Relaxing in Abel Tasman

On Friday night we stayed in Nelson, in the Nelson City camp site, $32 for the night I think. It was pretty bad - disorganised, overcrowded in the tiny camping area, and horrible rock-hard ground that was nearly impossible to put tent pegs into - but it was the closest place we could find to camp. We had some dinner on the site, walked into town for a couple of drinks, got talking to some English people from the camp site for a while, and headed home. The next morning we took a quick look at the Nelson Saturday market, which is apparently quite well known and did have a lot of interesting stalls, but the city didn't grab me at all. There was nothing really wrong with it, I just didn't particularly care about being there. I didn't even take any photos of Nelson the whole time we were there.

After an early departure from Nelson - we weren't sorry to leave the stony ground, insects, and noisy neighbours - we headed northwest to Abel Tasman national park, for some fresh air and relaxation. Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest national park, apparently, but that doesn't detract from it at all. On arrival, we were somewhat surprised to find ourselves all of a sudden on a dead-end road, but luckily there was a hostel and campsite called the Barn right beside us, and we were able to set up camp there for $30 a night - not a bad rate considering we were right at the gateway to the park itself. We also got a lovely site under some shady trees - bonus! Because we arrived in the afternoon and were so well located, we were able to take a walk into the park itself almost straight away. 45 minutes of walking along a dirt track took us to Coquille Bay, where I enjoyed a swim before the two of us headed back. This part of the trail has lots of wild birds living around it, and we saw several birds with baby chicks crossing our path.

Because the whole place was so relaxing, we decided to stay for a second night rather than just one, so the next day we had a lie-in and then hopped on a water taxi ($25 each) to Anchorage, which is a little further north than we had been the previous evening. The water taxi dropped us off on the beach in Anchorage, and we walked the track back for 3 1/2 hours or so until we reached our campsite again. A lot of the route was quite wild-looking, with lots of greenery and ferns everywhere, but every now and again we would round a bend or crest a hill and would be greeted by the sight of a beautiful sandy beach or sheltered cove. The whole place was just so relaxing and so lovely to look at, but I have to admit that I was glad to sit down and rest by the time we reached the tent again!