Abel Tasman Track

day 1 (this is a slow connection and an apple and it just wrecked the part of the description i already had!!): marahau to medlands beach (justs before bark bay)

only few people hiking, almost all dayhikers, lots of watertaxi traffic, trail easy and broad, constantly, the view opens up to yet another pretty bay, surprisingly shaded, forest full of birdsong, perfect sunny day

morning dip in the sea at appletree bay (great campsite!)

lunch swim at anchorage, sheltered blue water and pretty rocks, even some shade, rather windy, the tidal crossing at torrent bay is not possible until 4 so i decide to take the longer route around the bay (which also involves more altitude and great views!), take a side trip to cleopatra's pool and have a dip in the cold water there

by the time i return t o torrent, the tide is low and i can cross into the bay and do the second half of the tidal crossing, quite ashow! when i checked first at 2, the bay was full of water and i could not quite understand where that crossing was supposed to be :-)

then it is getting late, i am getting tired, and running low on water - i forgot to drink plenty int he morning and it is a hot day! so the last hour i really beat it and it hurts / i reach medlands at 7 15, small pretty bay, windy!!! drop into my tent by 8 30, getting used to the many sounds of the forest around me!

day 2 medlands beach to totaranui

getting up at 6 15 to make the low tide at onetahuti, leavin at 7, getting drinking water at bark bay, makig the tidal crossing there, it looks awesome, and i wish i could see it at high tide! the places change completely!!

steep climp over a hill to onetahuti beach, pretty campsite there as well (bark bay has great camping, too!), crossing the beach, the tidal issue is only at the end, where a stream runs into the bay, some rain that  has been gathering momentum during the morning, i meet two kiwis, geoff and paul, who offer me a cup of tea and we join the track to awaroa lodge, where they are booked in for the night, very funny team, paul looking for this 4th or 5th (?) wife, i have late breakfast (11) at the beach and hike to where the inlet starts, then at 1 i join geoff and paul at the lodge for a beer and then coffee, leave at 3 to make the tidal crossing at awaroa, this is the longest crossing on the trip (30 min), heave rain starts falling, very windy, i get shelter in awaroa hut, many sandflies, we watch the rain and we watch people crossing from the other side and gettingreally wet! i wait till the water drops considerably, then start the crossing with another couple and then decide to wait a bit more because ist still too deep and with a heavy pack and sufficient 'stroemung' i think it s too much of a risk, the i have water up to way over my knees and concentrate and carefully use my hiking poles and make small steps and all goes well

beautiful forrest on the other side! and meeting the ocean again, yet another pretty bay and anoter pretty campsite, but i am booked in for totaranui and thats where i go, get there totally tired at 7, the only camper hiking the abel tasman, they have a separate campsite for hikers htat is not accessible for cars, totaranui is a huge campground and has road access!

have a wonderful night again, very quiet

day 3 totaranui to whariwharangi

morning swim, quiet water, beautiful light! not much time, because the isite booked me a bus for 3.30 from wainui car park, so i leave at nine and get  more and more stressed out that i cannot enjoy the pretty beaches!! i have a short swim at the tiny beach after anapai bay, also, the last two days take a toll and i am not really fit!

so at separation point where i get to watch seals and their young play int he water, i have mobile coverage and call the bus company and the backpacker to reschedule for tomorrow, then i can finally enjoy the rest of the day! / a bit too late, a girl told me later that they were actually swimming with the seals at the rocks at mutton cove, a beach that i just hiked along!

so i get to the last campground on the track, whariwharangi, pitch up my tent and take a nap because i am so tired! staff is not in, but staff quarters look pretty neat! this campground is away from the beach, very green, shady, but turns out to be very moist /dewy the next moring, when my tent is soaking wet

also, quite a number of sandflies, like also at totaranui, by now i have been bitten so much, that most sections of my legs itch :-)

in the afternoon i hike along the beach, the birds are very late at getting so scared that they take off, also, there is a seal hanging out on the beach - life as a migrating fur seal seems to be one of the best ones!

the ranger comes looking for me since one of the day hikers i talked to before had told him that i had been looking for him, so, no problem, he gives me a camping permit for another night for the regular 10 dollars, again, i am so tired that i go to sleep by nine!

day 4

whariwharangi beach to wainui car park to takaka, to collingwood

even though i rested those 1.5 hours are quite hard and the last downhill section quite a drag / and oh wonder, the bus really comes at 11 to pick me up (i am the only one there!)

in takaka i book the campsites for the heaphy and buy food for the next track, then i want to catch an earlier bus to collingwood only to find out that southern link will only allow one change of a bus ticket, and i had already changed the day from yesterdday to today! so they actually want me to pay for a new ticket to go there 3 hours earlier! of course i get into an argument with the southern link employee on the phone and to no use, and i am totally unwilling to pay again, on principle, i get so upset that i end up crying in the isite and one of the ladies there is consoling me and is very helpful and offers to have coffee later, so i decide to simply hang out in takaka, go write some email, when i return at 2 to pick her up, she has talked to the local area boss and he said its ok and then she puts me on the bus to collingwood, kissing me goodbye and wishing me all the best! tata!

collingwood turns out to be lovvely, even at low tide! i have my first kumera fries, great!!, pitch up my wet tent and enjoy the scenery there!