Abel Tasman Coastal Track

Anna and I squeezed in one more trip before working out school assignments and getting ready for break. We walked the Abel Tasman Coastal Track. This is one of the ten New Zealand Great Walks. The other tramps I've done are not included in the ten, but they are close runners up, just as great or even better. Eva would have loved to join us but she had school work.
Anna and I left Wellington Thursday morning after two heavy days of school. We took the ferry to Piction, grabbed lunch, and almost missed our bus to the track. We were just in time and enjoyed the 2 hour bus ride to Marahau. We arrived at out hostel/campground around 5pm and settled in. It was called the Old McDonald Campground. They actually had sheep, llamas, chickens, peacocks, cows and a bunch more animals. We got a cabin to ourselves and enjoyed a bottle of wine around the farm before walking down the road to the cafe/bar. The evening was spent listening to the local's open mic night, sipping wine and eating incredible food. We danced with the owners of the bar and stood in on an old Hawaiian chant. It was an amazing night, one of the best yet in New Zealand.
The next morning we were up and ready to start our tramp! We started the walk with really heavy packs but good spirits. I just bought a new backpack that can hold double the amount of my old one. I used that space, making my pack super heavy. The day was long and tiresome but when we reached the beach of our camp that afternoon it was well worth it. After about six hours of walking we collapsed on the beach until we were ready to set up our tent. The beach was beautiful and secluded like all of the Abel Tasman beaches. We borrowed a tent from a friend and were happily surprised to find it had all the pieces and was just big enough for two people. That night we made dinner on a small gas stove, took a nap on the beach and hung around the one campfire in the campground. By the time we got into our sleeping bags we were dead tired. My hips were swollen from my back resting there for so long and Anna's feet were blustered. Along the track you go through tidal pools. You have to reach these just in time to pass while the waters out and still have to walk through a few streams. Wet feet were not a good idea for our days walk!

The next morning after a small contemplation of whether to walk more or not, we set out along the track. We felt alright but immediately took our shoes off to walk through another tidal pool area. We worked hard not to have wet feet! This day was a four hour walk, with two hours the following morning. Anna and I ended up getting distracted by a German guy, Patrick, for most of the day. He was really entertaining and kept us in good spirits. We had lunch with him and after taking our shoes off yet again to cross more tidal pools we decided to keep walking to the end of the track! We ended up at our destination after about six hours of walking and felt great. We were done and didn't have to walk any further in the morning! The second day of walking went a lot better than the first. That might have had something to do with our activites the night before.
Our tent was the only one occupying a large open around in a nice campground. We had a fire pit and picnic table to ourselves and relaxed for the evening. I made a fire and we drank the very small bottle of wine we brought with us. It was a great night looking at the stars and taking in New Zealand. Around 10pm the silly girls that we are decided to move our tent. It was in the corner near the woods and since there was no one around, we brought the tent into the middle of the opening! The first night in the tent we laid awake listening to opossums and figured there would be less animals in the open. It actually worked well! The next morning we were able to relax and wait for our bus. The bus was picking us up in this campground so we didn't have anywhere to go. Anna went for a swim in the freezing ocean and I read a book. We were waiting promptly at 9:50am for our 10:00 bus that never showed up. What to do when we have no cell service, our bus isn't there and we're in the middle of no where? Luckily there were other people around. The guy saw us looking lost and talking about our bus and he mentioned to us that it was day light saving time! We were an hour early. Who keeps track of things like that when you're in the bush??
So our tramp ended with a sleepy bus ride back to civilization. We arrived later that afternoon in Nelson, a good sized town and hung around there for the day. We treated ourselves to a nice dinner and beer and went back to our hostel to take advantage of the free spa and pool. We took Patrick's advice (our friend from the trail) for this great hostel. It was $24NZ (around $16US) for a bed with linens, free pool, spa, steam room, free veggie soup at night and breakfast in the morning. This place has one of the best deals I've seen so far. We also ran in Patrick that night and got to hang out with him again! The trip was a great success and Anna and I both learned a lot about tramping:pack light, you don't need a jar of peanut butter, jelly AND honey, talk to the people walking with you and maybe it's not a good idea for shots at the bar the night before you begin the tramp!

Two in One

So I'm going to recap my last two weekends! While in Wellington, I focus on school still and have just enough time to fit in about one night a week to go out to town with friends. I'm so glad I'm able to do this as it is just enough to make me feel like I'm getting everything I can out of Wellington and New Zealand. So my first weekend after the trip to Arthur's Pass was a little rushed and disoriented but still fun. I felt weird after having been with these amazing girls to this amazing place. It was like I 'climbed the mountain' now what?
But after a fun filled Thursday night out in town, Carly Lewis, John and I grabbed a bus to Napier Friday morning. We arrived early afternoon to this art deco town. There was an earthquake there in the early 1930's and the town was completely rebuild with art deco architecture. It was a good town to see but after a nice relaxing dinner and a stroll on the beach we felt we were done with the place. The next morning we got another bus to a town well talked about all over New Zealand. Taupo is home to the world's cheapest sky dive! (No, I didn't sky dive, I'm waiting for Jake to get here and go with me!) The town sits on a lake (one of the biggest in the southern hemisphere) and is known for natural thermal pools, waterfalls, and a bunch of adventure sports type things. We spent a day kayaking to 'ancient' Maori carvings that ended up being from the 1970s, that was a little lame. That night we were still hurting from Thursday night and went to bed early. The three of us shared a suite room in a hostel and it had a tv! That was the first night I was able to lay around and watch tv since I've been here. The next day Carly went parasailing and I rode around in the boat. I didn't want to go parasailing because I went in Cancun and I wanted to save the money for other things, like bungy jumping later! The weekend was short and sweet but a nice little out of Wellington's city life and continue my weekend travel tradition.
The next school week flew by and before we knew it, the girls and I rented a car and headed out again Friday! Carly Davis, Anna, Eva and I split the costs for the car so it ended up being really cheap. We left town Friday morning in route to Castlepoint. We stopped outside of Wellington and had coffee and muffins in a cute little town then got back on the road. The roads to Castlepoint went through farmland and rolling hills. I drove, loving the freedom of the car and curves of the roads. We pulled up to our ocean front cabin in late afternoon. We lounged on the beach for a while then went back to our cabin for a few bottles of wine and great homemade pasta. The four of us girls had a great time together! We sat around the table and talked for hours. We talked about things you don't usually talk about like how this experience was affecting us all and all of our great attributes! The next morning I woke up and felt the need to go somewhere else. After calling Jake from the ocean side payphone for a clear chat, we drove on to Cape Palliser.
Again, we made this quite an experience. The ocean was a beautiful, uncapturable shade of blue and the sand was black! There was a seal colony and the seals were sunbathing and laying near us. They were too cute! So picture this, as I am taking a nice peaceful stroll along the ocean all by myself, not a person in sight, these two girls come running up to me, naked! Anna and Eva were embracing the freedom of the wide open beach and nature. So what do I do besides laugh uncontrollably? Strip down and run around with them! We were like little hippie children embracing life at it's fullest. We went swimming in water that seems warmer than Wellingtons and eventually got back into the car feeling unheld and ready for whatever life had for us. We drove back into Wellington as it was getting dark and got ready for our next week of school. We had a blast, had great conversations and all felt like we learned a little about ourselves.