What a beautiful part of the country

It felt like we'd escaped to some kind of tropical paradise today on our tour of the Abel Tasman. We had to meet at the boat ramp at 8:45am so we had a resonably early start to make sure we were packed up and ready to go on time. Despite being 5 minutes around the corner from the boat ramp we still left 20 minutes early to be on the safe side. Our guide for the day, Stu, turned up driving a tractor with his boat on a trailer behind him. We did have a little wait for a couple and then once we'd set off we doubled back to pick someone else up who he had just been told was coming. It seems people working at the holiday park we stayed at can come on the tour either for free or they must pay later. We were in a group of 6 in the end which was nice and intimate. The tide was completely up to the sea wall but we were told when we would come back it'll be over 500m out to sea. We cruised around the bay and every chance to see wildlife or something of interest we were quickly taken there and told extensive information about it. Stu had a lot of knowledge to share and you could tell marine biology and now conservation of this national park are his passions. We were able to see a flock of gannets feeding which involved them firing down into the water almost like a bullet being fired downwards. They were so incredibly quick that the fish didn't really stand a chance. We spent time exploring small bays and learning about the history of the national park. One bay had a modern house built on the sea shore which was built when the land went up for sale and the government didn't want to buy it to incoorperate it into the park. The man who did buy the land built his dream house but then only two weeks after it was finished he choked on a chip alone in a hotel room in Indonesia and died. Now the house is owned by his widowed wife and is only visited once a year if that. It's crying out to be opened up as an Airbnb! For lunch we parked up in a bay and sat at a picnic bench on the beach. There's many camp grounds on the beach which are sleepover points for anyone doing this great walk through the park. This means we had access to toilets and picnic benches. After lunch we walked twenty minutes through the bush from this bay to the next where Stu picked us up. We saw so many fantails around and even a few of the fully black ones. Every so often on the walk you'd get a window through the trees of the gorgeous view below. The sun was beaming down turning the waters a rich turquoise blue. If it wasn't so cold it would of felt like summer. The pictures definitely look as if we just popped off to a tropical island for the day. We also did a guided walk through the bush with Stu where he showed us many of the native plants and trees he and others are trying to protect and restore. A lot of their work includes pest control and since they began introducing multiple use traps rats are no longer found inside the park which has boosted the native bird population considerably. Unfortunately only a small part of the ocean is a marine national park which means fishing is allowed in other areas outside this zone. The wildlife inside the zone are apparently thriving but policing the fishermen and ensuring this zone stays protected has become a large job. The team also do yearly scuba dive rubbish clean ups of the seabed and collect hundreds of tons of waste what has been dropped into the sea here. They also have a rule where no one is allowed within 20ms of seals which means there's a whole island where no one can go to because fur seals breed and give birth on the rocks surrounding the entire island. Even on the boat we had to stay 20m away. It's good to see active care and concern for wildlife and it's well-being. After a great informative trip we headed back to to where we started and true to his word the tide had considerably gone out. We were scooped up by a tractor and towed from the sea across the sand back to shore. I'm so beyond pleased we did this tour. Walking through the national park would of been cool to do ourselves but you have no concept of anything that's going on around you or know of what work and conservation is happening here today. It was definitely worth spending that extra money to get such an in-depth insight into the Abel Tasman national park.Read more