Kayaking in Abel Tasman

Our base for visiting Abel Tasman, the smallest national park in NZ, was Kaiteriteri which translates as 'fast fast food’ in Maori (and yet we didn't see a single McDonald's there). On the way we passed hop plantations in Motueka, an export they are famous for. We found Bethany Park campsite and picked a ‘pitch’, which involved driving through an empty field until we felt like stopping. There was a bushwalk that led to Kaiteriteri beach, voted one of the top 5 beaches in the world by The Guardian, so we set off on that as our evening activity. On the way we spotted a pukeko with some little pukeko chicks, which looked hilarious with their tiny bodies and adult sized legs - their feet are bigger than their torsos and they clumsily stretch out their legs with each step. Apparently the mother will fake a limp when confronted by a predator to draw attention away from the chicks, clever! We returned from the beach, cooked a curry and got an early night in preparation for our kayaking the following day.

We had booked a combined tour which included a cruise in the morning and kayaking in the afternoon, so we found the spot on the beach where the ferry landed and waited. There is no port of any kind, this thing just drives full speed at the beach and fires an extendable gangplank out the front of the bow. We sat on the top deck with various different clientele, some going the full way to get dropped off for a multi-day hike along the coast of the Abel Tasman, while others were just on a pleasure cruise for the day. Only a few like us were getting dropped off at Anchorage bay, a sheltered beach in the middle of the southern part of the Abel Tasman. On the way there we passed Split Apple rock, a distinctively shaped boulder that had split perfectly down the middle, perched on top of a pile of rocks in the shallows of a bay, a very photogenic rock indeed. Clearly the rest of the world agrees, as it is the second most photographed rock formation in the southern hemisphere (after a particularly famous one in the centre of Australia…). We also passed a gang (group? gaggle?) of seals basking on Adele rock. Landing on the beach, we were told what time to be back to get a lift and that if we missed it, not to worry they'd be back tomorrow! Very reassuring. We hiked around a 4km loop track to Pitts head lookout, although there were other more spectacular lookouts along the way. We had the track to ourselves and the views of the turquoise bays along the coast were pretty amazing. We were back at the beach with time to spare so we sat and watched the hikers walking up and down the beach with their huge backpacks. The ferry turfed up on the beach and we jumped on for our ride back.

Just enough time for some lunch on the beach before meeting our kayak guides. We were told how to manoeuver the kayaks and set off. We hadn't been in a pedal kayak before so it was difficult to get used to. Hugo operated the pedals that worked the rudder, so he was in charge of the steering (probably for the best) and we both had paddles. It was difficult to get out of the mindset of steering by paddling more on one side but we figured it out soon enough. We were with a couple of French girls and the guides were both in single kayaks. We paddled out, passing small uninhabited islands used as bird sanctuaries and pristine empty beaches. Speed didn't seem to be high on the priority list for the French couple, so we had time to veer off and get a closer look at the sights on the way. We cruised over to Split Apple rock for a much closer view than we got on the ferry, and were told a few competing stories explaining how it got there, including Hugo’s favourite; that it was moulded from paper mache by the local council tourist board to bring in more tourists. We pitched up on the beach and the guides set out a little picnic of biscuits and cocoa. We talked about food from each of our countries and Hugo mentioned he had never had an oyster, so the guide took him and the French girls down to the rocks on the waterline to find some. It’d be pretty hard to get fresher oysters than that. Hugo’s verdict: salty, fishy, not bad. The guides led us to a nearby network of caves which were pretty awesome and he pointed out a cave weta; a giant bug that looks like a cross between a cricket and a spider, which is the size of your outstretched hand. Brr! He also directed us to a little hole in the corner of the cave which, when you bent down to peer inside, revealed a little blue penguin just chillin’ - he looked like he was offended at our rude intrusion so we left him to it. We paddled back along the coast and landed back on the beach. A great trip! I bought a postcard but it flew away while we were eating an ice cream on the beach! That's 60p I'll never get back. We relaxed on the beach for a while and headed back to the campsite. We were surprised to see that a private transport helicopter had landed in our field just behind us - an interesting choice of accommodation if you can afford a helicopter, we thought.

We enjoyed the beach by Split Apple rock so much that we decided to go back the next morning. A little path led from the car park to the rear of the beach. Surprisingly the beach was not that busy considering the rock is a major attraction - I guess most people just view it from the tour boats. Typical tourists! We picked out a perfect spot and set out our towels - commence relaxation. I sunbathed for a while and Hugo swam out and went exploring the rocks with the GoPro. I'm not sure if you are supposed to climb the rock but Hugo did it anyway. Reluctantly we returned to the van mid-afternoon and set a course for our next destination, the drive along French Pass.Read more