Today was a pretty full on day. Mum, G&K and myself set off around 9am and headed west to the Abel Tasman National park. Abel Tasman National Park (established in 1942) is renowned for its golden beaches, sculptured granite cliffs, and world-famous Abel Tasman Coast Track. Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest national park. It is named after Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight New Zealand. The scenery is quite breathtaking and we feel very lucky to live so close to such a beautiful place.
The trip to Marahau at the South end of the park takes about 1 hour. We had booked a water taxi for 10.30pm. The water taxis in Abel Tasman are like no other water taxis I have experienced. You start your journey on the boat, on a trailer pulled along the road and into the water by a tractor! The tide was on its way out so we had to get taken quite far out from the beach before we were launched into the sea. As you can see from the pictures it was just great!
We headed north, very quickly ("its the fastest boat I have EVER been on!" quote granny) stopping off at a few bays to have a bit of a commentary from the skipper as drop some passengers off. We stopped at Tonga Island to see the fur seals and were lucky enough to see some cubs too.
Our second last stop was Awaroa. The Awaroa Estuary can only be crossed close to low tide. We dropped G&K off at 12noon and had thought low tide was around 12.30pm. They were going to walk across the estuary and walk the last 5km to Totaranui where Mum and I were getting dropped off at 12.15pm. Mum and I arrived at Totaranui and waited for about 20 minutes before Tom and the boys appeared. They had drove the 160km from Richmond (2 1/2 hours) to meet us there. The plan was that G, K, Mum and I would then drive home and Tom and the boys would get the water taxi back.
There is a DOC campsite at Totaranui and our friends Jeanette and Bill had been staying there since before Christmas. It is Jeanette and Bill's house that G&K are staying in. We met up with them at the campsite and had lunch with them - bacon and egg pie followed by freshly made scones. All cooked on an open fire! Amazing. It was very very hot at Totaranui so we had to spend the majority of the time in the shade. Mum's hat was coming in very useful.
Gordon and Kay were due to meet us around 2pm but by 3pm they still hadn't appeared. We were beginning to get slightly anxious but knew there wasn't really anywhere they could have wandered off the well marked path. The appeared at 3.10 just in time to see Tom and the boys jump in the water taxi and head home! Kay and I had a swim in the sea then we headed home via a town called Takaka and a few viewing platforms on the way. I will add more to this tomorrow - its late now and I am very tired. Just one picture to wet your appetite for more to come!
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