Abel Tasman National Park

The winding roads, top of South Island. 1550kms so far.

 

Despite what it may look like we have had a leisurely journey mainly because our motorhome is so good to drive & ride in. We drive at 70 – 80 kms / hour & move over if traffic comes up behind. We are amazed at how few other vehicles are using the roads we are travelling on. Sitting up high we get a great view of the road & scenery.We have breaks in camps, do the laundry & top up & tip out if  you know what we mean.

We get excited when we move on to the next destination as every area is different in one way or another.

Weather.

So far we have had rain only at night on two occasions, otherwise the temp has been between 25 – 32 degrees.  During the night the temp drops right down so we sleep well.

 Marahau – Gateway to the Able Tasman National Park.

This is our third day in The Barn camping ground. There are numerous visitors from other countries staying here & the facilities are first rate. Most of the visitors are young & German with other countries represented in a small way, also crinklies like ourselves. Yesterday we caught a water taxi up into the park, walked for two hours to another bay & then water taxied back to Marahau.  It was good that we had high tide in one way but if it had been low we could have cut the walk time down by going straight across the bay, saving 75 minutes. Another Red Letter day – the scenery & beaches with golden sands & clear water – just outstanding.

 

Arriving at Marahau.

 

The office & the kitchen.

 

Our transport to the water.

 

Split Apple rock.

 

Torrent Bay. Catherine can’t resist a swim.

 

The start of the walk to Anchorage.  Quite a few private homes at Torrent & they have a community fire hose network with many of these fire hose points around the bay. Access to the bay is by boat only.

 

Outstanding Anchorage Bay.

When we got back the tide had dropped considerably so they sent out the tractors with trailers to bring us back in. They have a fleet of 14 boats & 10 tractors. The tractors are completely stripped down in the winter & rebuilt.