This post is a little delayed. And, if the writing seems a little different than usual, you can probably tell which posts Lauren writes and which ones Dusty writes.
Back in April, I headed to the South Island with my friend Chris to tackle the Abel Tasman Coast Track.
One of the biggest draws of moving to New Zealand was the seemingly endless list of incredible places to hike. At the top of that list are New Zealand’s Great Walks – a collection of some of the country’s best multi-day treks through mountains, forests, beaches and some truly spectacular scenery.
Lauren and I got our first taste of New Zealand hiking all the way back in 2018 when we completed the Tongariro Alpine Crossing on our honeymoon. Moving here meant we could finally start working our way through some of the longer treks. Abel Tasman seemed like a pretty good place to start!
Getting to Abel Tasman
My trip started with an early morning motorcycle ride from Palmy to Wellington. From there, I traded the motorcycle for a plane and flew across Cook Strait to Nelson, the closest major city to Abel Tasman National Park.
Chris, a former coworker from Memorial, was flying in from Gulfport to join me. Once we met up in Nelson, our first priority was gathering enough food and supplies to keep us alive for the next few days.
Mission accomplished, we spent the night at a holiday park and had an early shuttle booked for the next morning to take us to the start of the track.
Time to hike!
Day One – Sunshine, Beaches and Cleopatra’s Pool
We could not have asked for better weather to start the trek. The sky was clear, the sun was out and almost immediately we were walking through lush green forest with views over bright blue water and golden beaches.
This is definitely not the kind of scenery I normally picture when I think about a multi-day backpacking trip.
Along the way, we took a short detour to Cleopatra’s Pool. Side trips always sound like a questionable decision when you are already carrying everything you need for several days on your back, but this one was worth the extra walking.
From there, we continued toward Torrent Bay Village, where we set up camp for our first night.
We also learned our first important lesson about camping in New Zealand: never underestimate a weka.
These curious little birds have absolutely no respect for personal property. Turn your back on your food for a few seconds and apparently it becomes their food. We quickly learned to keep everything secured whenever one was wandering around camp.
Day Two – More Beaches and Awaroa Hut
Day two brought more sunshine, more forest and even more beautiful beaches.
We were incredibly lucky with the weather. April can be unpredictable, but somehow we ended up with clear skies for almost the entire trip. Walking along the coastline with blue water on one side and native bush on the other made it easy to understand why Abel Tasman earned its place among New Zealand’s Great Walks.
Our destination for the night was Awaroa Hut. There was a very specific reason for staying there: the next section of the track crosses the Awaroa Inlet, and the crossing has to be timed around low tide.
Unfortunately for us, low tide was early. Very early.
So we went to bed knowing there would be a 6:00 AM start waiting for us in the morning.
Day Three – Racing the Tide
We woke up early, packed our gear and headed toward the Awaroa Inlet.
There is something slightly strange about planning an entire morning of hiking around the ocean deciding whether or not you are allowed to cross the trail. But that is exactly how it works here.
We made the crossing at low tide and continued north toward Tōtaranui.
By this point, we had settled into the rhythm of the trek – hike through the forest, come around a corner to another ridiculous view, walk across another beautiful beach, and then repeat.
Not a bad way to spend a few days.
Eventually, we reached Tōtaranui, where our hiking portion of the trip came to an end. Instead of turning around and walking everything again – absolutely not – we climbed aboard a water taxi for the ride back toward the starting point.
Seeing the coastline from the water was a pretty great way to finish the trek.
Back to Civilization
From the end of the track, we caught another bus back to Nelson.
After three days of carrying packs, sleeping in huts and tents, and accumulating an impressive amount of trail dirt, a hot shower felt amazing.
Clean again, we headed downtown and found a proper meal. Backpacking food gets the job done, but very few meals taste better than the first real meal after several days on the trail.
The next morning, we grabbed breakfast and headed back to the airport.
From there, Chris and I went our separate ways. He headed off to Melbourne to continue his travels, while I flew back toward Wellington and eventually made my way home to Palmy.
Great Walk Number One
Abel Tasman was exactly the kind of experience I had hoped we would be able to have when Lauren and I decided to move to New Zealand.
A few days off work can turn into a motorcycle ride, a quick flight to the South Island, three days hiking past some of the most beautiful beaches in the country, and then back home again.
That still feels a little crazy.
The Abel Tasman Coast Track gave us incredible weather, empty beaches, crystal-clear water, a sunrise tide crossing and a few attempted robberies by the local wekas.
Not a bad first Great Walk since our move. Now we just have to decide which one is next!
Thanks for reading. More adventures soon!