Abel Tasman ... expect the overuse of 'stunning', 'beautiful' and 'paradise'!

The bus drops me at Kaiteriteri, where I catch my boat to Bark Bay, but Lisa goes to Marahau for a water taxi, so we decide to just meet at Anchorage Bay instead of trying to find each other on the track.

The Abel Tasman Coast track is one of the most popular Great Walks in the smallest and most popular National Park in NZ, so I'm expecting crowds. Our boat is full, and it takes us round the coastline of the park, with a stop at Split Apple Rock, an amazing boulder on a rock near the shoreline which is apple shaped and has split almost perfectly down the middle. Then we motor on, wind and rain-spray in our faces (the idiots who chose the open top deck of the boat) to various bays along the way before the boat stops at the nearest safe-stopping point to Bark Bay.

Even in the spitting rain, the park is a beautiful place, aquamarine seas, golden beaches, tree palms and green bush alive with birds and cicadas. It is (slightly damp) paradise.

I walk alone the first 40mins or so, then, after struggling down to Sandfly Bay in the hope of reaching a beach which, I discover on reaching the bottom of the very steep track, is covered in the sea (it's high tide, oops), I meet two guys coming down and warn them off making the journey ( I did get to stand on a boulder by the sea-edge and wave to some kayakers, but it probably wasn't worth it for the steep climb back up). We get talking and end up walking together the rest of the track. One guy is from Henley, the other from Brazil - the Brazilian guy has no raincoat, so when the rain really gets going he gets soaked. We pass some pretty miserable looking hikers on the trail, but luckily everyone in our group has a sense of humour about it. It is great actually - despite the water in my shoes - it's not a hard hike, even in the slippery conditions, and the bush has become a rainforest, water dripping off the leaves, the small waterfalls and streams we pass rushing and full, and the glimpses of bays and beaches through the trees are still gorgeous, with the turquiose sea and gold sand.

A highlight apart from the beaches and views is the swing-bridge which we reach after a soggy lunch at Torrent Bay. It stretches over wide river canyon, with awesome views up and down. Everyone ignores or doesn't read the 5 persons max. sign, so the wild swinging of the bridge adds to excitement of the crossing!

Just before we reach Anchorage we take a detour down to the mysteriously named Cleopatra's pool, a 5-minute track which takes us to the edge of small, boulder-filled river, with the pool on the other side. After debating a little about the possibility of broken ankles, we take off our shoes and cross, narrowly missing getting even wetter. When we reach the pool, after a scramble up a muddy bank, hanging on to roots, it's so worth it - a little piece of rainforest paradise, deserted apart from us, with a deep cold clear pool, filled by a waterfall - stunning.

The sense of achievement when we see the sign to Anchorage (20mins), and then finally run onto the beach whooping, as the sun comes out to dry our wet clothes, is pretty immense.

written by  LizIsHere on February 18, 2010 from Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand
from the travel blog: New Zealand & Australia 2010
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