This was going to be one of the "signature" experiences of the trip. A day walk in the famous Abel Tasman National Park. Alas Elise awoke with a migrane. And if mum wasn't going then Samuel wasn't going to do 23km with just dad for company. So in the end it was just Eric driving north from Motueka in the early morning.
The prize after an 80km drive was a circle hike at the northern end of the park along the Gibbs Hill Track, and then the last 15km of the famous Abel Tasman Coast Track, reputedly one of the best sections of one of New Zealands best Great Walks.
Another advantage of travelling to the north end of the park was people (or lack of). While the southern sections of the 60km track get the majority of day trippers, very few go to the extra effort of getting to the top of the park.
Without family to look after, this became a part run, part walk, with 15-25 minutes of jogging the easy bits, separated by walking the tougher ones. By sensibly heading out anti-clockwise, the worst of the climbing (400m up) to Gibbs Peak was out of the way in the first 45 minutes.
From there it was a long downhill jog (and slippery even in studs) to Totaranui where the Gibbs Hill track joined the Coast Track. The change in scenery from thick dry scrub high up on the hill, to thick wet coastal "bush" was a major contrast. It was quite rainforesty in places and it was easy to see the effects of recent heavy rains with a few major track washouts.
Anapai Bay was very pretty with a short stretch of soft sand between dramatic headlands.
The next bay, Mutton Cove, is known for being perhaps the best beach on the walk. And it was indeed even more beautiful than Anapai Bay. I stopped for a chat and photo with a couple of British girls who were doing the same hike I was over two days and in reverse.
Next it was up and over a saddle and down to Wharlwharangi Bay, yet another first class beach. I saw another couple of hikers on this stretch, but the area around Wharlwharangi Hut and campground was completely deserted.
Finally back up to the hill on the Inland Track back to the start of the Gibbs Track and a short 3km jog back over previous ground down to the car. 22.5km in a little over three hours plus photo stops.
Back on the road, I stopped to see if I could spot any Penguins. While signs were everywhere, I didn't see any of the real thing.
Next stop was Takaka. The main street was full of "alternative lifestyle" shops selling hippy garb, jewels and trinkets, pottery, organic and vegan produce. I just settled for some chocolates to take home to Elise and Samuel and then headed out of town to the salmon farm which featured an incredible salmon platter for just $25 which was just the tonic post run. The only negative was that the midges finally found me after being completely absent in Abel Tasman Park.
The salmon farm also featured a petting zoo of sorts where the local turkeys were busy courting (unsuccessfully by the looks).
Finally a tough drive home over Takaka Hill. The road and its many hairpin bends looked very suitable for a mountain stage in the Tour of Spain. The views were spectacular both on each side of the range and on the rocky plateau on top.
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