Abel Tasman Coast Track

Greetings from sunny Nelson!

Yesterday we finished up the Abel Tasman Coast Track. The track was very beautiful. It was five days of meandering through forest and across beautiful beaches.

The Track:

The track was pretty much a walk in the park compared to the hikes we have done. The Department of Conservation doesn't even recommend that you wear boots for the walk, just running shoes. I also read a magazine article about a man pushing a stroller with his nine month old in it, and I believe that it could be done pretty easily. The track alternated between walking through forest and along very beautiful (and nearly deserted) beaches. We were able to take lots of time to lie in the sun and swim in the ocean during the day. It was a pretty relaxing time.

The Weather:

We had pretty good weather, but we did end up drenched in the pouring rain one day. It was getting pretty depressing, but then we stopped at our campsite and the sun came out and everything dried off and we were able to go swimming. It was also pretty cold on the last day of the hike, and there was snow on the tops of the nearby hills/mountains, but we survived.

The Wildlife:

There were some really cute seals playing in the surf by our last campsite and it was pretty cool to watch them play.
We also had our first (live) possum sighting. Previously, we have only seen dead possums on the road. The Department of Conservation recommends that you keep your food in your tent so that the possums cannot get into it. We don't really have room in our tent for our food, so we kept it in a airtight bag in the vestibule. During the night, something (possum or mouse or rat) chewed through two bags to get to the food, but didn't manage to steal anything.
Also, the sandflies continue to gnaw away at us. They were not as horrible as in Fiordland or the West Coast, but maybe that is because we have moved up from Deep Woods Off (25% DEET) to a lotion containing 40% DEET. We are both covered in bites still though. I even have one inside of my ear.

The Toe Report:

Jay is now minus two big toenails. Hopefully he does not post any pictures, because they look worse than before, but apparently they feel a lot better, and that is what counts, right?

Our next move:

We are spending today (Good Friday) in Nelson. Everything is closed so we are just going to be hanging out in the hostel. Tomorrow or Sunday we will head down to Nelson Lakes National Park to do our last hike on the South Island. I hear that there are beautiful lakes and snow capped mountains there, so it should be pretty beautiful.


That is all for now. Stay tuned for Jay's pictures of the awesome beaches. And have a hoppy Easter everyone!