Hello All,

My attempt to report on my experience doing the Abel Tasman Track. I am probably going to have to attempt this in multiple sittings and in multiple posts.

Friday morning I woke up way early. I stayed at an average hostel the night before called the Palace. I checked out of the Hostel at 6 and went to McDonalds for breakfast bc the hostel’s free breakfast was non-existant.

I caught the bus at 6:45. It was dark and a little disorienting driving through the coutnry side. It was probably a 25 seater bus with a trailer pull behind. We (there were 5) drove to some town a little while out and switched buses to a smaller minibus. There were 7 of us in a 10 seater van. We then went over the Takaka pass, which is a huge ass piece of granite with more switchbacks then days of the year. Apparantly I have motion sickness and had to make the bus pull over to do the dirty. I then sat in the front for the rest of that trip.

Before I got sick I was having a lovely conversation with two brits. I love travelling because you meet a lot of people from a lot of different places. And most people are pretty open. We then arrived in Takaka and I switched to another bus. I say I because it was only me and the driver in the largest bus I had been in yet. Probably a 30 seater. We proceeded out to the track after I got a Coke and Picnic Bar to settle my stomach. The drive took about an hour and the driver and I talked through most of it and he even showed me some extra places.

We got to the track, I was dropped off, and began after using the bathroom. My pack was very very heavy. Like somewhere above 40 pounds with water and food. I didn’t pack the best the first day and had to rearrange my pack a few times. The first climb was the highest of the track and was definetely a challenge with the weight. But it was spectacular cutting back and forth across the mountains, hearing the waves crash, the birds sing, the bees hum, and the other sounds of the forest. This was pretty much the same noise level the whole way with the occasional dominance of one of the factors. Once reaching the top of the climb, It was a level path for awhile before the descent through the cool forest to Wairirangi. I passed the first DOC hut, which was a converted homestead.

There was a beautiful beach and huge trees. It was very green. My words literally do not do it justice and you will have to see the picture I post on facebook in a few weeks. I then proceeded to climb back up about the same height (800 feet) towards seperation point. This took a few hours.

Seperation Point was a side track and I found, as with most things, that these were the most rewarding on the trail. Well maybe not most but definitely way up there. So the route there to separation Point was along a steep, narrow trail. I had to drop my pack to make the descent down to the actual point. Once there the views were spectacular. But the best part was the wildlife. I was able to eat my lunch 15 feet away from a seal. It was absolute spectacular. There were also penguins and a variety of other bird life. Once again the pictures tell the story.

I proceeded on towards my camping spot at Anapai bay. Before there though I stopped in Mutton Cove and had a quick swim. The water was beautiful, but extremely cold. I then laid out for awhile, though some more, and got bitten by sandflies. I then moved on and arrived at my camp site about 4:30.

Setting up my tent was fun and the entire set-up only took about 40 mins. The fun part about using a tarp tent is it is you can always set it up differently with different outcomes. I then walked the beach to the rocks a little while down and sat and thought and had my predinner snack, a wonderful protein bar.

I then cooked dinner on my stove, Beef Noodles or something, and went to eat it on the beach. Yes, on the beach it was wonderful. I had previously changed to my warm clothes to watch the stars. I watched the sunset and waited for the stars. I also made myself some delicious hot chocolate in my oatmores cup. A wonderful time.

I went to sleep very warm and sound and awoke the next morning to the sun. About 10 hours of sleep. I packed camp and headed out for my hardest day of tramping by far.

I will continue later as I am tired now and need to get food for tomorrow.