In Wellington I boarded a ferry to get me to the South Island. For the first 2 hours it was pretty boring, just a big boat on a big sea. So I threw myself to the floor next to a power socket, charched my camera and nearly fell asleep. Chairs are for the ordinary people, backpackers sit on the floor. I even saw 2 people who got their sleeping bag out and slept the entire trip. I got up just in time to see the first piece of land of the South-Island. And what a sight that was. The ship sailed through a network of canals, bays ans creeks dotted with small islands. It's called the Marlborough sounds and it is unbelievably beautiful. On a sunny day it looks like the perfect place for pirates to hide their ship in one of the many sheltered bays.
Picton is the town where the ferry arrives, most people don't stay there for long because frankly there isn't much to see. But I stayed there for 4 days. Partly because I was nackered and I needed some rest. But also because the hostel I found was very good. Probably the best I've been to so far. It's small and quiet, it has unlimited broadband Internet (very uncomon in New-Zealand), free breakfast, coffee and tea available the entire day, an outside hot tub and last but not least they serve ice cream and chocolate cake every evening. Besides a mountain bike trip and a hike on the snout, a small land thong near Picton that goes pretty far into the sounds, I didn't move much those 4 days.
The last day in Picton I met Michael again and together we went to Nelson to walk the coastal track of the Abel Tasman National Park. It's about 50km long and one of the great walks of New-Zealand. Abel Tasman is a beautiful place, it's a big native forest along the coast of the Tasman Sea and you walk from bay to bay, along lonely golden beaches. It's still early in the season so there weren't many people on the track and in the camp sites and that's a good thing. In summer Abel Tasman is called 'hikers highway' and the sea is full of kayakers.
On the first day we had to get up at 6am because the bus came to pick us up at 7am to go to Marahau, the entrance of the park. In Marahau we got in a water taxi to go to Totaranui, as far up north as the water taxis go. From Totaranui we would walk back to Marahau. After a short detour to see the seals at Tonga Island we arrived in Totaranui around 11am. From there we walked to Awaroa inlet where we arrived 3 hours early. The inlet can only be crossed at low tide. So we made us some lunch and waited. There we met our first sandflies. Sandflies are a bit like mosquitos only bigger and slower, you feel them on your legs before they bite. But there are hunderds of them everywhere along the beach, impossible to kill them all so after a while you just give up and now my legs look like I got the smallpox. We crossed the inlet an hour too early because there was a storm coming in and encouraged by Larry, a local who showed us the way to cross the inlet when there's still water in it and who uttered the now infamous words 'well guys, you are gonna get wet anyway', we took our shoes of and went for it. At the other side was our camp site and we managed to get our tents up before the storm.
The second day we also had to start early, there was another low tide crossing 7km for our camp site that we had to reach by 10am. Over hilly terrain as well so it was no easy task. But we made it just in time and the next 6km to our camp site had no tidal crossing anymore so we could take it slow and enjoy the amazing jungle and the nice beaches we passed. By 3pm we arrived at Bark Bay, our camp site for the night where we could enjoy the sun and dry our tents.
The third day was great, the sun was out and no wind. Too bad Michael woke up sick. He barely slept that night and he had a soar throat, not ideal to carry a heavy backpack over the hills for a few hours. But we made it to Torrent Bay by noon. There we had a choice: cross the bay, get wet again but be at the camp site in 15 minutes, or go around the bay and walk 5.5km extra. Michael was desperate for some sleep so we went across the bay. While Michael was a sleep I waited for my shoes to dry and walked a few km up the Torrent river to Cleopatra's Pools, probably the most beautiful spot in the park. The river is full of giant boulders and there is a big water fall. It's great fun to jump from one big rock to the other.
The fourth day was the day the jungle changed into rain forest. Pouring rain started at 7am and it went on the entire day. We had still 12km to go to Marahau. Michael desided he had enough, he was still sick and he wanted to wait for the water taxi back to Marahau. I already got soaked just by breaking up my tent and I thought I couldn't get wetter so I walked to Marahau. It turned out I could get wetter after all. I was completely soaked by the time I got out of the park but I finished my great walk and a warm feeling came over me. The last day the jungle was more beautiful then ever, so many shades of green and water falls everywhere. I was completely alone on the track as well, most people who were still in the park took the water taxi out.
Back in Nelson I could finally take a warm shower and have a real meal, after 4 days of oriental noodles and museli bars I deserved a steak.
Picton is the town where the ferry arrives, most people don't stay there for long because frankly there isn't much to see. But I stayed there for 4 days. Partly because I was nackered and I needed some rest. But also because the hostel I found was very good. Probably the best I've been to so far. It's small and quiet, it has unlimited broadband Internet (very uncomon in New-Zealand), free breakfast, coffee and tea available the entire day, an outside hot tub and last but not least they serve ice cream and chocolate cake every evening. Besides a mountain bike trip and a hike on the snout, a small land thong near Picton that goes pretty far into the sounds, I didn't move much those 4 days.
The last day in Picton I met Michael again and together we went to Nelson to walk the coastal track of the Abel Tasman National Park. It's about 50km long and one of the great walks of New-Zealand. Abel Tasman is a beautiful place, it's a big native forest along the coast of the Tasman Sea and you walk from bay to bay, along lonely golden beaches. It's still early in the season so there weren't many people on the track and in the camp sites and that's a good thing. In summer Abel Tasman is called 'hikers highway' and the sea is full of kayakers.
On the first day we had to get up at 6am because the bus came to pick us up at 7am to go to Marahau, the entrance of the park. In Marahau we got in a water taxi to go to Totaranui, as far up north as the water taxis go. From Totaranui we would walk back to Marahau. After a short detour to see the seals at Tonga Island we arrived in Totaranui around 11am. From there we walked to Awaroa inlet where we arrived 3 hours early. The inlet can only be crossed at low tide. So we made us some lunch and waited. There we met our first sandflies. Sandflies are a bit like mosquitos only bigger and slower, you feel them on your legs before they bite. But there are hunderds of them everywhere along the beach, impossible to kill them all so after a while you just give up and now my legs look like I got the smallpox. We crossed the inlet an hour too early because there was a storm coming in and encouraged by Larry, a local who showed us the way to cross the inlet when there's still water in it and who uttered the now infamous words 'well guys, you are gonna get wet anyway', we took our shoes of and went for it. At the other side was our camp site and we managed to get our tents up before the storm.
The second day we also had to start early, there was another low tide crossing 7km for our camp site that we had to reach by 10am. Over hilly terrain as well so it was no easy task. But we made it just in time and the next 6km to our camp site had no tidal crossing anymore so we could take it slow and enjoy the amazing jungle and the nice beaches we passed. By 3pm we arrived at Bark Bay, our camp site for the night where we could enjoy the sun and dry our tents.
The third day was great, the sun was out and no wind. Too bad Michael woke up sick. He barely slept that night and he had a soar throat, not ideal to carry a heavy backpack over the hills for a few hours. But we made it to Torrent Bay by noon. There we had a choice: cross the bay, get wet again but be at the camp site in 15 minutes, or go around the bay and walk 5.5km extra. Michael was desperate for some sleep so we went across the bay. While Michael was a sleep I waited for my shoes to dry and walked a few km up the Torrent river to Cleopatra's Pools, probably the most beautiful spot in the park. The river is full of giant boulders and there is a big water fall. It's great fun to jump from one big rock to the other.
The fourth day was the day the jungle changed into rain forest. Pouring rain started at 7am and it went on the entire day. We had still 12km to go to Marahau. Michael desided he had enough, he was still sick and he wanted to wait for the water taxi back to Marahau. I already got soaked just by breaking up my tent and I thought I couldn't get wetter so I walked to Marahau. It turned out I could get wetter after all. I was completely soaked by the time I got out of the park but I finished my great walk and a warm feeling came over me. The last day the jungle was more beautiful then ever, so many shades of green and water falls everywhere. I was completely alone on the track as well, most people who were still in the park took the water taxi out.
Back in Nelson I could finally take a warm shower and have a real meal, after 4 days of oriental noodles and museli bars I deserved a steak.
Marlborough Sounds
Awaroa inlet 1 hour before we crossed it
Awaroa inlet 1 hour after we crossed it
Tonga Beach
Tonga Island
Penguins?
Bark Bay
Sun coming up at Bark Bay
Cleopatra's Pools
Me so jealous!
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