Abel Tasman - Hello South Island

After a night in Wellington, it was finally time to travel to the south island, or as our bus driver referred to as 'The Real New Zealand'. The first stop in the south was Abel Tasman National Park.

The main activity here is to hike along the coast, which we promptly did the following day.

We took a water taxi on the way to our starting point and were in great luck as not only was it a sunny day, but we spotted multiple playful dolphins on our way who accompanied us for a little while.

The great weather truly was a blessing, as it transforms the beaches into golden stretches of sand and the water into an intense blue.
The trek itself was - if I remember correctly - similar to the one I did 13 years ago when I visited Abel Tasman. It weaved its way along the beautiful coast, crossed a few golden beaches, flowing rivers and into the green forest before coming out again to coastal views.

On the main river crossing, a girl in our group made the fatal choice to get distracted, tripped and fell into the shallow but cold part of the river. She took it with grace, however, and marched on after having a change of clothes.

Once we arrived on the final beach, a water taxi picked us up again and we drove back to town, where we went almost straight to the pub for a pint.

So what do I make of the Abel Tasman Trek? It is a nice coastal walk and a decent day out (the dolphin spotting helped a lot as well). However, I felt the better thing to do would have been to do a mix of water taxi, walk, and kayak to truly get the most out of the park (that is what I did 13 years ago). The problem with that is that the price of a kayak is, in my opinion, just not justifiable (c.>€70 excl the water taxi that is another €30). Especially, as I still have 10-11 months of travel to go.

Nevertheless, I had a great day out in nature and it felt a bit like a trip down memory lane when walking along the trail.Read more