THE KIWI KRONICLES

Day 55 & 56 Kaiteriteri, Sea Shuttle, Abel Tasman Park Hike

We were up early this morning as we wanted to do a little hiking in Abel Tasman National Park. There are two ways into the Park, one is a fairly long drive over bad roads. The second is by sea taxi. We called a cab. Departure time was 9:00am but we had to be there at 8:30am. The plan today was a bit of touring on the boat prior to getting off and hiking for a period of time.

Taxi Anyone

The boat left on time and we made stops in Marahau ( Sandy Bay ) Torrent Bay, Barks Bay, Tonga Bay, Awaroa and Totaranui. Most of these places had campsites where you could tent and one actually had a resort where you could have lunch and then catch the next shuttle. All of the land we travelled in today is part of the Abel Tasman National Park. I knew that Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand, what I did not know was that it wasn't because he was looking for it or due to great navigational skills. The truth was he was lost.

On the ride up we made a couple of unscheduled stops with the first being Split Apple Rock. There are two thoughts behind the shape of the rock. The first being that during the ice age water found a vein in the rock and when it froze the rock split as it now stands. The second being that during a fight between Maori Warriors one of them took a great swing with his axe, missed his foe and hit the rock. Thus causing the split. I think I will go with the warrior’s story.

Split Apple Rock

The second unscheduled stop was at an island to see if there were any seals around. There were a few but they didn't present many good photo opportunities.

The coast line the entire trip was very rocky and very rugged rising sharply away from the water. You would see miles of this rugged coast then all of a sudden there would be a bay with either golden yellow or white sand. The rocks of the coast would erode with time and wash up on the beach as sand. The color would depend on the content of the rocks, yellow sand if it had a stronger iron content and white if it had more of a marble base.

Once we reached the end of the line at Totaranui we turned around and started the return trip. We arrived in Barks Bay at 11:30AM and Kathy and I got off the boat. We were going to hike down to Torrent Bay where we would be picked up at 3:30PM for the return to Kaiteriteri.

We had 4 hours to make the 6 1/2 kilometer trip which would give us plenty of time to enjoy the hike. It was a beautiful day which made the hike even more enjoyable.

The Start

Torrent Bay

The End - Torrent Bay Beach

Once we arrived at Torrent Bay we had lunch and just enjoyed the sunshine and the beauty until the shuttle picked us up. On the return trip it was interesting to notice how the coast line had changed. This morning the coast was almost entirely rocks and cliffs. However, in the afternoon with the tide out, the coast became dotted with little bays that were now beaches.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and soaking up the surroundings. It was a great day.

Day 55 ( Thursday ) was mostly another of those "did not" days. We did not move on. We did not go for a hike. We did not do anything strenuous. We did not do any chores. It was a fabulous resting day and we needed it.

There were a few do’s today. I did work on the blog. Kathy did do her Sudoku’s. We did do some forward planning on what we want to do next. We are leaving for the west coast in the morning and after researching it a little bit today we found that there is a lot to do and see. The entire west coast is the most protected and the most pristine land in the country. It will be exciting.

Day 54 Motueka, Kaiteriteri

Today was going to be an easy day. We got away at our usual time and made Motueka and the ISite our first stop. Hopefully we would get some good advice and information that would appeal to us. On our way we had to go over Tanaka Hill once again and we couldn't resist stopping and taking a couple of more pictures.

View from Tanaka Hill

We were told about a short 2 hour hike in Kaiteriteri that we might enjoy that wouldn't be too strenuous. We had to back track 7 kilometers to the turnoff and then another 17 miles into the village of Little Kaiteriteri. The hike was a little more difficult than we were lead to believe but it enjoyable and presented us with some great scenery.

Kaiteriteri Bay

Spencers Bay

Upon completion of our two hour hike we drove over to another beach we could see from one of the high points during the hike. The new beach was in the town of Kaiteriteri and right on the main street was a Holiday Park that we didn't know about. It was still early in the day but it was such a nice spot that we decided to check in and just enjoy the rest of the day. We set out our outside table and chairs and enjoyed the sun. This is the view we have from our camper.

Not a bad place to hang out for a few days.

This place is really a gem and we are glad we found it. We learned that the area is solidly booked for the Xmas vacation at least six months in advance. We can see why.

It is also going to give us an opportunity to explore Abel Tasman Park a little more that we thought we could. It was a really good day.

We also got a few pictures of more wildlife (birds) during our hike.

Pied Shag drying his wings

Yellow Hammer

California Quail

Day 53 Pohara, Farewell Spit, Cape Farewell, Wharariki

Our first venture this morning took us further along the coast towards Abel Tasman Park. This area has a 3km stretch where penguins live and we wanted to try to get a picture of one. It isn't exactly the right time of year but it looked like it would be a nice drive. So off we went. We didn't see any penguins but we did take some nice pictures.

Pohara Beach

After a few miles and no penguins we turned around and headed for the north tip of South Island. Our destination was Farewell Spit which is the longest sandspit in New Zealand. Starting at Fossil Point the great arc of sand stretches eastward across Golden Bay for 27 kilometers.

Middle of Farewell Spit

The drive to the spit was not giving us a lot of confidence in our selection of places to be. It was very overcast and sprinkled rain in a few places. It started to rain quite hard as we pulled into the I Site which is at the base of the spit. The best solution at this point was to have lunch and see what happens, maybe it would clear up. No such luck, after lunch it was still raining and quite hard. We decided to go anyway and as Kathy was putting on her raingear she commented. Just wait, as soon as I get all the stuff on it will quit raining. Thankfully she was right.

We started our hike along the shore of Golden Bay walking towards the Spit.

The beach was covered in shells but it was hard packed sand which made it pretty easy for walking. We walked for two kilometers along the beach before we turned towards the other coast which bordered on the Tasman Sea. We had to cross the spit to get to the other beach and this is where we first saw some of the sand dunes that make up the spit.

Dunes at Farewell Spit

We crossed the spit and came to another hard packed beach and started walking down to Fossil Point. The beach was very clean with white sand that just rose up and blended in with the dunes. It was extremely picturesque.

Beach leading to Fossil Point

It had turned into a beautiful day with just a slight breeze which made it great for tramping. As we got closer to Fossil Point I was surprised by a log that sat up.

We woke him up from his nap.

He wasn't happy with us.

He wasn't very happy with us and let us know it, so we stepped around him and carried on down the beach. We got to Fossil Point which was as far as we could go, took a few pictures and headed back.

Fossil Point

There was an option in getting back to the car park. We could retrace our steps or head inland and hike over farm land. We chose the farmers pasture and started the climb and the return trip.

Start of return trip through pasture.

At least we didn't have to climb fences

Kiwi Rod had to scare away the big bad sheep

We arrived back at the car park around 3 hours after we started the hike. It felt good.

Our next stop was at Cape Farewell, the sign says it all. The Cape was named by Captain Cook on one of his last voyages. The cape was the last land they say before reaching home.

A short way down the road we came to Wharariki Beach. Upon arriving at the car park, we found it was another hike to get there and I almost didn't go. This is New Zealand, there are no flat hikes. However the opportunity to photograph seals pushed us forward. Sometimes we make good decisions for the wrong reasons. The beach was stunning and well worth the walk, seals or no seals. Kathy and I agreed that it was the nicest beach we had seen during this trip. It is hard to paint a verbal picture that would accurately describe what we were seeing. The beach was huge and with the tide out it looked even more massive. It was surrounded by dunes that were 20 feet high on occasional and

ran back 50 – 100 yards from the beach. The rock islands rose up out of the surf right at the shore line breaking up the beach and giving it more character. As I said earlier, it was stunning.

It is 100 yards to the beach

Foot prints on the dune

There were seals present and they were playing in the surf. As a result we would only get a glimpse of a head every so often. There was one exception, a body surfing seal.

It was getting late so we hiked back to the van. We ended up spending around 1 1/2 hours at the beach. Thirty minutes in, thirty minutes walking the beach and 30 minutes out. Our legs were starting to feel it. The best alternative for us tonight would be to head back to the park we stayed in late night. Which is what we did, had a late supper and just relaxed. The day left us tired but very rewarded.

We also saw and photographed a couple of more birds from the area.

Yellow Hammer

South Island Pied Oyster Catcher

Male and Female Paradise Shelduck