Roam Relax Repeat

March 14, 2020

Wed March 4

So after two nights in Pohara it was time to head into Abel Tasman Park to the DOC campsite at Totaranui – a huge campsite with a capacity of 800 right beside the ocean! To get there involved bumping over a mountain road for 25 km which was gravel, or as the Kiwi’s say, unsealed. We took our time so as not to shake our little van apart and arrived at the campground in the early afternoon. The DOC have a very good self registration system and as the campground wasn’t too busy, we were able to find a nice campsite near the north end of the beach. The beach sand here is quite different than anywhere else we’d been in NZ, quite course but also the colour of caramel – quite striking.

We got ourselves setup and set off for an afternoon coastal hike. We decided to head south as there are a number of small beaches linked together by the trail. We hiked down the coast approximately 4.5 km before turning around to head back. Stunning coastline with a very jungle look and feel…except NZ has no poisonous snakes or spiders, so the walks are very carefree.

After the hike we enjoyed an evening back at the van, staying warm inside as it was very windy and chilly outside (relatively speaking)! The waves crashing on the beach was our sound track for the evening.

Thursday Mar 5

Left the DOC campground after breakfast – today we would head to the south end of Abel Tasman Park at Marahau to set us up for kayaking tomorrow. On our way out of the park (after the 25 km of gravel), we stopped at the Wainui waterfall trail. It’s a short 40-minute hike up to the waterfall and well worth the effort. Lovely cascade reminiscent of waterfalls we saw in Costa Rica many years ago. A few other hikers arrived on the scene and they all decided to go for a swim! The water was definitely chilly and although it was a sunny day, the area was shaded, I don’t think anyone was really sweating…but it was a swimming opportunity not to be wasted I guess. Lydia and I declined the swim option.

After a post hike coffee and a treat in Pohara, we tried one other short walk through Labyrinth Rocks just outside of Takaka – cute but not really worth the stop. Next stop was the grocery store near Marahau and then to our campsite. Marahau turned out to be a busy spot but we managed to find a place at Old MacDonald’s Farm campsite, which turned out to be quaint and funky and we decided to stay for two nights.

Friday Mar 6

Rented a tandem kayak from Kahu Kayaks in Marahau. Started at 10:30 am with two other couples. After a fairly lengthy safety briefing we were driven down to the beach in the company van to the launch area. After a short final pep talk we set off and paddled north up the shoreline about 7 km and then across to Adele Island where there is a seal colony and some lovely protected beaches. The day was picture perfect for kayaking, full sun and no wind! There was a considerable swell however once we went out beyond the islands so we turned around and stayed closer to the protected areas where there was more to see anyway. Saw a few seals at the seal colony on Adele island and did a lunch stop at one of the protected beaches there. After a relaxing time at the beach we made our way across the channel to observation beach for 2:30 pm to rendezvous with the kayak pickup. Strangley, we were the only ones of our group that showed up at the beach, not sure what became of the other two couples!

After a bit more beach time, we commenced the walking part of our day. It was a leisurely 10 km tramp back to Marahau along a very pleasant, well maintained coastal track.

Spent a nice evening back at the farm.

Note: check out Lydia's Facebook posts to see pics from our day of kayaking.