Glorious Sunday ended nicely in Nelson and we went to bed late for again another early morning. We had one hour and 15 minutes drive up to Kaiteriteri the starting point to our Abel Tasman trekking with kayaking. At 8.30 am we were there in the kayak booth queuing to get instructions on the adventure. We went to the beach where we got our briefing on what to bring and what to pack for the aquataxi to take for us. 
We only took the camera, cheese, ham, bread, 3 apples, 5 cookies, 3 litters of water and the hut booking confirmation. Off we went for 2 hours of speed boat with stops in tiny cute beaches and bays where some passengers disembarked for their own experiences. Mid way there we stopped in Tonga island where a colony of seals live, mothers and their pups, so beautiful, the seals swimming around us and jumping out of the water like dolphins. It was a sunny day, but in the boat we got frozen with the wind and water splashes. We finally arrived to Totaranui where our trekking started, 17 km of easy coast trekking passing little beaches until we got to Awaroa, where the main pass was. In this part of the world they also have tides, as we do in the Cantabric Sea. The difference is that in the Basque coast, when the tide is low you have a huge beach and when is up you have a 1 m beach, not a major thing. Whereas here with 4 m of difference, the low tide allows you to cross places where you had boats sailing before. We arrived before the low tide so we waited for an hour whilst we had our lunch and then decided to remove the legs of our trousers and cross ( the water reached knee level). The beach had literally mountains of clamp shells, that we are unsure from where came. Quite impressive.
We went then to the Awaroa Lodge for a refreshment and relaxing break listening to Norah Jones. The next tide crossing was at Onetahuti, and we arrived on time, we continued through the Abel Tasman National park till our final destination for the day, Bark bay, where we had our hut. We had our dinner outside, again cheese and ham with bread, and went inside before we could not feel our hands any more. The hut was pretty basic, two rooms with 14 bunk beds each, another room with 2 tables and that is it. Drinking water outside and 3 toilets some 50 meters away, not very convenient for my pipi trip every night… No heating, no light, so at 8 pm dani went to bed and after 4 solitaires with dani’s mobile I went. The room was chilly, as some girls in the upper beds left the windows open, grrrrrrrr Our sleeping bags are suitable for 7 degrees at comfort, and -5 extreme. So I guess we were somewhere in between cause I was not comfortably warm inside.
Two day trekking and kayaking in Abbel Tasman park in New Zealand, GPS Garmin Oregon 300
Mouse over to see info about key point for low tides and where we slept.
Two day trekking and kayaking in Abbel Tasman park in New Zealand
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