Our journey up to Nelson through the Buller Gorge would've been a glorious drive had it not been for the weather. Endless rain prevented us from seeing the scenery and it was only later on that evening, having checked into a room at 'Accents in the Park' hostel in Nelson, that it cleared up and became actually quite a nice evening. We were glad of the real bed though, with crisp linen and the opportunity to spread our stuff out without having to shove it all back in bags like we have to do in the van and put it all away each evening. It's the little things when you're travelling! The forecast for the next day is much better though so we resolve to make an early start to drive up to the beginning of the Abel Tasman National Park to get a good day's walking in on their New Zealand Great Coastal Walk. Abel Tasman National Park is New Zealand's most visited and it's easy to see why, with it's golden bays and lush green forests. The majority of the park is only accessible by foot or water so we leave our van at the entrance in Marakau and grab a watertaxi up the coast to Bark Bay with the intention of walking the 26km back down the coastal path to retrieve our van. It's a fantastic sunny day and the water sparkles as we speed out of Marakau bay and take a small detour past Split Apple Rock which, you can guess what shape it comes in the form of. A group of kayakers are setting off at the same time as us to paddle the sheltered bays and perhaps camp up at one of the many Department of Conservation sites along the way.
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We arrive at Bark Bay and jump off the back of the speedboat into the shallow sea waters and up on to the sand. We mustn't take too long admiring the picture postcard beach scene as we've got a lot of ground to cover before the day's through. The track winds round the coastal bluffs through rainforest vegetation hugging the side of cliffs at times and crossing numerous streams. .JPG)
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We have to take the high tide route to navigate round one bay because the low tide route, across the sand banks, had been lost to the incoming waves hours ago. The tides can advance a metre an hour here. We stop at Anchorage Bay for sandwiches in the sand and I try the temperature of the water- a not very comfortable freezing! But the sea is so clear and inviting I can't resist a few minutes swim then it's off again to complete the 3 1/2 hours back to Marakau, where we collapse exhausted.
