{"id":8474,"date":"2024-04-02T20:19:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T08:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/?p=8474"},"modified":"2024-04-09T19:51:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T07:51:46","slug":"abel-tasman-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/02\/abel-tasman-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Abel Tasman National Park – Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Abel Tasman<\/a> was a Dutch explorer who was the first to discover New Zealand in 1642. Although the area existed well before Abel arrived, the Abel Tasman National Park<\/a> is named in his honor. The park is the smallest of NZ\u2019s national parks and receives the most visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today is the first day of our five day guided walk of the Abel Tasman Track<\/a>, one of NZ\u2019s Great Walks. This is more of a walk and less of a hike, with minimal elevation gain walking through beech and rimu forests from one beach to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We met our group and guides at Wilsons<\/a> office in Motueka for a quick briefing about the day. This hike only has 19 people and two guides, much smaller than our previous hikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We boarded the bus for a 20 minute ride to the dock where we then walked through sand and over a small makeshift bridge to board a boat that traveled the length of the Abel Tasman National Park coastline from Kaiteriteri<\/a> to Totaranui<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Walk to our boat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Boarding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We made it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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First view of split apple rock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The 1 hr 45 min boat ride made many stops to let day walkers and kayakers off the boat. We were eager to start our hike. The weather was overcast, but not raining, weather I\u2019ve come to appreciate on a hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We began our hike at the northern end of Abel Tasman National Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We finally arrived at our destination, Totaranui. Our guides separated us into two groups: those who wanted to walk a bit longer and those who wanted a shorter hike. We chose to go the extra two miles to explore an area of the park east of Totaranui<\/a>. While we were circling up getting our briefing, we saw a new bird on our trip, the p\u016bkeko, and of course the devious weka seeking out what it might steal from a tourist or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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P\u016bkeko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Weka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We walked through mature forest and learned about the different trees and plants from our knowledgable guide Sarah. We hiked about 6.5 miles in total today, a fairly easy start to our Great Walk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We continued on our hike and walked on a secluded beach filled with beautiful shells. There was no one there besides our group of hikers, so it felt very remote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We reached the Awaroa Inlet<\/a>, where we experienced the first of many tidal changes the park is known for. When we arrived, the tide was coming in and rising quickly. We had to wait for a small motorboat to take us across the estuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As you can see, the boat couldn\u2019t get to shore to pick us up without grounding. So to board, we had to put on our water shoes, roll up our pants and wade out to our boat to take us across the water to our accommodation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We stayed for the next two nights at the Meadowbank Homestead<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We checked into our room, showered and went for our nightly briefing before dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tomorrow is a rest day, so we will be spending the day at Meadowbank. Kayaking is off the list due to the low tide and low tide here literally means zero water and all sand. It\u2019s a complete transformation. Alternatively, there are two short walks we can do. Or we can just laze around and do nothing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll see how we feel in the morning and make a plan after breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our current location<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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April 2 Abel Tasman was a Dutch explorer who was the first to discover New Zealand in 1642. Although the area existed well before Abel arrived, the Abel Tasman National Park is named in his honor. The park is the smallest of NZ\u2019s national parks and receives the most visitors. Today is the first day … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-new-zealand-south-island"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9068-1.jpg?fit=1500%2C2000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9023,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/05\/abel-tasman-national-park-day-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":8474,"position":0},"title":"Abel Tasman National Park – Day 4","author":"Victoria","date":"5 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 5 It\u2019s great to have an off day in the middle of our hikes, but an 8 a.m. set breakfast time defeats the opportunity to sleep in. We roused ourselves and headed downstairs to join the group. We were the last ones to arrive and slunk into the dining\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9861-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9861-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9861-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9861-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9861-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8608,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/03\/abel-tasman-national-park-day-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":8474,"position":1},"title":"Abel Tasman National Park – Day 2","author":"Victoria","date":"3 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 3 We could have done the Abel Tasman walk in three days, but decided to stretch it to five to allow for lazy days in between our hikes so we could enjoy the lodges. Today was our off day. We relaxed in the morning and walked on the beach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9777-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9777-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9777-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9777-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9777-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9131,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/06\/abel-tasman-national-park-day-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":8474,"position":2},"title":"Abel Tasman National Park – Day 5","author":"Victoria","date":"6 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 6 Sunrise at Torrent Bay The sunrise was amazing this morning and brought everyone outside to marvel at the beauty and take lots of pictures. What a fitting send off of this beautiful part of the country. Getting ready to kayak is no simple endeavor. Over our clothes went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-1-2.jpg?fit=723%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-1-2.jpg?fit=723%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-1-2.jpg?fit=723%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-1-2.jpg?fit=723%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8755,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/04\/abel-tasman-national-park-day-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":8474,"position":3},"title":"Abel Tasman National Park – Day 3","author":"Victoria","date":"4 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 4 We left Meadowbank at 8:30 a.m. en route to our next destination, Torrent Bay Lodge. The most succinct way to describe our hike today is a climb up the mountain, descend the mountain, land on the beach. Repeat three more times for a total of 12.5 miles. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9830-1-2.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9830-1-2.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9830-1-2.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_9830-1-2.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12891,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/18\/our-final-stop-the-bottom-of-the-north\/","url_meta":{"origin":8474,"position":4},"title":"Our Final Stop, The Bottom Of The North","author":"Victoria","date":"18 May 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"May 18 On the way to the bottom of the North Island Jenny delivered an outstanding breakfast of homemade crepes with warm apple compote, coconut yogurt and raspberry jam. The apples came from the orchard on her property. 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No electricity and no water. We brushed our teeth with kettle water and ventured outside to chat with our host Gaye to get the update on the power failure. 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