Abel Tasman Coastal Trail

We just finished 6 days hiking the Abel Tasman Coastal Track on the north end of the south island. We took a water taxi to one end of the track and then carried our 40+ lb packs for 50km back south. Most of the campsites were in bays with golden sand beaches but to get from one to the next you had to hike over spurs. Here's a rough picture that shows the elevation profile of the trail.

For a cleaner version check out: www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/nelson-marlborough/abel-tasman-track-profile.pdf

One of the amazing things was the variety of terrain. Here's Megan pointing out where we have to climb to on one of the spurs. This was Gibbs Hill and we made the mistake of making our first day our toughest (6 hours with packs that had 1 weeks worth of food in them!).

In several spots the trail went through estuaries. For two of them there was no alternate route on higher ground so the crossings had to be done near low tide. Here is Jason during one of them carrying his fishing rod. There were millions of little crabs scuttling into little holes in front of us.

There were lots of gorges and ravines to cross, some by foot and others by bridge. This was the one and only swing bridge on the trail and had a sign limiting the load to 5 people at a time.

The beaches were amazing. Golden sand, gentle surf, and rocks. We had gorgeous weather the first 3 days and really enjoyed lounging around. Here is one of our campsites that was just off the beach.

Since we were only hiking 2-4 hours per day there was plenty of time to relax. Jason decided to make a sand angel on the beach. Without snow around it was the next best thing.

He also did some snorkeling (water was COLD!) and even caught a crab. It looks like he is excited but he's really grimacing (the crab was finding a way to scratch him with its legs).

We're headed south to Roxburgh now to WWOOF on the Tally Ho farm (alpacas and wool processing). It doesn't seem like Christmas with the weather the way it is and the lack of white stuff but there are some decorations and carols to help get us in the mood.