First big walk


We got up fairly early in the morning and had breakfast. As an experienced hiker I took over 2 beers and left them in the fridge for later. As an experienced traveler, I hid them well so that the dirtbag euro backpackers wouldn't be tempted.
We hiked down the road for about a kilometer and a bit, we arrived at the Abel Tasman Centre. We got our tickets and waited out on the back car park for the pickup.
We assumed there would be a shuttle to the boat. Instead a tractor towing a boat turned up. Then another. We all got on our boats on the trailer and were driven to the boat ramp. The tide was fairly high and still on its way in. We reversed down the boat ramp and Nick jumped on and reversed out.
He has gone to the same school as every other boat/raft/bus operator, full of confidence and stating things like how much paperwork it is if someone ends up in the drink.
After looking at some rocks and fur seals we were dropped off at Bark bay. From there we were to hike 11.5km south to  anchorage for our 4pm pickup.
It was a pleasant walk with amazing looking beaches and cold clear water. Shannon did well for our first walk of the trip. I carried the gear, food and water in my new MG 70 pack. Olivia alternated between supersonic and snail depending on the mood.
After stopping for a quick splash (too cold to swim) at Torrent bay, we started the last 5km to anchorage. It started well with Olivia opting for the 2 of us to run it.
After a few kilometers she somehow ended up on my shoulders. Having dodged most of the low branches our confidence grew. Bang! I smahed her head on a very solid one. After I had a rest and she was tired enough risk getting up again we did some more shoulder riding sessions.
When we arrived at Anchorage it was finally time to get in the water. 50m of freestyle later and it didn't seem so cold. A short while later Shannon turned up and we lazed arround before boarding the boat back.











Comments

  1. evenbrad5 December 2017 at 20:50

    Huzzah! Your first big taste of Abel Tasman National Park. A different type of taxi at the beginning.Tractor down into the water! Very glad you thought it was a pretty hike and that you got down onto the beaches (even into the water - yikes!!!). I hope your head doesn’t hurt too much Olivia - I’ve knocked my head on lots of branches - and I wasn’t even sitting in anyone’s shoulders!! Good on you for going for a run (even if it was using Daddy’s legs - that still counts). Sounds like a great day.

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