Abel Tasman National Park - Christmas at Sea and Mid-Trip

After a rather short night (we had to solve our water problem first, but after a phone call with a Jucy employee, we are now smarter and regularly drain our waste water 😂), we headed towards Marahau, a holiday resort at the entrance of Abel Tasman National Park. The park is known for having the most sunshine hours in the year and blue sea with secluded coves.

On our way to our water taxi, we filled up our tank and refrigerator a bit, because who knows when the next opportunity will come.

Arriving in Marahau, we looked for a parking space and asked at the information center for the departure location of the taxi. And it looked like the meeting point was further into the village and we were already a little late 😂

At the meeting points, you are already loaded onto the boat and then loaded into the water with a bulldog. Funny thing and we were finally picked up (although the taxi starting point was not far away from us) and were allowed to join. For this, we got the more bumpy seats in the front. But okay, here we go! We haven't been seasick so far.

What we didn't realize is that the water taxi also includes a little sightseeing tour. So we drove to the Apple Split Rocks, got some background information and then went on to the sea lions. And then I immediately knew where I wanted to go kayaking on Christmas 😍

At the end of the ride, we were dropped off at Bark Bay, a section of the Abel Tasman Coast Track, because if we can't do the whole track (4 days), then at least two stages in one day (a total of 27km but with the high tide detour it becomes 30km) - and I know Corinna is just laughing to herself about the number of kilometers because of her hike to Scotland and her Megamarch 🤪.

The trail ran along the coast with many small highlights where we kept stopping, taking pictures and couldn't get enough. Whether it's a bay with white sand and crystal clear blue water, a suspension bridge to cross or the Cleopatra Pool (I had to laugh inside because thanks to Chrischi, it reminded me of Sandi, our toilet-Petra) 😂. The "pool" is in a river in the forest where pools have formed and you can splash around. A small slide has even formed, which was funny to watch, and we were even able to observe an eel in one of the pools. One even dared to "pet" the eel. So cool!

In the end, not only our feet were tired, and we moved to our camp for the next two nights with many impressions. A nice campsite not far from the sea with spots with and without electricity, cabins, showers, and even a playground. Nice!

Opposite, we found a small restaurant with a café where we had a glass of wine during happy hour (our favorite wine so far 😝) and also decided on the menu for Christmas.

After a restful night (and some rain), we woke up on Christmas with rather cloudy weather and some rain at the beginning. And I have to admit, I am a fair-weather excursion person, and I was a little sad at first 😢

But once you get up, treat yourself to a cappuccino and head to the kayak, you immediately notice that the temperatures are simply different here! It was not cold at all, but rather a pleasant 20 degrees, and there was no wind.

Arriving at the kayak station, we were divided into groups, depending on whether you have booked a guided tour or want to explore on your own. They naturally led us to the individual kayaks because we only booked the kayak because we want to explore the world independently of a group. The briefing, safety precautions, etc. took quite a long time, but it wasn't so bad because we had nice conversations with a couple next to us who are from Berlin and have been here for about the same length of time as we have and have already explored the South Island, so they are traveling in the opposite direction.

So off we went onto the water, and of course, we immediately headed to Adele Island where the sea lions are. So Mega Mega 😎 so there we were, in the double kayak, on the sea, surrounded by sea lions!! And with so many cute little babies! We never thought we would have such a cool Christmas. The skipper Thomas guided us past them for ages, and I tried to take as many close-up pictures as possible, which wasn't easy because it was a bit shaky 🌊🚣🏻‍♂️

We took a break in a small bay and after our rather ungraceful exit, we were finally wet 😁

2 hours had already passed, and energy reserves had to be replenished because after strapping on the action cam, we wanted to paddle to Adele Island again to capture more pictures. On the one hand, paddling was totally relaxing because being on the sea is so beautiful, but on the other hand, it was also mega exhausting, so that the way back felt like it took forever 😂

So we ended the Christmas day with burgers and fries, wine and beer, and of course, sent greetings and made calls 😉 dinner and the short sprint through the rain to Jason gave us the rest 😂

The 1st Christmas day has now taken us to the West Coast, which is a 4-hour drive to the Pancake Rocks alone. But we combine that with various short stops to enjoy the views, take photos, or have a chat with other travelers. At the parking lot of the longest suspension bridge in New Zealand (unfortunately closed today), we met another couple from Berlin, Christian & Sabine, who also wanted to visit Jason. The two have been here for 2 months and are circling both islands. It's always very interesting to hear about the plans and experiences of others. And since we are driving in the same direction, we think we will cross paths again 😉

Additional addition: in the end, we actually drove further than the Pancake Rocks 😁 after the next stop at Cap Foulwind to see the next seals, we then drove to the Pancake Rocks, which are really worth seeing. The drive along the coast with blue skies and huge waves offered such great views that we almost drove all the way down to Franz Josef. In the end, however, we had to stop at a campsite about 1 hour before because we could only pay with a credit card since we didn't have any cash with us 😂

It's small and cute here, with cows around us and a baby goat across from us. So tomorrow, on the 2nd Christmas day, we will head to Franz Josef 🏔🗻🤠