This is Why We're Here :)

February 2

Though I woke up a few times last night feeling a little sore, I slept a lot better than expected. Mosquitoes were just swarming the camp site when we got back from dinner and we had to fit all four of us in the tent for the first time (Wes slept outside at Raglan). To top it off, the zipper on the door came off the track and the closest we could get to fixing it left two thumb-sized gaps in the door. It was crowded, buggy, and loud, and I actually managed to get a better night's sleep than I had in Raglan. And I can honestly say that even a terrible night's sleep would have been worth it for the day we had today.

We started with breakfast on the beach—oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, which has become a staple for us. Though we missed sunrise because Ian's alarm didn't go off, the beach was still pretty and the tide low enough that it wasn't much of a hassle to walk there. We cleaned our dishes in the ocean and started our day-long hike shortly before 8:00.

The walk led us immediately into the ever-dense forest, which was nice for me since I had forgotten my sunglasses and had to keep my gaze straight down whenever we walked on the beach. We walked through a lot of the trees and shrubs that are starting to become familiar to us. The many fern trees that are interjected here and there throughout the forest are a pleasant reminder that we're in a new country. There seems to be nobody sharing the trail with us since we left camp, which makes us feel even more immersed in the wilderness. Within a few minutes of leaving the beach we come to Aworoa lodge where we're hoping to find drinking water to top off our water bottles. There doesn't seem to be any at the camp, but there is a restaurant nearby that will probably have some somewhere. Hesitant to go inside and ask for water without buying anything, we are happy to find a sink behind the counter of the outdoor bar. Zach, Wes, and I fill up our water from there and we head back to the path.

Somewhere around half an hour from the restaurant, Zach wonders aloud whether the water we got was actually filtered. Most of the camps in this park have a limited supply of it and it seems plausible that the sink we found was just for washing dishes and not safe for drinking. All three of us have already had a few swigs but quickly become hesitant to drink anymore. The first two guys we pass on the trail tell us that the nearest supply of drinking water is at Bark Bay. Though it's still two hours away, we decide not to drink any more of our water until we get there. Ian has about two and a half liters from a source we know was safe, so the rest of us will just mooch off of him for the time being.

The hike is great. The general pattern is to wander slowly up a mountain and slowly back down and out onto a beach front. The trails down consistently provide spectacular views of the beautifully light-blue water.

We eventually come to a sign for Bark Bay. Left for low tide route, right for high tide. It's about 11:30 now so we go right. As we circle the bay, Ian and I decide it is the prettiest water we've ever seen. Some combination of sunlight, depth, and sand turns the water a gorgeous turquoise, and as we hop out onto a rock for pictures and a better look, Zach excitedly declares that he can't wait to swim in it. None of us can.

The camp at Bark Bay is perfect. The tent sites are right on the beach, firewood is provided, and there are even flush toilets. It was a shame we weren't going to be staying a night there. We refill our water bottles with definitely safe water and debate whether to swim or eat first. Zach, brilliantly, proposes we do both. And so, PBJs in hand, we wade out into the ocean to eat the most satisfying sandwiches we've ever had. This really feels like paradise. The water is perfect, the sand is white and fine, and the landscape is rolling beautifully all around the bay. Ian and I race through a foot and a half of water and exhaust ourselves pretty quickly. After we rest for a few minutes, we all swim out to an island of sand a little inland from the sandbar we're on.

 

 

Ian and I "planted" this driftwood/tree in the sand

We eventually head back to the beach and make another round of PBJs before getting back on the trail. We had spent about 2 hours at Bark Bay. The trail continued to be awesome. It's surprisingly well maintained. We started passing more people going both ways, but for the most part it was still uncrowded. We sang a few songs on the way, both out of key and out of tempo, and probably for that reason didn't make it very far with any of them.

From left to right: Wes, Zach, Me, Ian

Swing bridge!

 Crazy warped tree!

There was an explanation for this pose. I remember that much.

More swing bridge!

We reached our final destination, Torrent Bay, around 5:30. Tired from our full day of hiking, we rested at the tent area for a few minutes. Zach thought there were some freshwater pools nearby worth checking out, so we headed across another tidal flat. My feet were pretty sore, Wes's were sunburned, and Ian was barefoot, so it was slow going for us and we eventually tired of walking and turned around when the pools were nowhere in site. While Zach explored a little more, the three of us went back to camp to get supplies for supper. Once again we would be cooking and eating on the beach.

The meal tonight was egg noodles with chilli, beans, and tomato sauce. It tasted very quite good to our ravenously hungry selves. I was the only one willing to try my now very melted fudge from home while Zach, Wes, and Ian shared the rest of our cookies. The sunset was again starting to paint the sky in brilliant strokes of orange and purple, but the mosquitoes attacking us -- even way out here on the beach -- did not bode well for our sleep tonight. Ian is the only one among us having his first serious outdoor experience on this trip and he commented on something I also felt during the Canada trip last summer: you really don't realize just how cushy your life is until you spend a few days and nights outside. Wandering a place like the coast of New Zealand provides some beautiful views and a lot of fun, but it is also very tiring and makes you miss having a comfortable bed to lie down in at night.

Fortunately and unexplainably, there were almost no mosquitoes back at our campsite. We were able to assemble the tent in peace and Wes was even able to sleep outside again without any pestering from bugs. This and the fact that we don't have to wake up until 7:45 tomorrow should make this a (relatively) good night's rest.

The South Island

February 1

We had another early start today, waking up at 6:00 am. We were ready and leaving Base Wellington before 6:30 so we could grab a quick breakfast before heading to the ferry. The bakery was a little further than we remembered it being, but it was (mostly) ready and open by the time we got there. Three scones and a Danish later, we were on the way to the ferry.

Checking in was quite simple. We handed in our ticket at the booth in exchange for a boarding pass and handed the boarding pass in as we drove on the boat. At 10 decks, it was a pretty substantial craft and my only gripe is wishing there were more power outlets. I accidentally left the netbook on all night last night and really wanted to recharge it in time for our two-day backpacking trip. This ended up requiring me to sit in a hallway for half of the trip, so I can't report on what the North Island looks like from the sea, but I can tell you that the South Island is gorgeous. The first thing that struck me about it was the color of the water. It's a beautiful light blue and when the sun hits it right it turns into the prettiest turquoise I've ever seen. If it's possible, the South Island is even hillier than the North. There was no flat land to be seen and even the creamy white clouds went rolling along with the landscape. It was very windy on the observation deck but not unpleasantly cold. You could tell the air was going to be nice and warm when we disembarked.

We somehow managed to be in the last row on two decks of cars to leave the ferry, but we eventually got out anyway and hit the road for the Totaranui Campground in Abel Tasman.

We stopped for lunch at Havelock, home of the bottomless mussel pot. But when we walked in the door of the acclaimed restaurant, we decided it was out of our price range and headed for a cafe down the street. Wes and Zach picked up a dozen mussels each there, Ian got an egg hamburger and I a fishburger. I'm really not much for shellfish. Another New Zealand peculiarity is what Kiwis (“Kiwi” = New Zealand resident, for the uninitiated) put on their burgers. Eggs seem to be common here as an optional element, but one of the ingredients I didn't have an option on was sliced beets. They were tasty enough and added a new texture to the mix, but it's something I would have never thought to put on a meat sandwich.

After lunch (where we also, conveniently, got a little bit of internet access) we drove the rest of the way to Abel Tasman. On the whole drive since leaving the boat we very rarely got up to highway speed (100 km/hr). The road twisted all over the hillsides, through plenty of one lane bridges, and through some pretty dense forest. Nothing changed as we got closer to our destination except that the road turned to dirt and the turns became even tighter, making for very slow going for the last hour and a half. This was longer than we expected and we started to get a little concerned about the tidal plane crossing we would have to make tonight. It was only about a 20 minute walk, but it would be at the very end of our hike and the timing might be close.

We pulled into the parking lot at about a quarter to six. A friendly Kiwi there informed us that we could park anywhere we liked without worrying about registration, so we put our full focus on getting packed and on the trail as quickly as possible. The other three guys each have legitimate backpacking backpacks, so I'm going to feel a somewhat inadequate with my little Targus backpack for this outing. I stuff it with as much as I can fit, tie my new sleeping bag to the strap, and I'm ready to get this adventure underway. As we head off to the trailhead, Ian's watch reads either 6:08 or 6:18 (we can't remember which) and we have until about 8:00 to beat the tide (don't forget that the sun sets later here so we'll still be walking in daylight =] ).

We hike up some

We hike down some

… and we beat the tide. The crossing is a fairly expansive tidal plane with trickles of water winding through it. The deepest of these require us to take our shoes off but don't even reach up to our shorts.

Zach picks up a few mussels along the way in the hopes of cooking them along with our dinner tonight. We are happy to reach our camp at the other side until we discover just how loud the bugs are. There are plenty of cicadas and even more of some bug that makes a lot of loud clicking sounds. We quickly set up the tent...

....and head out to the beach to make our dinner away from the noisy bugs. The tide is coming in so we realize we'll have a long walk around the water when we go back to the tent, but we decide to cut through a shallow area to save some time for now. Zach decided not to cook the mussels after all and dropped them off along the way. We're making rice and beans flavored with curry powder and we're all very hungry.

 

the stove

Since Ian's camera broke this afternoon I am the only cameraman, so I run around photographing the sunset while the water is boiling.

I had put quite a bit of water in the pot in case any of it spilled, not expecting us to use all of it. But everyone decided they were so hungry we should use the whole thing for rice, so by the time everything was cooking the pot was too full to even put a lid on without spilling water over the side. It turned out to be a good thing that we made so much because we wolfed down the entire thing in a few servings. It was a pretty spectacular dinner. The waves rolling in were peaceful, the sunset colored the sky beautifully, and the food was a nice way to recharge after a couple hours of hiking. We're going to try to get up for sunrise tomorrow, so our alarms are set for 6:00.