February 9th Abel Tasman National Park

From Marahau we take a water taxi to the Abel Tasman National Park. Yes, there is a tractor with a boat in tow and we get on. Then the tractor with the boat goes to the water and lets the boat float. We only understood why it is done this way and why there is no boat dock when we returned in the evening.

The Abel Tasman National Park is New Zealand's smallest national park. A coastal paradise with white sandy coves and crystal clear water, forests with romantic streams, waterfalls, moss beds, as well as marble, granite, and limestone rocks. Since we only have one day, we only hike a part of the national park, from Anchorage Bay to Marahau (11.3 km), which is why we take the water taxi, because there are no roads in this national park, which means either walking or taking a boat to a bay. Our skipper casually tells us that the tide is high right now and mentions in passing that there is an extreme tidal range. Yep, got it. When we arrive in Anchorage, we start hiking, because swimming, yes swimming, we can do that later. And as always in this country, it goes uphill first. No, really, does it have to be uphill? Could there not be an easy hiking trail along the edge of the beach? No, it has to go uphill. But, the view is of course indescribable. 🙃 So we walk through dense rainforests past small waterfalls and beautiful views of the turquoise sea. The first bay is approaching and we want to splash around in the water, but there is no beach, only rocks. Back again, it doesn't matter, there are more beaches. Next, we have better luck and there we enjoy our lunch and the view. A bit crowded with other enjoyers... Refreshed and strengthened, we continue. I slowly get the feeling that the 11.3 km were measured as the crow flies, because we are only approaching our destination imperceptibly. After personally feeling like we walked 13 km, the display board says we walked 9 km, we can visit a bay. It's only 500 m away, but 30 meters uphill 😳 No, that was not possible now, no desire to climb up the 30 meters again. But in Marahau, there was also a great beach, I saw it when we left. Yep, we reached the beach, BUT, now it was low tide and the sandy beach turned into a tidal flat. There was no mention of splashing in the sea now. And now, we remember what the nice skipper told us. And it becomes clear to us that we should have swum first in Anchorage and then started hiking. But 11.3 km, ridiculous, we walked 17 km. In Marahau, we saw how the tractors drive onto the tidal flat and then 'load up' and bring the boats ashore. Now everything from this morning made sense. A great hike, but always swim first and then walk!!! On the way back, we drove along the coast and in Kaiteriteri, the bay was filled with water and we jumped right in. Ahhh, our feet and legs thanked us. In Mapua, we had a delicious dinner before returning to our lodge and closing the day with a G&T.