Abel Tasman, 2023: Totaranui And Skinner's Point

After our Bark Bay hike, we decamped and drove across Takaka Hill to the Cape Farewell area, the far north bit of the South Island, to see several sights there. On the way back, however, we drove over to Takaka port and then the twisting 13 mile gravel road to Totaranui, the only stop on the Abel Tasman coast track one can actually drive to. Our intent was to do a little day hike north of Totaranui...which ultimately was foiled by high water on the trail. Instead we walked south along the beach to Skinner's Point. But the drive to Totaranui was interesting in itself.

At Takaka harbor

No stopping

Why it's called "New Zealand" and why Tasmania is called "Tasmania"

Colonial/imperial version..."discovery" of New Zealand

Tasman Bay

The first encounter did not go well for the Europeans [click to enlarge]

Maori version, such as it is

The monument

The gravel road is a place of excitement, especially after heavy
rains

But we made it

Walking south of Totaranui, looking north

High tide, big surf

Unusual cross section of a fern tree...try counting
those tree rings!

Kiwis are very serious about eradicating all the
foreign-introduced predators that attack the native
(flightless) species; one sees traps like this on trails
everywhere; and other types, even in cities

View from Skinner's Point, toward Whariwharangi

And toward Awaroa

Abel Tasman, 2023: Torrent Bay To Bark Bay

The next day we did the water taxi/day hike/water taxi thing...Marahau to Torrent Bay, on foot to Bark Bay, and then back to Marahau. We might have done more, but the time and tides did not serve well. Still, it was one of our better days on the Abel Tasman.

Students of this blog will recall that embarkation and debarkation 
of the water taxis from Marahau involves boarding the boat, on
a trailer in the parking lot, and then being tractored down into the
water, whether at high or low tide; on the various beach landings,
the boat has a ramp which sometimes keeps your feet dry

Our skipper took us on a detour down to Kaiteriteri to see the
Split Apple boulder

Letting some other passengers off at Anchorage (see map, previous
post)

Now ashore at Torrent Bay; on the map you can see the low-tide
bay crossing from Anchorage...but it's high tide now; later we
learned the high-tide trail was closed due to a stream crossing
bridge that was out

The spit at Torrent Bay; the low-tide bay crossing from Anchorage
is at its right, now flooded

On the trail

More clear stream water

Ritual photo of Vicki on a swing bridge

A slip from yesteryear, now repaired

The bush can seem pretty intense at times, but there's
nothing within that will harm nor eat you...except 
the sand flies, which seemed strangely absent this 
year...or maybe it was all the Deet I marinated in

Abundant, informative, and timely trail signage

Another huge slip, across Bark Bay

Welcome to Bark Bay, where we've camped and
also stayed in the hut in previous years

On our taxi back to Marahau

Picking up more passengers at Anchorage

Back at Marahau, angling to get on our tractor/trailer

Abel Tasman, 2023: Day Hike From Marahau

Abel Tasman is one of our New Zealand favorites. Its principal feature is the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, one of NZ's "Great Walks." On our first visit, in 2009, we did pretty much the whole thing, from Marahau to Whariwharangi, hut to hut for five days, then the water taxi back from Totaranui. Our second visit, 2014, we backpacked, getting to Totaranui and then taxiing back to Marahau. We added a day of kayaking onto that too. In 2018, we did huts again, as far as Awaroa, then taxiing back from there. If you know the place, you will see that this describes a sort of trajectory, probably more related to age than anything else. For 2023, in our mid-70s, we settled for day hikes, one just up the track from Marahau and back; another, utilizing the water taxis, from Torrent Bay to Bark Bay, and back; and a third, just around Totaranui, to Skinner's Point. For the first two, we camped at Marahau. The track is a wonderful combination bush and hills overlooking the beaches, then onto the beaches themselves, and also a couple of exciting low-tide bay crossings. The bush is gorgeous, the golden sand beaches even better, and then there are all the coastal seascapes. As with all NZ's tracks, whether Great Walks or not, the trails are immaculate, well-signed, and prohibit such nuisances as horses and dogs, bears, moose, and mountain lions. Our many previous Abel Tasman posts can be found via the blog's search box. Below are just a few pix from our day hike from Marahau.

Helpful map #5,206

Vicki, ever respectful, culturally, will not let me
glower nor stick my tongue out for these poses

In Montana, we'd call this a war lodge

Typical; except the sand gets more golden as you
proceed up the coast

Looking back past Marahau toward Kaiteriteri

Sooooo clear...

Interior view

Kayaking is a popular mode of transport...for the
first several miles; the sail is an innovation we've
not seen before

The clarity of the inland streams is impressive too

Us, there, then

Adele Island

A weka after some roasted edamame beans I dropped;
similar to the mythical kiwi but by no means endangered;
weka can be aggressive and will put up a convincing fight
against dogs, cats, stoats, and the like; so we have been
told; they are also thieves, like the Fiordland kea parrot we'll
soon re-encounter....

Falling tide

Tree ferns everywhere

Low-tide vista

Fun sports back at Marahau