Day 1 of our programme - at Marahau

A lovely day. We were picked up at 12 to be driven to Marahau - about an hour’s drive from Nelson, through beautiful countryside. We had breakfast at a cafe that Carole and John had found…had a walk along the river the other direction towards the marina where there was an excellent coffee hut. Arrived here at Marahau at about 1pm, staying at the Abel Tasman Lodge for three nights! Luxury, as we can sort of unpack, sort out and relax. This is a very gorgeous place to stay…I don’t think the photos will do justice, but we have a room which opens out to the garden, sun streaming in when we arrived, and everything one would want! They deliver breakfast of our choice to us at time of our choice, and also packed lunches for our day’s walking! Perfect.

So we don’t actually walk till tomorrow, but we all went on various reconnoitres…there are 2 eateries in this tiny village, and they open different days, so today we went to one and had a delicious meal, but found they will now be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, sadly, as we would have come back. And tomorrow we are booked in to the other (which is included in our package), but we are bound to go back there on Wed as the other closed! Am sure we will cope! Amr and I had a good walk in the late afternoon..we found it was along the actual track where we will be arriving back tomorrow, as we get a water taxi in the morning to Anchorage, then walk back to here. This is quite different from camino walking, but the up side is that we stay in the one place for 3 nights, and then another for 2. And the walks are all the Abel Tasman, and by the end we will have walked it all, but we do it in different segments, not following along in order. We get water taxis, or land transfers to the beginning and end points. I guess there is not accommodation, other than camping, along the trail and this is how they organise it, if you do it like us staying in nice places!

So we are just back from dinner - lovely seafood parpadelle for me - and all good. Tomorrow is our first day of walking the track!Read more