Abel Tasman

What an amazing place! I was trying to find the right words to describe the two days in Abel Tasman and the closest I could came out with was paradise. Josh summed it up well... just one word, epic.
So I went with Andy, Josh and Simon. There
wasn't much planning before the trip and it was amazing how perfect it turned out to be. Couldn't have came out with better plans if we tried. The first day was all kayaking. The red lines on the map is the path we took on the kayak. Went to check out Split Apple Rock, then went to the two islands to check out the seals and some penguin looking bird, stop at a few bays and then pitch tent at Anchorage. Some of the bays were just amazing. My favourite is Te Pukatea Bay (picture at the top). So peaceful and serene... Whats exciting was because we were in our kayaks, we felt like explorers. Going around the point and discovering each of those bays were so exciting! Oh, and our mexican feast that night was one of the best meal I ever had!

The next day all we did was walk, walk, walk.. Basically tramped from 9 - 6.30 with lots of stops. Went to check out Cleopatra's pool and the few bays we missed while we were on the kayaks. Went for our daily swim/bath at Appletine Bay (marked X on the map). Then it was decided that we're gonna take the coast track back to Marahau to add a sense of adventure to wrap up the trip. Went around and over some rocks. Was literally living life on the edge as you don't know what to expect on the other side of the rocks. Even had to do a few rock climbing manouvre with out huge packs on our back. When we reach Marahau, it's already 6.30. Glad we made it before we lost complete daylight. At the end of the tramp, we have four smelly guys with cuts and bruises and aching muscles.

We had fish and chips at the kayak base and drove back to christchurch at 7.30. Reached Christchurch at 1.30 am and went straight to bed. Had such an amazing time :) I think my best memory of the trip is sleeping to the sounds of crickets, waking up to birds chirping away and taking a nap on golden sand beach to the rhythm of the waves.. ~~bliss

p/s: I even made it to soccer that morning and played the full game. We won 5-1!! What a way to start the season =)

For more pictures, check out my facebook album. Here's some of my favourites.