Tag Archives: Abel Tasman

28. Abel Tasman Coastal Track 4 – Marahau (water taxi) – Murchison

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Whariwharangi – Totaranui (12.1 km)
Riverview Holiday Park, Riverview Rd, Murchison. $25 (+ $4 for a shower) for single standard cabin, required bedding
Saturday, March 2: Cloudy at first, increasing into the afternoon & then becoming fine
GPS Tour
Youtube Video

The first signs of dawn activity were at about 7:00, which was early enough. I got all the rest of my things together and was ready to go by 8:30. Robin and Shirley were off to their carpark and then to the Heaphy (70 L packs, they must have been carrying everything), and as Will & Kelly were going over Gibbs Hill, I asked them to keep an eye out for my tripod adapter. Then all set to work on their tracks. Continue reading →

27. Abel Tasman Coastal Track 3

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Awaroa – Whariwharangi (17.8 km)
Friday, March 1: Cloudy at first, clouding over then clearing in the course of the afternoon
GPS Tour
Youtube Video

Alarms went off on the dot of 6:00 and as I had gotten some sleep due to the relative paucity of snorers I was up fairly soon after the first ones.

Awaroa Crossing in the early morning

Awaroa Crossing in the early morning

The estuary was fairly clear of water and a number of people were already on their way across by the time I was ready to go, including some people going down the estuary to look for an easier passage (rather than up which would have been more promising). Continue reading →

26. Abel Tasman Coastal Track 2

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Bark Bay – Awaroa (14.2 km)
Thursday, February 28: Sunny all the day, a couple of clouds in the afternoon
GPS Tour
Youtube Video 1, Videos 2 & 3

Was awoken by some giggle girls at around 6:30 who were throwing billies around. Had my breakfast, washed and was keeping an eye on the lagoon to see when water might be entering it. A girl asked to use my gas can which I gave her; then I discovered an abandoned one on one of the aluminium benches, which we swapped when she returned mine. Packed up all my stuff except the camera and then headed across the still dry lagoon for today’s shoot. Continue reading →

25. Abel Tasman Coastal Track 1

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Marahau – Bark Bay (26.1 km)
Wednesday, February 27: Cloudy in the morning with a touch of drizzle, becoming clear and sunny in the course of the day
GPS Tour
Youtube Video

Was up before 7:00 to shower and pack what remained. Breakfast was unusually well populated today, and I left behind what remained of milk and bread.

Then it was time to collect the key deposit and get on the road to Marahau. Fairly slow going because of the built-up areas, and going the other way was rush hour into town and long queues. Stopped off at a supermarket in Motueka for some odd supplies and arrived in Marahau just before 10:00 at the place I had chosen for the water taxi back, bought my ticket, parked the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the long term carpark, and started walking pretty much on the dot of 10:00. Continue reading →

24. Nelson

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The Palace
Tuesday, February 26: Cloudy at first, clearing somewhat and quite warm

Today was meant as a technical day, but there was certainly a lot to do. Breakfast at 8:00 was pretty empty (the hostel here provides one, at least) and I made my coffee and a bowl of cornflakes; then some toast for which I collected my vegemite.

Washing could only be done after 12:30, so I started on transcribing the hiking diary into blog format. Rearranged the TV room to get a comfortable enough seat for typing and downloaded at least some of the outstanding podcast episodes and finished transcribing two days. Guys came in every now and then to watch something on the telly, which was really helpful. Continue reading →

23. Blenheim – Nelson

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The Palace Backpackers, 114 Rutherford St., Nelson. $56, spacious, very Victorian room with iron bedstead
Monday, February 25: Cloudy at first, becoming hot & sunny
GPS Tour
Wither Hills, drought withered, from ridge track to Mt Vernon

Wither Hills, drought withered, from ridge track to Mt Vernon

I seem to have got this organising thing under control – although it’s a lot of bags, small bags and even sub-bags. Took off down to the supermarket first thing for bread, milk and some sausage for lunch, then after breakfast acquired a BBH card. The telephone card costs 30c a minute from public telephones in addition to the 2.9c for the call, and that’s about as good as it gets. Continue reading →

Green Light

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Fern

Koru – the fern leaf spiral

The go-ahead for the new adventure came late last week, after a couple of weeks of prelegal danse macabre. Anyhow, it’s there now, and the final preparations can begin in earnest.

For begun they have well before this time last year, when I was originally planning this trip. There have been plans and preparations, and prices to compare and check again. One of the most comprehensive questions covered was that of photography, although that was no longer a question of what camera to take, but rather how to deal with all of the eventualities that hacking the current set of three cameras has brought with it. Continue reading →