Yoo 435 - NZ...Abel Tasman

^^ something is wrong with this picture (hint: compare pack sizes...)

I kind of feel bad posting about Abel Tasman because Abel Tasman was really, really awesome. Granted, we hiked thru A LOT more rain than we were expecting (the first evening, the first night, the second evening, the second night, and the third morning, to be specific), but the scenery and patches of sunshine were worth it.

The coastal track is rightfully listed as one of the 9 best "walks" or hikes in New Zealand...and probably one of the best in the world.

Besides the glories of hiking in lush green jungle next to a stunning turquoise coastline, is the fact that there are no snakes. NO SNAKES. Or anything that can hurt you (besides a few mildly annoying bugs).

New Zealand really is my paradise.

Bear with me thru a really massive photo dump now...

^^ glorious sunshine on the second morning!

^^ i have many self-portrait failures to share

 ^^ lots of rain the first day...conveniently starting right as we needed to set up camp

In the interest of full disclosure (because the pictures make this seem too perfect)...a list of the not pictured: biting bugs, HILLS to hike over, rain, rain, and more rain, the stench in our tent after hiking and sweating all day, SMALL MOUNTAINS to hike over, sitting in the tent playing cards because it's still raining, the super too-cold-to-swim-in water, and the smell of a rotting snail that I wouldn't discover was coming from a pretty shell I had found and stashed away in my bag until over a week later.

That mysterious stank still haunts me.

Now we can continue.

^^ hiking on the beach!

 

 ^^ it was really that lush and green

^^ the beach at tonga quarry...our favorite

 ^^ one of the (smaller) tidal crossing

On the second day we had a tidal crossing first thing in the morning. Only, we'd taken a bit longer than anticipated to set out and we were kind of bordering the recommended time of safe crossing before the tide started moving in. So we stood there, watching the water creep ever further across the basin floor, and debated.

15 minutes across the basin or 1.5 hours up, down, over, and around the basin?

It wasn't much of a choice. We took off our shoes, hiked up our shorts, and splashed thru the tidal crossing. Barely made it in time!

^^ we had to walk across those barefoot

^^ breakfast

^^ lunch. i am a firm believer in the tastiness of salami while hiking

^^ people. live. here. on the beach. in a national park. with only boat access. (!!)

^^ that's not pepper

And now the story on how I ruined dinner the first night. It started with boiling noodles and ended with noodles covered in dirt. Somewhere in between, this conversation was exchanged:

The Gregviewer (to kyoo while she's straining the noodles): "I think the pan is slipping."

Kyoo: "I've got it...I just need to get a bit more water out."

One second later.  SPLOOSH!

Kyoo: "Oh craaap."

The pan definitely slipped and I stood there and incredulously surveyed the damage. "Really??" I thought. "It's raining, we've been hiking all day, our feet hurt, we're starving, and the one thing we were looking forward to is now covered in dirt and leaf debris!"

It was a low moment.

I soon started laughing since there was really nothing else I could do, and I think my Gregman briefly considered a divorce. (to this day he doesn't think it's funny...still too soon?).

We cleaned it up the best we could, which involved Greg fetching about 10 pot fulls (pots full?) of water because we were both too prideful to go rinse off our noodles in the main kitchen area with all the other hikers. I can still imagine them judging the dumb American tourists...

So dinner the first night was extra soggy due to the need to reboil, but if you imagined the flecks of dirt were actually pepper flakes it wasn't so bad.

^^ don't let this picture fool you. the water was freezing.

^^ someone thinks they're too cool for sunscreen...

^^ pack rain cover = best investment for this trip

 ^^ the only thing wrong with this beach is that i don't live there

 ^^ water taxi back to the car park

^^ tractor pull!

 ^^ our attempt at a "we made it back to the car!" photo
^^ also, i think we both have a mouthful of snickers...

Also worth mentioning, I tried my first meat pie at a little bakery in Nelson. I'd been hearing about them from the Gregman and others for years. "Oh if I could just have a meat pie!", they'd say, closing their eyes and perhaps wishing on a star.

Meanwhile I would just roll my eyes. "They can't be that amazing..."

But I take it all back! They're pretty good. Flaky pastry and savory meat, freshly baked for just a couple dollars. I imagine if USAA were located in New Zealand, these would replace the breakfast taco.

Can I join the meat pie fan club now?

 ^^ backpacking fuel

The technicals:  we started the day in Blenheim, drove west on the 6 to Nelson for breakfast/exploring, and then continued on to Abel Tasman National Park in Marahau, covering 178 kilometers. The track took us 3 days, 2 nights and 4 candy bars (each) to cover just over 38 kilometers on foot. We took a 35 minute water taxi ride back to our car.

Have a great day :-)