Abel Tasman National Park Beach Adventure

February 2, 2010    Kahurangi Brown Trout B&B, Motueka Valley, New Zealand

This was a big day for us.  Abel Tasman was a Dutch navigator in the 16th century who first (among Europeans) sighted part of New Zealand and mapped a portion of the coastline.  Tasmania (an island south of Melbourne, part of Australia) was named for him, and he gave New Zealand its name - - in case you ever wondered how a British colony came to be known by a clearly Dutch name.  One of the best ways to explore the Abel Tasman National Park is to drive to the small seaside village of Kaiteriteri on the Golden Bay and join a bay & beach tour with the water taxi service.  Our tour embarked from the beach at Kaiteriteri on board one of several specially configured small boats.  The special configuration is the modifications to allow boarding right from the beach in shallow water.  Note the gangplank from the bow of the boat to the beach.

We had to cross over a small stream separating the village side of the beach from the sea side.  Clever, these kiwis!

The black rock is black because it is covered with small mussels.

Cruising up the coast, we encountered five or six separate bays, each with its own beach, connecting with a maintained track (trail) that goes over the hills separating each of the bays.  None of these bays has any road access whatever.  Our tour took us past all of these bays, pulling in at the northern-most one to let out some of the passengers.  Then we cruised back down the coast stopping for a few minutes at each of the bays to pick up and drop off passengers.  

We got off at one of the intermediate ones and hiked the track down to the next one.  It took about 3 hours, and was pretty good exercise for a couple of elderly non-athletes like us.  The track climbed to around 100 meters and descended to near sea level two or three times on the way.  At the end of that hike we got back on one of the taxi boats and rode it back to Kaiteriteri.

Care to speculate on the cause of this split spherical boulder?

Each beach had its own attractions.  At this one we encountered a gaggle of kayakers just getting their introductory instructions before setting out.

I've mentioned before that, when we hit the beach, Paula spends her time looking for seashells, and Tyler studies astronomy (gazing at the heavenly bodies).  Here is some of the wildlife Tyler discovered.

Here is Paula on the track.  It was a very good opportunity to experience the native vegetation.

And, from time to time, we broke out into a clearing with spectacular views of the bay.

One of the exciting experiences along the hike:

This is an indigenous insect that I call a "clicket" because of the clicking sound it makes.  We could hear the typical cicada buzzing all around us, but the clickets made quite a racket of their own, clearly distinguishable from the cicada buzz.

Here is a good view of an aqua blue cove from the hillside trail above.

The trail features these wooden drainage troughs frequently.  Paula was concerned that she might step in it and break her ankle.  Tyler's feet are too large for that.

Finally here is an idyllic bay, replete with swimmers and a small boat, aquamarine sea, azure sky, and undulating hills.  How bucolic!  (My son Nathan in Japan prides himself on his great vocabulary, so this paragraph is for his enjoyment.)