Abel Tasman Park

Oh, what's that? It's winter where you live? Boy, that sure sucks for you!

Let me tell you about my trip to a beautiful beach - that should chase away the winter blues. Or possibly make them worse.

I've been looking forward to Abel Tasman Park ever since I saw a photo in a travel guide. It was of kayakers floating in crystal blue waters, with slashes of golden sand behind them. It looked like paradise - but I wondered if the park would really be as good as the photos.

It was.

Abel Tasman park is a long strip of mountains and beaches. It takes three days to hike across the whole thing. Jasson and I took a water taxi to the center of the park, which dropped us off at Bark Bay.

We marveled at the vivid turquoise blue and green of the waters and the golden glowing sand, which was soft and fine.

Jasson and I began our hike back towards the front of the park. We had a long hike ahead of us - an estimated seven hours. Yes, we paid a boat to take us fifteen miles away from our car. Why? I don't know.

After only half an hour of hiking, I spotted a picturesque beach through the trees that I absolutely had to check out. We made our way down to it.

We had the beach to ourselves while we ate lunch and went for a quick dip in the water. Then we got back on the path again, which went up and down the sides of the hills.

A seven-hour hike was overly ambitious, at least for me. We didn't quite pack enough food, and we got a late start so we didn't even finish until 6:30 in the evening. I was a pathetic, whimpering mess by the end. (Jasson, however, got up at 6 am the next morning and went on a 27-mile bike ride.)

To give you an idea of how far it was - this photo was taken at the halfway point of our hike. We started at the red arrow in the distance.

We passed many sparkling beaches along the way - some crowded with people, others totally empty. Despite my exhaustion I couldn't stop taking photos. I think Abel Tasman Park is the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

Well it's late and my laptop battery is dying, so I'll end this post here. I have lots more photos of unnatural shades of blue water to assault your eyes with, and I'll post them soon!