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

New Zealand Out-Takes, 2023: Part The Second

All NZ's national sports teams have names that allude to the rather
more famous All Blacks rugby team...these are the Tall Blacks
doing a haka

Interesting dam we drove across on the North Island...

No outlet, no power generation...just diverts the river down a
different canyon

Yeah, right, you're going to go 60mph on these narrow, twisty
roads, dodging the slips...

Nothing ever thrown away...old defunct TV with a flat screen
inside

Fortunately, it takes very little to make some people happy

War canoe sculpture at a local museum

Irish pub in Feilding...don't think this would fly
in Dublin

Kiwi for lay-away

Southernmost fans of the southern-most team

Sic transit, Gloria...a KFC has replaced the NZ banlk
but now even the KFC has gone under

Zebra building, Wellington

Skateboard parking at Te Papa

More Wellington sculpture...windy and wet

Riley Elf...I'd heard of them, but never seen one...

Designed to be an upscale Austin Mini...30,000 were built 1961-
1969 before Riley went under; rare and modestly collectible

City utilities of the world...

Kiwi for bus stop

On this blog you have learned of torpedo-fishing; here is drone-
fishing: the drone carries your hook, line, sinker, and bait out
beyond the the wild Tasman surf and drops it where you want
it, then flies back for more...also takes videos of the adventure;
so how much fish could you buy at the market for $4,000?

Maybe drone-fishing would strengthen my fishing skills

We ate well in Welly...here is the Peking duck at
Peking House; sadly, I forgot to document the best
pizza since Naples and the best Negroni since Milan
at Pizzeria Napoli; also the great table-cooked steaks
at Southern Cross

Banned in Boston

Pesky pedestrian ambushes

Sunset and clearing skies at Ngati Toa

Gotta get me one of these

Read and be enlightened about cockroach marketing...
at a Welly alternative store

Recapitulation: Wellington To Picton And Beyond; Or, Please Keep Our Sinks Vomit Free

On February 13th, we moved to the Lower Hutt Top 10 Holiday Park, to prepare ourselves and the camper for the scheduled February 14th sailing to Picton, on the South Island. In the early afternoon came the email from Interislander ferries--"It is as I feared," Gandalf would have said--our sailing was cancelled. Cyclone Gabrielle was hitting imminently. All ferry sailings were cancelled. We immediately sprang into action, Vicki on the phone, me on the internet, and at length snagged ferry reservations for February 22nd and March 12th, respectively. We were only somewhat relieved, as we are required to turn the camper back to Jucy, in Queenstown, South Island, by March 20, so our South Island visit would be considerably shortened in either case.

We weathered cyclone Gabrielle as it passed to the north the next two days, reading of ever more weather-related disasters and cancellations elsewhere. On the 16th we moved to a beautiful free campsite on the west side of the peninsula, Ngati Toa, and spent the night there, the wind and rain lessening. On the 17th, persistently scrolling, Vicki found a Bluebridge ferry cancellation for 2AM on the 18th, which she immediately pounced upon. With hopes renewed, we drove back to Welly, parking at Te Papa, planning to have dinner, take a walk, and then catch a few winks before the 1AM boarding. And not believing our spectacularly good luck. Further emails advised that the boarding would be delayed until 5AM, so we indeed got a few more winks before decamping and driving to the Bluebridge ferry terminal and entering the long but hopeful que. Our story continues...

Our ship, the Bluebridge Straitsman, comes in

It's well after 6AM before we are settled on deck

Wellington at daybreak

It's a short cruise--less than 4 hours--but we figured a cabin would
be worth it for the opportunity for more sleep, plus not masking,
plus getting showers...

In such comfort, we never went on deck, indeed got some sleep,
and only once felt the ship as much as roll slightly...after the storm,
the seas apparently were glassy, most unusual for this part of the
world

When I awoke, we were already in the Queen Charlotte channel

Passing by some of the marine farming

Approaching Picton

The Saturday morning sailing classes well underway

One of the Interislander ferries still in action (the New Zealand
ferry situation got incredibly worse; we were incredibly lucky)

Parthian shot of the Straitsman

Picton

Picton story...founded by the Picts in 589BC...wait, no...

We proceeded on to Havelock, the green shell mussel capital of
the world, and to my favorite South Island restaurant, the Mussel
Pot; still pinching ourselves at our good luck

Moi, examining the menu; note the grapes to my right: they're
real, plump, and tempting...this is Marlborough country, very
great sauvignon blancs, and more

I had my greenies in a green Thai sauce, hence the Speight's (beer)

Vicki's steak/frites; note ketchup served in mussel shell

I think the greenies have gotten too large now...
eating one is reminiscent of 10th grade biology;
but, hey! we're on the South Island! And heading on
to Nelson, to crash there before proceeding on to the
Abel Tasman...