I was very excited about Abel Tasman -- I had heard from many people that it is the most beautiful part of NZ and I was not disappointed.
We sea kayaked the first day which was a blast. According to our guide we kayaked 7 miles! Our group had two Americans, the first Americans I had met after being in NZ for a week (and I still haven't met many since). It was nice to talk home a bit. Again, the green water (this time on the Tasman Sea) and beautiful beaches.
We stayed on a house boat with 11 other people that night. It was so fun! We were stuck inside because it rained most of the evening so we palyed Monopoly (haven't played since I was probably about 10!) and then got into this hilarious (and intense) card game with some of the people on the boat. It was such a riot because you have to predict what is going to happen each round, a crystal ball would help greatly in this game. I was the champion of the first round -- beginners luck!
At about midnight, 5 of us went to shore (in the rain!) with the boat's staff person to sea the glow worm caves. They are unbelievable, they light up to attract there food, it looks like there are stars in the caves. I was very happy about this little venture because I had decided to skip black water rafting in Waitomo which is where most people go to see glow worms.
The whole group who stayed on the boat planned to hike the second day. So, the following morning all of us were dropped off on shore and walked on the hiking track further into Abel Tasman and were picked up by a water taxi later in the afternoon. The hike was beautiful. This part of the terrain looked a little more like home with a lot of woods and a river flowing along the trail. There were frequent reminders that we were still in NZ though as evertime we got to the top of a hill, there was an incredible view of the Tasman Sea and the beautiful beaches.
We got a bit of a late start and since there are set times for the water taxis, there were two choices for the hike -- RUN! or walk at a nice pace and stop an earlier pick-up point. Part of the group opted to run. I (with a few others) chose to take in the scenery, have a nice lunch at our destination beach and take a nap while waiting for the water taxi!
It took us two days of travel to get to our final destination and the water taxi about 20 minutes to get us back to the starting point!
We drove a bit that evening to make our drive to the glaciers -- our next stop -- shorter.
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