10.7 miles and nearly 1,650 verts.  All told, over the four days, we walked (by my count) 35.6 miles with vertical ascents and descents of 3,600 feet.  The group, other than Betsy and I, probably walked a couple of miles further since on the second day we were dropped off a little ways from where they started, a result of the water taxi transfer -- we stayed at a B&B back in Marahua.

Abel Tasman was an early Dutch explorer and is credited with being the first European to discover New Zealand in 1642, sailing from Batavia, which is now Jakarta.  He sailed around Australia, bumping first into Tasmania, and then into New Zealand at what is now called Golden Bay but his landing boats were chased off by the original inhabitants of New Zealand, the Maori, who had lived on New Zealand for a long time.  It is believed that the Maori were protecting a valuable agricultural area.  Tasman named the bay "Murderer's Bay."

A group photo at the Northern Terminus of the Path, where we started the fourth day.  We walked back to where we finished on the third day.  So, while we covered the entire path, we did not travel from the south end to the north end in a continuous line.  The northern part of the park is just as scenic and much less busy, as the water taxis don't come this far.

Sailing in New Zealand requires patience and knowledge of tides.

Great wood carvings

Ditto

A panoramic view of Golden Bay.  I was told that the sand comes from the break up of separation granite which contains iron and thus creates the "golden" color.

Magnificent Tree Ferns

One large fiddlehead and many smaller ones.

Whariwharangi Homestead -- "Wh" is pronounced as "f".  Now a hiking hut for 20 people.

Dramatic coastal trees edging the beach

We walked a side path out to Separation Point, adding about a mile of extra distance to today's length.

Impressive coastal cliffs

Fur seal basking in the sun

The lighthouse at Separation Point - note the white caps on the water, the wind was gusting upwards to 50 to 80 mph (per Jan).

A Pied Shag, showing off a great waddle.

Wind driven waves crashing on the beach at our lunch site.

A little bit of round rock scrambling from the lunch spot (the line of bushes and trees in the background)  to the path (I am standing on the path).

Say goodbye, on the top of the last major ascents.

You may have noticed that I mentioned that the wind was blowing.  It blew strongly from the north northeast, kicking up some sizable swells on the open ocean and pushing up fair-sized waves onto the beaches.  Our original plan after reaching Totaranui was to board a water taxi which would take us back to the main base and starting point for the walk at Marahau.  But,  the wind conditions and the large swells made it too dangerous for the water taxi services to operate.  So, we lingered for awhile after getting the word that our tour supporter was sending a bus to pick us up.  And, that is what happened.  We went from Totaranui to back to the hotel at Pohara to pick up our overnight bags.  We then had a long drive south and up a steep winding road to the east side of the peninsular.   Near Riwaka we transferred to another van along with the original "checked" or held suitcases, for the ride back to Nelson.  Our outfitter, Abel Tasman Guides, had done a terrific job of covering for the suspended water taxis.  We arrived in Nelson by 6:30 pm.  And our hotel awaited us.  We checked in, went for pizza at Stephano's (over the movie theatre), and did laundry (the hotel has washer and dryers in every room - very sweet).

New Zealand Day 16

We were up by 7:00 am, breakfasted in time to walk to the bus station for a 9:45 am intercity bus from Nelson to Picton.  The bus was nearly full and left on time.  It made three stops before reaching Picton, at the main ferry dock.  It stopped at Pelorus Bridge, dropping off 2 backpackers, in the rain.  This was after climbing over a mountain range east of Nelson.  The second stop was the Woodburne Airport, which serves the larger city of Blenheim.  The third stop was in Blenheim at its train station.  Picton was the final stop after another 20 minutes.  It rained for most of the journey.

The ferry leaving with Kathy and Mark on board; view from our hotel room balcony.

Varis found green-lipped mussels for lunch (photo by Dennis)

Our Harbour View room

Our view from the Harbour View room balcony

ditto

On our 2020 NZ tour, we stayed a couple of nights in Blenheim, touring in the area we traveled through.  One notable place that we recognized from the bus today was the town of Havelock, the mussel capital of NZ.  Here is a photo from the previous trip.

After arriving, we walked to the Harbour View Hotel, our accommodations for one night.  We checked and immediately went out in search of Kathy and Mark, the last two folks who are joining on this adventure.  They have a self-contained rental van in which they are touring on their own.  We join them in 4 or 5 days in Takapuna, near Aukland.  They were waiting for a ferry to take them across Cook Strait to Wellington, on the North Island.  We make that crossing tomorrow.

A food cart owner recommended that we go to the Irish Pub for dinner, but it was closed on Sundays.  So, we opted for a second choice - the Escape from Picton, a rather upscale restaurant and a little pretentious.  They had very fine green-lipped mussels but only Ron opted for them.  The menu offered interesting preparations for the fish of the day - cod on top of vegetables, as well as lamb pies and seafood chowder.  A few of us went to the local grocery store for Magnum Bars for dessert and for breakfast supplies.  The town is quiet under thin cloudy skies, and we are enjoying the coolness,  as we gaze out over the marina with its many cruisers.  A half moon is visible through the clouds.

The lamb pie, with mash, peas and mint jelly.

Nighttime view over the marina.

Editors' Note:  Auto correct made some errors in the last blog - we did not see a "pesky week" but rather a "pesky weke," and it was not a wood "penguin" that I photograhed but rather a wood "pigeon."  Most other similar typos, past or future, are blamed on the auto correct feature.  Good day!