Day 3 on the Abel Tasman Coastal Track
In the morning we walked across the once-flooded, now
passable estuary to our last stop, Totaranui, a campground/Track headquarters.
It was a short two-hour hike. We had intended to leave our packs there and
continue on to Separation Point at the northernmost spot on the Track, about
a five hour round trip hike.
On the way to Totaranui, two things caused us to
change plans: the weather turned damp and the realization that the terrain
and scenery were likely no different than what we'd seen. Our 3:00 pm date
with a water taxi seemed like a very long wait in poor weather. We were able
to phone the water taxi folks and get a ride on the 10:30 am trip back to
Marahau where we started out. It was a pretty rough return trip: the winds
and swells tossed us around a good deal before we landed safely.
The Abel Tasman experience, while a quite different trek
than the Milford Track, was relaxing and leisurely. We saw a different and
pleasant area of the south island. Judy got over her nagging cold but, on
the last night at the Awaroa Hut, suffered from unexpected bites (probably
the New Zealand equivalent of our no-see'ums, referred to in Polynesia as
"nonos") that drive her to seek relief a few days later at a medical clinic
in a small north island seaside town.
