Mandy's Adventure: Abel Tasman National Park Adventure

Thursday 2 September 2010

I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time. It is a tramping day for me! I know that sounds terrible. So if you don't know what that means, it means hiking. I have been wanting to go to Abel Tasman National Park and found a, kind of, tour that took me from Nelson to the National Park. I first took a coach from Nelson to Marahau. In Marahau, we picked up a water taxi to the walking track. We all were on the boat, which was pulled by a tractor into the water. I was in the very back, and it was raining. So I got pretty wet before we started. The people at the water taxi place told us that today was supposed to be rainy and windy. Tomorrow would apparently be better. Not that that helped me at all. We first took the boat down to see the Split Apple Rock. Then we went to a couple beaches to drop off some people. Then we went to Adele (a bird sanctuary). By now, it was really raining, so we could barely hear the birds above the drops. Then we went to Tonga Island where there was a seal sanctuary. We only saw a couple seals.

After that, we went to Tonga Bay. The problem was, there was no dock. So we all had to take off our shoes and socks to exit the boat (something none of us were prepared for). So I was expecting cold water and a sandy beach. Well, the water was indeed cold, but the sand felt more like I was running on sharp rocks. It was so incredibly painful! Then I had to put my shoes and socks back on wet. It was raining so hard, it was obvious we wouldn't get dry enough to put them on. There were about 10 of us and the only guys in the group were standing on the table whining and asking how we were supposed to get our socks on dry. I said, "We don't." I started waiting for them to start the track together, but I realised that if I waited for them, I wouldn't ever get anywhere. They were still belly aching about being wet. So I started off on my own.

So the way the track works, we all start at the same time and can stop in one of three places. The first stop we arrive at is Bark's Bay. This is the first place the boat can pick us up, and it is halfway down the track. It takes about 1.5 hours to get there. The second place, and supposedly the most beautiful was Torrent Bay. It takes about 3.5 hours to get here. The last stop is Anchorage Bay. It takes about 4.5 hours to get here. All this is average, and does not include high or low tide. We arrived late at our stop and we would have exactly 4.5 hours to be picked up. This means that we basically would not have time to go all the way to Anchorage Bay unless we booked it. I was determined to make it all the way to Anchorage Bay, so I had no time to wait around.

Well, the boat driver was laughing at us and telling us, "Good luck!" as he left. So I started heading toward Barks Bay. I tried avoiding huge puddles, but after a while, it was raining so hard, it didn't really matter. My shoes, socks, and pants were so soaked, I might as well splash all over the place. I couldn't have been wetter if I took a shower.

There was a part of the path that split, so I went down about 15 minutes and came to a pool of water. I started going through a lake and just thought it was ridiculous. So I went back to where the path split and discovered there were two options to go. The way I headed was during low tide. The other way was high tide. Well, it was high tide, so I went the wrong direction. So now I was behind schedule, plus I had to go the longer route. I was able to get to Bark's Bay, but I didn't spend much time there. I had a lot of ground to cover.

I walked on and on through majorly muddy areas, and puddles that looked more like swimming pools. Also, it was getting really windy. I knew that if I made it to Torrent Bay by 2:00, I might have enough time to get to Anchorage Bay. I encountered an extremely long swinging bridge that made me very nervous. I was the only one around, so it was a bit unnerving. I almost fell over on several occasions.

There was a forest area that started creaking and sounded like a tree would fall over at any moment. There were very pretty sights and many big hills that drained every ounce of energy I had. It didn't help that I was weighted down by my wet clothes. At this point, my camera stopped working properly. It would take pictures every once in a while, but it would not zoom or anything else.

I trudged on and made it to Torrent Bay at 1:59, so I decided to continue to Anchorage Bay. I walked along, and all of a sudden, the path didn't seem to exist. It was quite frustrating. I picked a path and just hoped it was the right one. I realised later that I had to take the longer track route as the tide was in. So instead of the hour track I was promised from Torrent Bay to Anchorage Bay, I had to take the 1 hour 40 minutes track. I was too far in, so I couldn't exactly turn around. So...I started running. I was exhausted and really hungry at this point, but I had to keep pushing on. I had to be there by 3:30 or else I would miss the boat and have a 4 hour walk to get back to Marahau, which is many many hours away from Nelson. So now I was racing against time. I did make it to Anchorage Bay at 3:13. So the 4.5 track that I was supposed to take was more like a 6 hour track...but...I did it in 4 hours and 13 minutes. I was quite proud of myself. I was not surprised, but I was the only one who made it to Anchorage Bay. In fact, I was the only one who made it to Torrent Bay. They were all pansies!

I then did a short survey to get a free CD of photos. I figure if I couldn't get proper pictures from my camera, at least I know what it should have looked like. I then caught the coach to go back to Nelson. I was sore, and I had blisters on my legs where my wet trousers constantly rubbed on them. I then got food, had free dessert from the hostel (chocolate bread pudding!), and went to bed.