Abel Tasman National Park

Spent a night in Nelson then drove to Marahau when our kayak and hiking tour was setting off from. We arrived at ‘Kayak Abel Tasman’ and were promptly redirected to ‘Abel Tasman Kayaks’ next door! (reminded us of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. “Are you the Judean Peoples’ Front?, F**k off, ….we’re the Peoples’ Front of Judea!”).

At the marina, various tractors raced around depositing their water taxis on the boat ramp. Once loaded, our group sped up the coast to Onetahuti where we were given sea kayaks and a quick briefing on the beach.
The kayaks were good quality and the paddle-skirts stopped most of the water from getting into your pants! In fact, the only time we got wet was when a group of rival kayakers passed us and splashed us... b'tards!!

It took most of the day to paddle back down the coast, and the scenery and water clarity was amazing, helped by the sunshine which thankfully held until the afternoon.

We stopped for a beach-lunch and our guide, 'Banksie' produced green-lipped mussels in orange juice, beef kebabs with pita bread & salad, cookies the size of your head, chocolate danishes and a cup of tea... champion!

We reached Anchorage about 3pm and the rest of the group were hiking out that afternoon (just as it started to rain!) We however, were booked to stay at Aqua-packers - a big catamaran that has been converted into a backpackers lodge. So we were dropped off by the water taxi and had a beer in hand while the others disappeared up the hiking trail….poor sods!

The boat has dorms in the two hulls and a few double rooms upstairs. We were in the starboard dorm with one other guy, a chef called Joel and about 7 girls were stuffed in the other one. They provided a BBQ dinner and breakfast and it was a great atmosphere on the boat.
The following morning was beautiful, and it was great to be on the water before the noisy water taxis started running. Two mad German girls dived off the boat to go swimming, but we just sat on deck drinking mugs of teas and shivering empathically.

After breakfast, they dropped us off on shore and we headed back towards Marahau via the coastal track that winds up the hillside giving you amazing views of the Tasman Sea.