The great tramping began. We rose early in time for a 7:00 am pickup by Abel Tasman Guides. The seven of us joined a family of 5 in a van pulling a trailer into which the luggage was stowed. The drive to the town of Marahua and the start of the Abel Tasman Trail took about an hour. I got to sit in the front and talked all manner of subjects with the driver. Curious facts – today’s tides in this area are 5 meters (16 feet – which doesn’t sound like much until you see the beaches go from nothing to hundreds of yards wide) and the peanuts that we saw yesterday are grown in Australia. The route was through agricultural areas – we saw hops, apples, peaches, kiwis, and apricots.
We reached the Abel Tasman Guide base about 8:30 am and were given a thorough briefing by Deb, the Canadian-born wife of the owner, who is a Kiwi. She told us about the time schedule -which is driven in fact by tide tables, because there are two or three places where we need to cross bays at low tide and other points where we need to meet the water taxi service – and the best beaches and viewpoints. She also handed out lunch bags and sent us on our way.
The first section was along a wide estuary with exposed mud flats full of birds. Then we started walking up and down undulating hills through woodlands overlooking the sea to our east. The trail was mostly compacted mud with some stones and tree roots, so the walking was pretty easy. The trees were full of noisy cicadas, and we were able to spot a couple. At about 11 am we descended to Apple Tree Bay for a rest break and elevenses ,or perhaps our first lunch. The resident, pesky, weka birds moved in immediately to scavenge for crumbs or more – Deb called them “cheeky” and said that they have even learned to open tent zippers. The beaches are made of a coarse yellow sand ground out of the native granite.
We regrouped and returned to the trail, pausing occasionally for photos and once to climb down to Yellow Point which had a view over 2 offshore islands. The islands are closed to camping but sailing yachts could anchor in the wind shadow. The trail began to climb at this point to take us up and over an area, rather than all the way around a head. The flora shifted to more open chaparral with shrubs and small trees and occasional large tree ferns – it was would have been very hot under sunshine, but clouds had been descending all morning and it began to rain when we were still a kilometer or two away from the end point.
We dropped down about 400 feet in less than a kilometer to reach The Anchorage, which has a small lodge and a campground with facilities for tent campers and kayakers. The campers were international; one couple was from Israel and a cluster of kayakers were speaking something that sounded Slavic.
The Abel Tasman Guides provide a row of spacious wall tents, and Varis had already claimed his home for the night and was sitting under his awning when the rest of us arrived. Because we booked later than the rest of the group, we are not staying at the camp, so we retreated to a shady grove to eat our second lunch, closelymonitored by 3 ducks and a weka. Jan went for a walk while the rest of the group dried off, warmed up, and waited for happy hour which started about 3:30 pm, courtesy of the Abel Tasman Guides (two young guys).
We walked a few hundred yards to the Pateke B&B, which is a sleek, compact ADU in the owners’ side yard.
We went for happy hour rehydration in another rain shower and then had dinner at the only restaurant in town named Hooked. I had calamari and a salad, and Betsy had a bowl of green lipped mussels in a fiery broth. We finished with an affogato. It might rain overnight but should be back to sunny tomorrow.
Sounds like a good day walking. The B&B sounds and looks good too. ET
ReplyDeleteYou two sure know how to have a wonderful time ! I enjoy your daily posts so very much !
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