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Anchorage Bay, Abel Tasman National Park
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May 8-11 - We stopped by PackGearGo to pick up some rental sleeping bags and cooking stuff on the way into Nelson then took a day off to pack our gear and get ready to go, and to celebrate Mother's Day! Sorry not to see Nelson's sights but we did venture out onto the rail trail path for a little running and biking. City's of the world recreational amenities audit complete, it was on to menu planning and once again carving order out of our explosion of gear that fills every one of our Airbnb's like a foam party.
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Happy Mother's Day! Maybe we should branch out from eggs benedict next year?
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Day 5 covid test
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The Abel Tasman national park sits on the north-west corner of the South Island and enjoys some spectacular wild coastline along which one can walk. The full distance takes 3-5 days but courtesy of the wonder of water taxis, hikers, or trampers as they are known in New Zealand and only in New Zealand, can pick sections at will. We decided to start at the beginning (where better?) in Marahau and walk to the first hut in Achorage Bay. From there we would carry on to the next hut in Bark Bay before taking the taxi back.
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We are lucky more often that not with the weather. This time someone turned off the tap just in time
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The trail winds along the coast, rising gently into lush forest on easy paths with views high above the turquoise sea, crossing bridges over babbling creeks and meandering back down to golden sand bays which make for perfect lunch stops. Having driven through the tail end of the torrential rain that had fallen the night before, we were to see not another drop of precipitation for the duration of our walk. Blue skies and cool temperatures and we could not have asked for better. 12.4 km after leaving Marahau we arrived at Anchorage Hut, descending over a peninsula into the secluded Anchorage bay with a handful of sailing boats anchored off the beach and the hut nestled in the trees just behind. The kids had done extremely well on the hike, keeping up a steady pace and a positive attitude.
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I think this is a statue recognising Ngamamaku, Puketapu hapu of Te Atiawa who was chief at Marahau from around 1834
 | Our first picnic spot, too wet to sit down and taken shortly before the Wekas found us
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 | Sand fingers
 | Beautiful boy
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 | Forest, beach, island, ocean
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Water's got to get to the ocean somehow
 | Fly Agaric, an introduced mushroom species
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 | Starting the descent along the peninsula above Anchorage bay
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At Anchorage, it would have been us and a kayaking couple from Nelson in the 34 bed hut had it not been for a big school group who had taken the water taxi here and who made for a wholesome, lively vibe to remind us that not every teenager is stuck in their room with their phone. Our only other company were the Wekas, a persistent flightless bird that scavenges and shows no inhibitions when it comes to hanging out around humans. We had got in ahead of schedule so had a bit of daylight to enjoy the beach before cooking up a storm and having an early night.
Day 2 and we had an easy start despite needing to cross the Torrent Bay estuary at the morning low tide. The 8.4 kms to Bark Bay had less elevation change than yesterday and felt easy. Toby decided to break records and we crossed the suspension bridge and pounded out the final 4k all before 1pm.
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Setting out from Anchorage Hut on day 2
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Crossing Torrent Bay estuary at low tide
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She's 10, he's 8, may love last forever
 | This picture gives a good sense of a section of the trail that rises further inland
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The one swing bridge that we encountered from where we apparently may have spotted eels in the river below, but did not
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Bark Bay is an expansive sandy estuary with a campsite along a sand spit at the front of the bay and the hut set just off the sand. Here we were accompanied by a father-daughter duo from Picton, a young couple taking a break from teaching skydiving, and a single traveller trying in vain to carve out a little peace and quiet. Toby and Felicity were socialising superstars and Felicity even found her birthday twin, 18 years her senior. It was nice to have a whole afternoon to roam the estuary, take a bit of a dip and enjoy some slower paced time.
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Enjoying the streams of the Bark Bay estuary as they refill on the rising tide
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Toby loves to chop wood. He's good at it but I do feel more comfortable when getting to a hospital doesn't involve a ferry ride
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The great weather continued on departure day, Crystal decided to hike the 22 km back to the start, freed of the hefty backpack, while we took the water taxi. We waited on the beach for the taxi and then waded out across the sand bars to hop aboard. On arrival in Marahau the boat drove straight onto the tractor trailer and we made it to the car park just as Crystal was arriving on foot.
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