Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman - the Dutch guy who got to New Zealand 90 years before our beloved friend James Cook arrived and claimed it as part of the British Crown in 1769. Just think, if Abel Tasman had not been scared off by a bunch of guys showing him their tongues the countries native language could now have been Dutch! ;-) ... It is not all bad, he went on to discover a small island off the South of Australia and this island (Tasmania) along with it's neighboring sea (Tasman Sea) was named after him.

Fast forward to present times... New Zealand was kind enough to recognize old Tasman and his efforts back in the 1600's and they named a National Park after him. If just so happens to be an absolutely lovely place too!

Although you will now realize this as our general theme - we did not just want to walk through the Abel Tasman National Park when we could probably make it more 'difficult' for ourselves. So with some discussions at the information office and with some details on tide times we made a cunning plan which included taking a long water taxi ride to the far end of the park, walk for 2 days and then arrange to pick-up a kayak somewhere along the way for 3 days of kayaking (and camping on the beaches at night). So, that is exactly what we did!

 

Quite weird - we spotted this raft out at sea and kept a close eye on it as it eventually washed up onshore.  Quite an ingenious piece of engineering but the castaways were nowhere to be seen... ;-)

After a beautiful walk we finally picked up the kayaks and continued our journey...

The Wild West (Coast)

We know, we know - we are sooooooo sorry for not updating the blog but we have been 'busy'. Busy just doing 'stuff'. You cannot believe how quickly time flies when you are doing 'stuff'! :-)

The following items are from our trip along the West coast of the South Island.  This coast is typically very wet and somewhat a little wild.

Greenstone

Now anyone who knows a Kiwi will almost have certainly seen a piece of Greenstone hanging around their neck. This stone somewhat symbolizing their connection with the earth and to some extent the Maori history of this island.

Now like all things, we didn't just want to buy a Greenstone from one of those terrible tourist tacky shops - we wanted to make it a little more 'difficult' for ourselves. Therefore having arrived in the, somewhat rundown 'capital of Greenstone' called Hokitika, we set-up camp in the local pub and begun asking the locals. It wasn't before long that we had a tip from a somewhat intoxicated local that her cousin Aidan had a little workshop in his back garden and might be able to help us out. So, off we went the following day to cousin Aidans house and found him hard at work in his workshop in the back garden.

 

He was so helpful and we actually got to choose the piece of Greenstone out of which our pieces were going to be carved.  He also stencilled our designs into the rock (see below) so we could choose which colours from the rock would be seen.

The final result was just amazing.  Look out for us wearing them in some of the future pictures.

Pancake Rocks

A bit of a 'tourist trap' but something you just have to see if you are in the area. These limestone rocks have, over the centuries, been manipulated by the heavy seas and heavy winds to give the impression of layers of pancakes...

Actually very impressive and seeing them at dusk gave them another dimension.

Inland Pack Track

I don't know how she does it but Monika had also found some sketchy details about another Tramp called the Inland Pack Track which started close to the Pancake Rocks. This track was an old inland track which had been used for centuries by the Maoris to walk up and down the West coast transporting their Greenstone, chickens etc.

So having checked the weather forecast and river levels off we went again heading up a valley into the hills...

After a good 4 hours of walking and having not seen another single person we stopped for a quick lunch and James decided it might be worth reading some more about this track and looking at the detailed map of the area. As we studied the lines of the map and located our position in the mountains and run a finger along to where we were headed for the night we could not help but notice that the map indicated high bluffs (cliffs) all along the route. We double checked our coordinates and came to the realization that, as there were bluffs either side of us and no room for a path, we would literally need to walk in the river all the way!!! ... so that's exactly what we did!!!

Our destination for the night was a 'rock overhang' which the book described was so big that it was nicknamed the 'ballroom' and you could fit two houses underneath it. The book was not wrong - this piece of rock was amazing. We changed out of our wet clothes, pitched our tent under the overhang and cooked a well deserved hot meal.

I think the look on our face says it all - we really enjoyed this one !!!!!!!!

Karamea

When you are on-the-road you are always taking mental notes of places people describe. The Karamea region was a place that only one, adventurous, couple had mentioned to us but this was enough to prick our interest. After reading some more about the area we were convinced - although it was a one-way road and a massive detour we stocked Vivian with enough food and went for it...

The feeling of remoteness and isolation was just overwhelming and the views... Wow!

 

Galloping around Gillespie

Somehow it seems to get harder and harder to leave places as we are experiencing some amazing things and people.  Wanaka was no exception. We sat very quiet in the van as Wanaka dissapeared in the rear-view mirror of Vivian and we drove towards the horizon and to our next adventure.

Our first plan was to stay in a small remote campsite next to the lake for the evening and have an early start the next day. Monika had this crazy idea that if the sun was shining in the morning we would leave straight away on a three day Tramp which happens to start just down the road from the campsite and is a Tramp which nobody seems to know about (meaning no tourists).

View at the campsite that evening:

Early morning and the sun was shining... With a quick breakfast we jumped in Vivian and drove to a small 'town' consisiting mainly of a cafe from where, in theory, we could start the Tramp. We popped into the Department of Conversation (DOC) office (these guys basicly look after all of the remote areas of New Zealand) and they showed us the profile of the walk we was about to undertake - see below:

Can you be serious, just look at the pointy thing in the middle with almost straight edges to it... :o(

Also, because of the bad weather in the previous days the rivers were high and unpassable and we needed to jump onto a boat to take us to the start of the walk. The DOC office also insisted that we filled out a form with our family contact details should ne not return from the walk within 3 days...

Monika, what exactly are we getting ourselves into this time??

Jetboat to starting point of our next adventure

First hurdle we had to pass... many more to come!

On the first day we walked for almost 8 hours to the first hut. Amazingly, because there had been such bad weather in the mountains in the previous days, the hut was full of people who had just walked over the pointy bit. For some of them it had taken 12 hours and this was the way we were heading the next morning!! To make things worse, the hut was full and we had to sleep on the wooden benches in the kitchen.

Mindful of the walk ahead in the morning, and probably by the fact that our spines were pressed against a piece of wood all night, we really did not sleep very well.

With an early wake-up call (courtesy of everyone making breakfast at 6am) we rubbed the dust from our eyes and headed into the woods towards the pointy bit.

What a climb!

Amazing views!

Can you see the small trail marker in the right top corner?... Yes that was the route!

Hurdle after hurdle to be passed...

Final "sprint" to the next hut

10 hours later we arrived at the next hut (with available beds). Now, I don't think that either of us could be called un-fit and our legs are well toned from all of our tramps, but I can tell you, this 10 hour walk has to be the most physically draining one day of exercise I have ever undertaken in my life. Not only did we have a near vertical climb over the pass of the mountain, we then had to contend with loose stones, river crossings, mountain mud slips, waterfalls, tree roots, boulders taller than us, upturned tree's, etc. etc. Basicly any naturaly created obstacle you could think of was thrown at us that day. To say that we were relieved when we arrived at the next hut before dark was an understatement - I take my hat off to Monika for not complaining once (well maybe once ;-) and putting her head down and getting on with it.

As all things in life: no pain, no gain. We were rewarded with some amazing views and the sense of accomplishment cannot be described.

After our night in the second hut with no sleep thanks to an Ozzie snoring like a steamtrain all night we woke again at 6am and headed off down the valley. Our hope was to be ahead of the people sleeping in the hut and to be lucky with getting a space on a jetboat who would ensure we return to civilization within the 3 days and before our families are contacted to notify them that we were missing.

The smiles of relief as we eventually managed to secure two seats on a boat at 11am which then whisked us back to 'town'. What an amazing adventure!