Our kayak & backpack adventure

Abel Tasman is a beauty on the coast.  It’s a gorgeous National Park that is incredibly tidal.  Apparently it can be a 5 meter difference of water between high and low tide.

We did a kayak/backpacking trip along the majority of the “Great Walk” through Abel Tasman.  We started out our day on a boat down the coast to begin our kayaking adventure.

Boat selfie.

In my “kayak skirt” getting ready to get going!

The kayaking as a bit tricky as we managed to have a headwind no matter what direction we were paddling. But the coast line was beautiful and we got to see seals!

Going into a natural tunnel

After we completed our kayaking trip, we headed to our hut for the night.  We went out by the beach where we entertained ourselves with a natural lazy river.

Floating down the “lazy river”

Just floating out to sea.

Heading back to our hut after beach time.

Full house at the hut.

Cooking up our dehydrated dinner.

Abel Tasman

The next morning, we got up bright and early to get our long day of hiking in.  We backpacked two legs of the Abel Tasman Great Walk in one day, making it approximately 23-24 kilometers.

Rise and shine!

The track has two different routes depending on the tides.  We were able to take the low tide route to shorten it a bit, right as the tide was coming in.  It’s pretty wild walking through an area that in just an hours time will be a bay of water.

Low tide option

Beach break

At the end of the track, we had to walk across a bridge over a bay of water during high tide.  The prior day, the bay had been completely empty and we had sat on the beach drinking beer where the water now was.

The end of the track!

We celebrated our completion with beer, burgers, and a pizza.  And an early bed time.