Beautiful weather on the Abel Tasman Coast Track

Our first longer stop on our trip through the South Island of New Zealand was planned for the Abel Tasman National Park in the north of the South Island, famous for its beautiful beaches and bays. However, we ventured into completely new territory because we wanted to do our first multi-day hike where we had to carry everything we needed. Therefore, it was also difficult for us at the beginning to decide how long and for how many days we wanted to do the hike.

The Abel Tasman National Park offers great opportunities for complete beginners in this terrain (like us =D) because you are completely free to plan and can take a water taxi back from any stop at any time. Since we already had to carry quite a bit of luggage, we decided not to stay in the park for just one night, but to hike for 3 days and spend 2 nights in the park. We also chose a slightly different start than usual. We started with a water taxi from Marahau, so we could admire the bays and beaches ahead of us during the ride. Water taxi in New Zealand means that you are taken by boat from the city directly to the desired bay, how it works from the city - very simple, you are driven with the bulldog (for all non-Swabians =D: "tractor") directly to the water due to the low tide.

Unfortunately, our skipper skipped the famous "Split Apple Rock" during the ride, more on that later, but instead we made a stop at an offshore island and were able to admire some sea lions. We were lucky because the cubs were born two weeks earlier and we could watch the cute fur balls while playing.

For our final destination with the water taxi, we chose the "Onatehuti Bay", which means a hike of just over 30km back to the starting point, unless you can choose a shortcut due to the low tide. Unfortunately, the low tide was inconvenient for us in terms of time, so we had to choose the "High Tide Track".

Loaded with tent, sleeping gear, food for 3 days, drinking water for one day (which can be refilled at the larger campsites along the way), gas cooker, spare clothes, and whatever else you need to survive, we were dropped off at the bay =D

Just in time for the start of the hike, Petrus once again did not disappoint us and switched to bright sunshine, which stayed with us for the next 3 days =)

For the first day, we had a relatively short hike of about 6km from Onatehuti Bay to our pre-booked campsite Bark Bay ahead of us. By the way, the campsites and the entire track have to be booked in advance. In addition, you have to have the payment confirmation printed out for the inspectors in the park, otherwise a screenshot of the complete booking confirmation on your phone is sufficient ;-).

After the first section, we were rewarded with a magnificent campsite and a perfect beach for the rest of the day and the evening.

The next day, we continued with the second section of the hike, about 13 km from Bark Bay to Anchorage Bay. Here you can gradually feel the weight of all the luggage, as the route is unfortunately not flat. Nevertheless, we had fantastic views and an equally beautiful beach at the end of the day's stage. We also made a stop at the so-called Cleopatra Pools, as we had to choose the flood route anyway. However, in our opinion, they are not really worth it, and if you can choose the ebb route, we would prefer it next time ;-)

On the last day, we had the return trip from Anchorage Hut to Marahau on the program, a route of approximately 13 km as well. After a challenging ascent, we were rewarded with a fantastic view of the route we had hiked on the previous days before heading more or less downhill towards the starting point. We also encountered a few Wekas during the hike...

In the end, we arrived in Marahau quite tired after a total of 31.7 km and were looking forward to an ice cream, a hot shower, and our air mattress, as we had spent the two nights in the park on rather thin sleeping mats, but you have to save weight ;-) In addition, we had to share our tent with all our luggage in the two nights, which did not necessarily contribute to coziness.

The hike is definitely recommended and is an absolute highlight, provided, of course, that the weather cooperates. If someone has less time, we recommend a half-day hike including a beach stay from Onatehuti Bay to Bark Bay or a two-day trip from Onatehuti Bay to Anchorage with an overnight stay in Bark Bay.

On the way back from Marahau, we made a short detour to Split Apple Rock, which is also worth a visit and can be reached from the car park in just 15 minutes. If you have a little more time and are not in urgent need of a shower ;-), you can also spend 2-3 hours in the really beautiful and slightly quieter bay.