Abel Tasman National Park

Split Apple Rock
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Nelson was a nice stopover on our way to the ever popular Abel Tasman National Park.. On our way up north, we hit a local glassblowers studio and also to a local sheep farmer who makes great cheese. Neudorf cheese – wonderful! Off we were with our block of cheese! You know I love cheese and I went two whole months in Asia without, so I’m making up for it now. I also observed that there is no body in NZ making goat cheese and it sure seems like a market opportunity for us. Scott noticed a book in the cheese shop called “Cheesemaking at Home” so maybe I’ll start there and see how it goes before buying some goats.

When it's low tide at the Abel Tasman beaches, it's LOW tide!
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Abel Tasman (Kaiteriteri) was well worth our three nights stay. Abel Tasman NP is the most visited NP in New Zealand and the Abel Tasman Coast Track is the easiest of the Great Walks in the country. There are plenty of beautiful beaches surrounding by bush and marine wildlife (more fur seals). On our first night we drove out to see the aptly named Split Apple Rock to get a taste of the beautiful sea and beaches that we would see over the next two days. The only way to reach many of these beaches is by water taxi unless you want to walk for hours or even days to reach them. We decided to do a half day sea kayak tour up the coast and then take a water taxi to a stretch of the track so that we could do a little tramp (as hiking is called here). We used to two small local businesses called Kahu Kayaks and Sea Shuttle, which we would recommend both. We really enjoyed the day and the weather was gorgeous. The sea was a little wavy as well, so we had some good fun riding the swells (although our arms were a little pooped at the end of our paddle!).

Riding the waves, baby.....

That's what you call happy feet (Tata Beach)
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We also took a drive up to Golden Bay – an even more stunning, large bay with cute little towns - for some good R&R on Tata beach. Too bad we didn’t bring our books as maybe Scott could have been enticed to read his second book ever! Of course on the way we had to make a stop at Pupu Springs, the largest fresh water springs in NZ, The Groves, for a quick walk through the Rata trees to a scenic overlook, to Wainui Bay to check out the great view and also see the mussel farm and we couldn’t miss stopping at a great salami shop called Golden Salami . We were thrilled with our stay here as the weather was just perfect although the water was a bit nippy.

A view while taking a break from kayaking
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We also loved our B&B – Robyn’s Nest. It was in a great spot in Kaiteriteri where we were well taken care of and Robyn even coordinated our customized kayak/tramp itinerary. You also have to love a town where there are only two restaurants, one small grocer, a holiday/camper van park and of course, an ice cream shop. And although we haven’t been overly excited about the chow in NZ thus far, we loved our burger and fish & chips at the Fat Tui shack – in the parking lot of Kahu Kayaks. No frills – but cheap good eats!

Obviously not a professional
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Next, we make our way down the scenic west coast of the south island to Fox Glacier…..

Tidbit of the day:

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand in 1642 – but left when several of his crew were killed by the local Maori tribes. We’re told that he never actually even stepped foot off his ship. He is responsible for naming the land New Zealand after the Netherland’s province of Zeeland.