Abel Tasman Walk, NZ, Pt 1 | maddestinations

Abel Tasman Walk, NZ, Part 1

http://www.doc.govt.nz/abeltasmantrack

https://www.newzealand.com/au/feature/abel-tasman-coast-track/

It’s a no-brainer why the Abel Tasman Walk is one of New Zealand’s 10 Great Walks and a very popular trail.

Situated near Nelson on the South Island, the sunniest place in the country, this walk has good weather year-round.
The walk goes through beautiful bushland, and along beaches and rivers with clear turquoise waters.
There are many endemic bird species (birds found only in New Zealand - our video shows several) and a possibility of seeing New Zealand fur seals (we caught a glimpse).
You can pre-book huts or campsites: all accommodation options are near lovely beaches.
You can pre-book water taxis to take your luggage from hut (or campsite) to hut and just walk with your day pack.
The walk has steep sections but people of moderate fitness will find it fine, while very fit folks can take all the side trips and run sections of it.
Distances are reasonable: the average day walk is 13 kilometres (8 miles) long.
If walking’s not your thing, you can take the water taxi from hut to hut and just stay in the accommodation, and kayak, swim or snorkel.

Watch the video about Day 1 of the walk from Marahau to Anchorage now.

About this video

This video only deals with the first day of our 4-day trek, walking from Marahau to Anchorage (13 kilometres or 8 miles, longer if you do side trips to beautiful beaches), but does show much of the wildlife and scenery you will see on the route.

We will show the next video or videos in relatively quick succession so you get the whole picture, and will then publish the entire footage as a longer video on our maddestinations youtube site.

Birds we saw

Here is information about the lovely birds we saw on Day 1 of this walk.

White-faced heron Ardea novaehollandiae

White-faced herons are commonly found across Australasia.They are very adaptable birds and can feed in various habitats on fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects. They use disintegrating feathers on their flanks to take fish slime off their bills after catching eels.

Weka Gallirallus Australis

Wekas are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. They are fast runners and despite not having webbed feet, strong swimmers. They are rare on the North Island due to predation from stoats but common in South Island national parks and on islands where traps have been set for their predators, or where predators are absent.

Cheeky and opportunistic, wekas will steal food from trekkers as well as taking eggs and chicks from other birds' nests. They also catch mice, lizards and insects and eat fruit, leaves and seeds.

Wekas are attentive parents and will share their food with their chicks, crumbling it into tiny pieces their chicks can digest.

Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs

Introduced from England in the 1860s, chaffinches are the only introduced finch to be found in native forests, where they eat seeds and fruit. As they crush seeds with their powerful beaks, they do not disperse the seeds of native (or non-native) plants.

New Zealand fantail (pied morph) Rhipidura fuliginosa

The light brown and yellow fantail (pied morph) is a lovely endemic bird found throughout the country. The black morph (next video) is common in parts of the South Island but rare on the North Island.

Fantails can come close to humans as they disturb insects the birds eat. They feed on insects, grubs and spiders, catching moths and flies on the wing, hence their flitting behaviour.

Chicks leave the nest after a fortnight and perch together on a branch where they are fed by both parents.

Red-billed gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae scopulinus

This bird, the smallest of three gulls found in New Zealand, is a scavenger and an aggressive stealer of food from other birds and from fishing boats. At the same time it will flock with other birds such as black-billed gulls and white-fronted terns to nest.

Red-billed gulls will fly inland to find food such as earthworms and other insects, as well as eating fish and crustaceans along the coastline.

Black-backed gull Larus dominicanus

This gull is the largest of three gulls found in New Zealand. This bird will take eggs from other ground-nesting birds and when eating shellfish, will drop them from a height to break them open.

Young black-backed gulls look very different from the adults. They are a speckled brown and white colour whereas adults have large yellow beaks and are black and white. Both adults and young birds are featured in this video.

Facts and figures

The Abel Tasman Coastal Trail (official title) is 60 kilometres (37 miles) long.
It can be done in 3-5 days.
If starting in Marahau, you do not need to go all the way to the end of the walk at Wainui carpark, where you would have to have a vehicle – stop in Totaranui like we did and get the water taxi back to Marahau – this makes it a 4-day versus 5-day trek
If starting at the other end, at Wainui carpark or spending the first night at Whariwhrangi hut, you can get the water taxi at Anchorage to Marahau – this makes it a 4-day versus 5-day trek.
There are no cooking facilities: bring a portable stove and all your food. You will need to carry your rubbish out with you but you can of course put it on a water taxi to be transported to the next hut.

Prebook everything

https://booking.doc.govt.nz/Menu.aspx?sg=ATC

I can't emphasise this enough: prebook everything. This includes the walk itself, huts or campsites, water taxis, and transport to and from Motueka or Nelson.

If you turn up at a hut or campsite without a booking, you will be turned away. Rangers will check you have a booking. The walk is so popular accommodation rapidly fills up. Do not turn up on the offchance you can wing a bunk or camping spot.

If you are turned away, your only option is to sleep rough in the bush. It can get very cold and the sandflies are ferocious, so I would not recommend this option.

If you have not prebooked water taxis to take your luggage, you may have to carry your heavy pack from hut to hut. Not a problem for the fit, but if you were counting on carrying a light load, this would be a blow.

Check the tides before you walk

There are several spots where you can only cross at low tide. It's a long 6-hour wait if you have to wait for the next low tide, so check tides before you walk and plan your day accordingly.

There are some cases, such as with Anchorage to Bark Bay, where you can walk an alternative high-tide route. This is a longer but prettier option and many people choose to walk it. We did. This section of the walk will be covered in our next video on the Abel Tasman Coastal Track.

Getting there

Before doing the walk or engaging in other activities in the national park such as kayaking or sky diving, most people stay in the lively town of Motueka. This place has lots of bars and restaurants, accommodation to suit all budgets and a cool vibe. Here, you can book your transport to the trailhead at Marahau and book other activities too. People in Motueka are super friendly (tourism keeps the town alive) and happy to point you in the right direction.

The nearest airport is at Nelson, the sunniest place in New Zealand. From Nelson, you can get a bus to Motueka.

Why go?

The scenery is stunning and you will see birds you can only see in New Zealand.
It’s classified as a moderate walk, and given water taxis will carry heavy luggage, is quite manageable.
The walk is open year-round given the mild climate.
You can camp or stay in huts, and there is even a lodge on the third night.
Your fellow trekkers are likely to be friendly and interesting – make friends ( we ‘adopted’ a sole trekker on our third day who walked with us).

Do you have questions or comments about this article? Email maddestinations@gmail.com or leave a comment under the video.