Gorgeous Abel Tasman!

Not the actual guy, one of NZ's national parks hahaha. I set out to Abel Tasman National Park the next day for a "full day" hike, also conveniently arranged by Magic Bus (as an add-on). It was over an hour out from town, passing through the main region of NZ which grows hops (for that easy drinking NZ beer) which I'd never actually seen before, so that was pretty interesting (the hops grow up a string the farmers hang from above the ground, sort of like a vine). There were 2 options for the hike, a 4 hour hike, or a 6 hour hike. Despite knowing I'm a pretty fast hiker, I decided to do the 4 hour hike because the customer service agent convinced I would have more time to take in the scenery. It was a decision I'd later come to regret. I finished the hike in 2 and a half hours, and that includes the half hour I spent eating a relaxing lunch and all the time I took to stop and take photos and enjoy the scenery. I didn't even go my regular hiking pace after the first hour because I knew I'd probably end up killing a lot of time at the end if I kept going at the same pace; I really cruised and took my time after the first hour. And to be honest, it wasn't much of a hike after the initial uphill climb - the path was well-established and groomed (it was even paved with gravel for most of the last sections). I ended up waiting at the bus stop at the end and in the neighbouring cafe for 3 hours for the bus to take us back into Nelson! I was the first one from the group that got dropped off for the 4 hour hike to get to the stop too! So I should have done the 6 hour hike - I would have seen more too - but the beautiful scenery made the 3 hour wait at the end completely worth it. I'll let the photos do the talking.

After the long bus ride out of town, there was still a boat ride that took us deeper into the national park that would drop us off along the hike, so that we ended up hiking back towards the hiking entrance of the park. I like how the the black stuff on the rock really stood out on the orange sand (2nd photo).


Some of the scenery during the boat ride. The weather was awesome and made for some great shooting, but you might notice the colouring is off in some of the photos - I had to adjust for heavy shadows in some photos. The almost perfectly split rock sphere (3rd and 4th photos) was pretty interesting - supposedly split naturally by natural forces (though I'm not sure what could cause such a near perfect split).


At the entrance to the hike - 12.4km to the end.


Some of the scenery along the hike (notice the well-groomed path - it makes hiking a lot easier). NZ has an abundant variation of vegetation - it really is amazing. The 8th, 9th, and 10th photos are of the endemic silver fern, also NZ's famous unofficial national logo.


I spotted a nice quiet beach off the main path, and decided to make my way through its semi-secluded side path to have a relaxing lunch. It was perfectly serene; I was the only one there, alone with my thoughts and the breathtaking landscape. The seagull was really cheeky (10th and 11th photos) - it walked right up to me while I ate my protein bars for lunch. I actually dropped my first bar in the sand as I was opening the package (it just kind of popped out), and I was quick enough to grab it just before the seagull got it (they can surprisingly run fast!). Then after that, it just kept watching me, waiting to see if I'd drop my food again haha. And yes, I actually ate that bar (I only brought 3 with me) after dusting off the sand - some of the cleanest sand I could eat anyway hahaha.


Some more views along the hike after lunch. I noticed quite a few backpackers enjoying the park (2nd and 3rd photos) and bumped into quite a few on the trail (even a Canadian couple from Ottawa!). The park is also used for tourist activities like kayaking (6th photo). The variation of vegetation really is amazing; I tried my best to capture as much of it as I could. And of course, plenty of silver fern (8th photo). But no, the bird (20th photo) is not a kiwi (it would've been cool to see one, but they're nocturnal birds)! What really amazes me is how the terrain changed so much along the hike. It was a really good "hike" though (more of a walk in my opinion), especially the parts of the trails which bordered the coast - the sound of the waves, the bright sun, the shade provided along most of the trail, and the light breeze coming off the coast...perfection.


I decided to treat myself to a vanilla shake at the cafe at the end of the hike - I really needed a drink, and I figured if I was going to have to overpay for something, it might as well be something that I couldn't always get anywhere (though the shake was really small and quite a ripoff). Some kind of mini-fog moved in over the rocky beach area at the last part of the trail just outside the cafe (1st photo) - it was definitely really strange to see (even the cafe staff couldn't figure out what it really was).


I knew I couldn't just sit there in the cafe for 3 hours after I finished my shake, so I decided to head back to the last part of the trail to see what the mini-fog was all about. It turned out to be a misty fog - I could feel the nice cool mist on my skin as I passed through it. People had written messages, usually ones about love, on the sand using the stones, so I decided to killed some time making a message too - can you see what the 3rd photo says? I put a good 10-15 minutes of hard work into that hahaha. There were some interesting birds too, and I got to see a seagull nesting (9th photo)!

Now a crappy story (sorry for the pun haha): I tried to creep up to the seagull nest to get a closer shot, but the seagull got spooked and flew a few metres away while keeping an eye on me. Then I made the mistake of creeping a little closer to the nest (I was curious to see the eggs!), and the seagull instantly reacted in defense and took to the skies. At first, I had no clue what it was doing (I thought I had just scared it away again) so I snapped off a couple of photos of it flying (10th photo), but then it started to fly by me and I thought I saw it pooping as it went by. It wasn't until it flew back around and headed directly towards me like some kind of air bomber that I realized it was attacking me with its poop, so I took off! Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough, and as I was running away, it managed to get me once one the back of pants! What a way to end a day hike eh? I tried cleaning it off at the public restroom but couldn't get all of it off. So I had to throw it in the wash that night.


A little treat I picked up at the supermarket after the hike. Looks a lot like the Kettle Brand chips we have here, doesn't it? Honey and soy looked like a pretty interesting combination (definitely a unique one) so I figured I'd give it a shot. They were actually pretty good - more sweet than salty.


Christ Church Cathedral, the landmark Anglican cathedral in Nelson on Church Hill, just outside the hostel. Grabbed a photo of it while I still had my camera with me after I had gotten back from the hike.

That night back at the hostel, I did 2 things for the first time in my life: sear steak with water, and dry my clothes with an iron. I picked up a steak at the supermarket after the hike (it was less than $5 NZD!), but I didn't have any cooking oil, so I seared it using water as the oil. It actually turned out pretty good! And why did I waste a large amount of time (I think probably close to a half hour) attempting to dry my clothes with an iron? Well I found out it cost $4 NZD at this hostel just to do a load in the dryer! I had just done the laundry in Wellington 2 nights ago, so I didn't have much clothes to wash along with my pants, so there was no way I was going to pay that much to dry a few things (and I knew I didn't have enough time to air dry them since it was another early departure the next morning). Luckily the hostel had an iron and ironing board, so I did my best to dry my stuff (it didn't completely work). And there was no private room this night; it ended up being completely full. I actually met some interesting people in my room - the French guy sleeping above me had just come back from camping out in Abel Tasman for the past 3 days, and I helped a girl from Germany, who had come to Nelson with her boyfriend to find some work, with the English instructions for a hair dye product because she wanted to dye her natural blond hair to bleach blond.