Cloudy Beaches and Sunny Hills
Since I arrived in New Zealand, I have been trying to coordinate a trip with my friend Tor, from Oberlin, who is studying in Christchurch, and this past week, after 4 months, things finally came together. Neither of us had done the famous Abel Tasman Coast Track yet, so we decided to do that, paired with the less popular Inland Track to make it a loop. He bused into Nelson and I took a ferry to Picton and hitchhiked to meet him. After staying the night in the a wonderful hostel (Aurora Backpackers for those of you who may find yourself in Nelson. Amazing value and an amazing atmosphere), and visiting the local Quaker cemetery (Nelson had the first meeting in New Zealand), we caught a bus to the trailhead and started on our way.
The Abel Tasman Coast Track is one of New Zealand's Great Walks and is known for its amazing golden sand beaches and swimming. While most people do it during the summer months so as to take advantage of better weather and the possibility of swimming without a wetsuit, I had put it off till the wintertime because the other places I wanted to visit had the potential to have much worse winter weather than Abel Tasman. So it was that Tor and I found ourselves under an overcast sky doing the ATCT in a light drizzle.
Throughout the day we walked past beautiful beaches and secluded coves, all of which lacked the beautiful golden dazzle they have when the sun is out. We crossed Torrent Bay at low tide, taking off our shoes and walking through the sand and mud to cut an hour off of our travel time. The estuary was covered in shellfish shells which made walking barefoot painful, but knowing that we only had a small window of time to make the crossing lent an air of danger to the whole thing. On the other side of Torrent Bay we found ourselves, surprisingly, in the middle of a small village. Along the Abel Tasman coast there are still some small pockets of private land and it seems that they have been turned into vacation spots for the wealthy. At Torrent Bay there were two sandy streets (with names I don't remember), and a dozen or two houses, all of them sparklingly new. It looked like an amazing place to live or vacation, but the houses seemed out of place with the surrounding wilderness and the old bleached remnants of the past fishing ventures there.
That night we were supposed to stay at the Bark Bay Campsite. It was still raining when we arrived so we were preparing to sleep on the counters in the cooking shelter rather than sleeping in a wet tent in the rain, when the ranger came by and generously allowed us upgrade to the hut. We spent the rest of the evening playing cards and trying to get the fire going.
The next day we had several tidal crossings to do so we were in no rush to get started. Low tide was at 4pm and we couldn't cross earlier than 1pm, so we slept in and hung out at the hut all morning. It was another overcast and rainy day so we didn't get the views we could have, but it was still a beautiful walk.
That night we stayed at Totaranui Campground, and this time we actually slept on the countertop. There was German girl who had the same idea, and between the three of us we had no room to move. Tor and I were bumping heads all night, and were both about 6 inches short of being able to stretch out completely.
In the morning we were greeted by two wekas (woodhens) who came to explore our shelter. They were very forward, coming inside and scouting around our packs. We also had a friendly fantail who helped us to combat the sandflies, and landed on my foot. We dubbed him Buddy Holly, and he (or some lookalikes, it's hard to tell with fantails) followed us for the rest of the trip.
The morning also brought the first clear weather of the trip. We went down to the beach and watched the sunrise. The sand turned to gold and the water was a crystal blue. But sadly it was time for us to turn inland, so those few minutes in the morning were all we had of the ATCT as it should be.
The Inland Track is a very different animal from the Coast Track. While the Coast Track is well maintained and only climbs a few times over small bluffs, the Inland track is rooty and steep. At some points, there was no dirt to the trail at all, just a patchwork of tree roots to walk on. And somehow, the Inland Track manages to be a swamp, though it almost exclusively runs along the tops of ridges. Though it is much harder going, the Inland Track is well worth the work. Though the views are few and far between, they give beautiful panoramas from the Marlborough Sounds to the Nelson Lakes to Farewell Spit on the other side of Golden Bay.
We got to Awapoto Hut in the mid-afternoon, leaving us ample time to enjoy the sun we had been missing for the previous few days. We hung all our wet gear out to dry and relaxed on the porch. Right before dinner two Kiwi guys showed up. They were both biologists, and had studied in the States. They were the epitome of Kiwi bros. Loud, funny, with a touch of vulgar, they kept a constant banter poking fun at each other and us. They made for lively evening conversation, and they taught us how to play the card game "Asshole".
The next morning there was a beautiful purple sunrise over the ocean, and we said goodbye to our Kiwi friends. The trail continued to be rough and tumble, but we made good time. We stopped for lunch near Moa Park at an rock outcrop that gave us views of Farewell Spit and the Sounds. From there we only had a bit further to Castle Rocks Hut.
As the name implies, near the hut there were several rock outcrops. From the top we could see the trailhead at Marahau and the snowy tops of the mountains in Nelson Lakes National Park (my next destination). On another outcrop we could see a pair of wild goats that sounded like they were sneezing repeatedly. I'm assuming that was some sort of warning call and not allergies. We tried to get to some of the other outcrops along the ridge by following goat trails through the underbrush, but every one seemed to end in a thorn bush, so eventually we turned our attention towards other things.
The hut was very nice but lacked any firewood, so Tor and I decided to find some. After searching the surrounding bush, we found a group of dead trees. Between the two of us, we chopped down three of them and dragged them back to camp. Then we took turns chopping them into burnable pieces, and spent the rest of the evening in a warm hut.
Since it was clear out, we decided it was the perfect night to sleep out. At about 8pm (trail bedtime), we dragged two of the hut mattresses outside. The sky was cloudless, and the heavens spread out before us. In the mood of the moment, we discussed such weighty topics as physics, world politics and the possibility of other universes, frequently interrupting to point out the many shooting stars crisscrossing the sky.
The next morning we woke to frosted mattresses and wet sleeping bags but it was worth it. From Castle Rocks we only had to hike down off the ridge to Marahau. With only a stop at Holyoake Shelter for lunch and the views, we were down to the trailhead well before the bus was supposed to pick us up. To entertain ourselves we tried to lure sparrows into our hands with the crumbs from our trail mix, and went out to the tidal flats to leave messages in the sand.
While we were collecting rocks to make our messages, a crabby old man walked by and yelled at us. Apparently DOC does not want people to leave messages in the sand, and has volunteer school groups come to put all the rocks back where they came from. If this is the case the school groups are not doing a very good job. It was hard to find an open space to fit our messages in among the others. After Tor told him that we would put the rocks back when we were done, he left us alone. When we were done we took some photos and left our messages to proclaim our completion of the track until the next school group comes through.