Abel Tasman

Our second 'great walk', but this time with a twist! We set out in kayaks from Marahau and spent the morning paddling around Adele Island and towards Te Pukatea bay which is pretty much paradise (I realise this isn't the first time I've said that about New Zealand!). We had spent a lot of time the night before preparing some lovely cooked lunches - Adele Island was where we realised we'd forgotten them and were going to be hungry for the next few days! But we battled on and a short paddle around the head and we made it to our first campsite at Torrent Bay. The tide was about as far out as you can get, so we left the boats stranded on a sand dune and paddled them over to the campsite once the tide came in. The next day was a bit of a tougher paddle to Tonga Island and we battled the wind to get back into Onetahuti. After a swim chasing fishes around, Andy and I walked off to the cafe at Awaroa lodge for much needed food while Eleanor took one for the team and stayed to load the kayaks onto the taxi. From there, a sloggish walk over the estuary and we made it to Waiharakeke bay. We couldn't quite believe how many people there were and we had to squash our tents in somewhat, but the flushing toilet more than made up for it :) The next day was a short walk to Totaranui - great for Maddie as Andy and Eleanor carried all the bags as a birthday treat! The swim at the beautiful beach at Totaranui was one of the best we've ever had! We were all shattered as we loaded onto the boat back - and were slightly disconcerted by how quickly the speed boat covered the distance we'd taken 3 days to do!Read more