Abel Tasman National Park: Top of the South

Had enough of the ghost writer? Yeah, me too. Alarm set for 5, Michelle and her ears were up at 4, so after some good email banter with Melissa what's the use in trying to get 15 more minutes of sleep? We made our sandwiches for the day and packed the daypack and set off at 6:15 on the bus for Abel Tasman National Park. Three hours later we were crusing the coast in a water taxi headed to beatiful, remote Barks Bay. The itinerary today was simple, start hiking, stop occasionally, make it back to the bus pick up 7 hours later.

The coastal track winds its way along the coast (surprise there) often going inland to guide us through beautiful ferns, palms, waterfalls, rock formations and under a fairly dense canopy. There was a surprising amount of elevation change early in the hike and with the exertion we quickly shed the long sleeves that accompanied us for the morning chill.



Our fist major landmark was a suspension bridge over Falls River, always good for a little stomach queaziness. From there we pressed on to Torrent Bay, which I think is a site I get illegal movies and music from, someone can chime in here to confirm.
This is a very large bay that allows crossing at low tide, but must be bypassed at high tide, and because the tide was in we were heading around. This did allow us to get some great views from the back of the bay and a side trip to another waterfall we would not have otherwise seen, so we'll take it.



After a stop for lunch we pressed on knowing that the high tide diversion would leave us a bit tight on time, but still fine for swimming further down the trail as long as we kept up a good pace. One of the highlights of the hike was the abundance of beautiful views of the islands and bays. There was a new and dramatic scene everytime we emerged from the forest, I must admit seeing the sail boats off in the distance lazily cruising along made me pretty envious.

Once we knew that we would make it back in time we parked ourselves at Apple Tree Bay for some rays and a dip in the frigid ocean for Evan. After 30 minutes it was back to the trail and on the home stretch. We made it to the bus parking lot with 20mins to spare and were very happy to rest our bones and write this blog on the bus ride home.



That's all for now, we are heading down the west coast tomorrow for our adventures at Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers and on to Queenstown. Sorry it's been so long between posts, we've been busy and cheap internet has been hard to find! We'll update you more as there is more to tell, please pass the blog on to friends as we want to provide a little summer time fun for all you snow bound sinners.