Abel Tasman

Here are a few pics from Abel Tasman - such a beautiful place!

We stayed on a boat in Anchorage Bay called Aquapackers. You can see the boat in this picture.It is a boat that sleeps 20-30 people. Originally booked that for 3 nights but decided 2 would be enough.
They feed you breakfast & dinner on the boat, which is nice but it is same exact meal every night. Not bad, but not fantastic. The bunks we slept in left about a foot between your face and the ceiling...one girl compared it to a school trip which is sort of how it felt! Except there was a bar on the top floor...

I hiked into the park on Monday. Met Jesse & our bags on the beach @ Anchorage Bay. Jesse & I did a hike close to our home base on Tuesday with 2 new friends Richard & Raz. The hike was cool because it was off of the main walking track so a little more remote. The weather was great...until we got to the beach each day! I was looking forward to swimming but the clouds kept rolling in right at that time and it was chilly.

Wednesday we took a guided kayak tour of the park, including Tonga Island which is home to NZ fur seals. We saw lots of seals and some pups which was cute. Also saw a lone dolphin who has been hanging in the area for about a year named George. So cool to see him up close! Also saw a blue penguin swimming right in front of us - he was shy and disappeared but was cool to see for a brief moment. I took come pics with my waterproof camera but will have to upload them later.

We took a water taxi out of the park & stayed at a backpacker's last nigth in Marahau. Going to the beach today by the entrance of the park & then back to Nelson this afternoon for a few nights before heading to the north island. Can not believe we have been traveling for a month already! It does not seem like enough time!!