Abel Tasman Coastal Track New Zealand

Location: Abel Tasman National park, situated on the Tasman Sea, near Marahau on the north end of the south island of New Zealand
About: Abel Tasman Coastal Track is an easy to moderate level hike that offers access to several beautiful beaches, clear blue waters and lush forests. The complete hike is a 3-5 day hike, over about 51km. Abel Tasman Coastal Track is one of New Zealand's Great Walks and requires a permit.
New Zealand Dept of Conservation site for Abel Tasman Coastal Track: http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/002~Tracks-and-Walks/Great-Walks/
Abel-Tasman-Coast-Track/index.asp
Time of year visited: Late November 2002
Elevation: Sea level to 200m above sea level
Distance traveled: ~13.5 miles/21.6km
Locations within the park photographed: Anatakapau Bay, Anapai Bay, Awaroa Bay, Onetahuti Bech, Tonga Quarry, Bark Bay
Route Maps:

Map source: Abel Tasman Track from NZTopoOnline, Version 4.6
New Zealand Mainland, Crown Copyright Reserved.

Travelogue:

Day Two: Nelson to Anapai Bay

The 1.5 hr - 2hr drive from Nelson to Marahau was nice and offered a decent view of reportedly one of the sunniest parts of New Zealand. We arrived in Marahau , drove to Old Macdonald's farm where we would park our car, wait around for about 1.5 hrs to catch a 2.5 hr boat shuttle ride on Abel Tasman Enterprises' water taxi to Totaranui. While we waited I checked out the garden areas of the farm and got a few flora pics.

Upon arrival in Totaranui, we went north to Anapai Bay where we would spend our first night backpacking in New Zealand. Anapai bay is about 45 minute to 1 hour hike north of Totaranui (approx 1.25mi/2km). The hike, like most of the Abel Tasman track, is very clear and easy, with occasional areas of steep climbs.

We setup camp, and later would find out that we would have the entire beach to ourselves that night. The campground is set back in the trees, but with easy access to the beach. It appeared that someone was also doing an archaeological dig in the campground area, as there was some equipment and a taped of dig site. On the beach, the sand was fine and welcoming. A neat formation of granite adorned the beach. If you purchase the Abel Tasman Coastal Track map from Craig Potton publishing, this set of rocks is on the cover of the map.

After setting up camp we decided to take a walk further north up the track to Anatakapau Bay, which is another 45 minute to 1hr walk (1.25mi/2km). There we explored the beach, finding various sea shells that had washed ashore. There is a campground here as well, and it appeared to have also been unoccupied as was the beach. We thought about continuing up to Separation point (less than 1 mi/1.6km), where on a clear day you can see the North island, but as it was getting late, we decided to go back to camp. The view here is on the way down to the beach. From here you can clearly see the crescent moon shaped beach line and beautiful blue waters.

Day Three: Anapai Bay to Tonga Quarry

The second day, we got up at 4:00 a.m so we could pack up and make it to Awaroa inlet during low tide. There is no way around Awaroa inlet, so it's essential to be at the inlet within 2 hrs of low tide. Otherwise, you're stuck waiting for the tide to go back out much later in the day. Awaroa is approximately 4.5mi/7km from Anapai bay. We left our campground at 5:40 a.m and made it to Awaroa at 7:30 a.m. Normally a 3 hr walk according to the guide books, we did it in 2. Unfortunately the cost of going so fast was few pictures and even worse, my wife had developed a blister on her foot.

Crossing the empty bay, our feet still got pretty wet, so after a short break to tend to my wife's feet and a change of socks, we were on to Onetahuti Beach, where we had one final estuary to cross. Onetahuti Beach is another approximately 2.8 mi/4.5km away from Awaroa.

The track between Awaroa and Onetahuti beach takes you about the furthest inland that the coastal track takes you. The weather was not as nice as the day before, as a complete cloud cover had moved in and bringing very little rain. The track through here offers a nice view of Awaroa area when you reach the Tonga saddle.

We crossed the estuary at Onetahuti beach a little late as it had already started to fill, thus we had to wade up to our knees to get across. After drying off our feet, we began to seek out a campsite. Onetahuti was pretty busy, so we opted to move on about .6m/1km south to Tonga Quarry. As a note, we later found out that near Onetahuti beach, just before the estuary, were some Maori carvings in the rock that we had missed.

The track between these two locations required a brisk climb up a few dozen meters before dropping back down into the Tonga Quarry area. We setup camp in Tonga Quarry campsite just as the rain did start to move in. Exhausted from the early start, jet lag and 8mi/12km long hike, we settled into our tent for a mid morning nap.

Historically, Tonga quarry was the source of construction grade granite that was used in many building projects in New Zealand. The steps to the capitol building in Wellington are said to be made from the granite carved from this beach area. Few remnants of the quarry still exist, a few pieces of granite, and little of the jetty.

We woke up a couple hours later to much nicer conditions. The clouds had started to move out and the warm sun made for a pleasant afternoon and evening relaxing on the beach and tending to our sore feet. The campground had only about 4 or 5 spots, but they are separated fairly well. That night we settled down, placing our backpacks under the vestibule of our tent. At sometime in the night, we were awaken by something trying to get into our bag of garbage.

Day Four: Tonga Quarry to Bark Bay

The next morning, I got up early to take some sunrise photos and take advantage of the morning golden hour. I explored the beach for

about an hour or two and then was joined by my wife. The beach is bordered by a inlet on the north end that flows into the bay, and to the south a set of granite formations called Arch point. Arch point is only accessibly during a period 2 hrs before or after low tide, which happened to be around 6:00 am at this time of the year.

We walked up to Arch point to check out the granite rock formations that we had read about. The sea had worn the granite cliffs away to create several openings and an arch through the cliff. The rocks were sculpted into strange forms, and full of sea life. Several types of sea stars, crabs and other sea life were abundant amongst the rocks.

The morning sun illuminated the rocks creating striking shadows that accentuated the smoothed granite formations. This spot was truly a spectacular location on the beach and one of our favorites on the trip.

After breakfast, we packed up and moved on to Bark bay which is about 1.5mi/2.5km south. Bark bay would be our final destination for this track. We made it to the Bark Bay estuary to find that it was nearly waist high and rising. The estuary is fairly large, probably several football fields in size, so we opted to take the route around the estuary. The alternate route crosses Waterfall creek which empties into the estuary. A nice set of waterfalls drain into the estuary, so naturally I had to stop to get a few photos there. I ended up dropping my lens cap to my polarizer while shooting here, so had to go back and get the cap. This turned out to be an omen of things to come.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out on the beach, eating lunch and enjoying the scenery. Bark Bay is a very popular campsite, with many people passing through or getting on/off the water taxis that serve the many beaches. A hut is located at this beach, as well as campgrounds. The huts were full of kids from the north island visiting for a science trip.

The flora and faunae provided interesting subjects that I attempted to photograph with little success. The oyster catcher birds were nesting in the area, and unfortunately the kids were getting closer to the birds than they should have. The ranger asked them, and then eventually us, to move away from the nesting grounds, which we had made a concerted effort to stay far away from. Apparently not far enough though.

As the day progressed the estuary started to drain again, so we decided to wander across the now empty estuary toward the waterfalls where I had shot previously in the day. We explored the area and I attempted a few more waterfall and blurred flowing water shots. The sun was starting to set, so my wife started back toward camp without me, I scrambled down the rocks to catch up with her, not knowing that my sunglasses fell off somewhere along the way. I wouldn't realize that the sunglasses were missing until the next day.

Day Five: Bark Bay to Trailhead

The next morning we got up, packed our camp and waited to catch the water taxi back to Marahau. At that time I realized my sunglasses were missing. Figuring I dropped them on the rocks somewhere back at the falls, I crossed the estuary, which had since filled and emptied overnight, to find my sunglasses. I searched in vain to find them, and had pretty much given up. I started back toward the beach when, I glanced to my right, and about 50 ft away, there lie my plastic framed sunglasses in the middle of the now drained estuary. They were a little dirty, but in the same condition as when I last had them. Feeling extremely lucky, I returned to the beach in time to catch an early boat back to Marahau.

The boat ride back to Marahau was nice, taking us past Torrent bay and other small bays. Kayakers could be seen hugging the shoreline moving north or south. When we arrived back into Marahau, the tide was low, so we had to take a ride on the "mud wiggle" which is a floating dock that is dragged back to shore by a tractor. The tractor has to pick us up 100m or so out into the bay. The water was about half way up the tractor's wheels at least, which made you wonder if it ever gets stuck. Nevertheless, it was a humorous sight which capped a very memorable trip.

For more photos from this hike, browse the complete New Zealand gallery