Yesterday we drove the rest of the way up the peninsula to Abel Tasman National Park. All of the tourist centers here are called “i-sites.” There’s one in almost every town, even small ones, and they are SO helpful. They have loads of brochures on things to do in the area and they even book tours and make reservations for you. We stopped at the one in this area to ask about the best way to see the park and they recommended doing a boat trip to see the entire coast of the park and then kayaking our favorite parts the next day.
We dropped our car off at a lot across from the beach where we would be picked up by the boat. The beaches at this park are known for their orange sand. It’s a really pretty contrast against the bright blue water. In the parking lot we noticed a guy about our age walking around carrying a fish, asking if anyone wanted it. We overheard him saying that he kicked it and it died. We thought it was probably more likely that he just stepped on a fish that was already dead…and we thought he might be a little bit special. Turns out he was a little special, and he was on our boat. Our boat stopped every once in awhile to let people on or off if they were walking portions trail or just finished walking. He asked every single person who got on the boat where they were from and what they were doing there. There was also a lot of woo-hooing and clapping. It made for a fun/interesting ride, haha. It was a fast boat, (which is a good thing because I don’t get sea sick on fast boats) and it took us past things like split apple rock which is huge round rock that’s, you guessed it, split in half. The boat captain, who had a lazy eye, said they think it split because a pocket of water somehow got in the middle of it or something like that. In the pictures we saw before the boat trip, it looked really small and lame so we were pleasantly surprised that it was huge and actually really awesome.
The boat trip was 3 ½ hrs and took us all the way up the coast and back. There weren’t any opportunities to get out and do anything…it was just a boat ride to see the scenery, which is all we were really interested in anyway. We saw a couple seals and some birds, but no dolphins:(
Today we got up early (blah!) because we had to be at the kayak rental place at 8:30 for our seminar where they determine if we’re “fit” to have a kayak for a day. Even if you’ve kayaked before, you still have to take the class. It was actually pretty informative, but it was after 10 before we were actually on the water. We kayaked about an hour and a half around a small island and then to a private beach. Since the whole area is national park, everything is open so you can stop at whatever little beach you see along the coast as you’re kayaking. We stopped at one small enough to where we didn’t think anyone else would want to stop there if we were already there. We ate lunch and hung out there by ourselves for a couple hours. The sand is orange and white, and it’s made of granite so it’s super sparkly. And the shells on these beaches were really pretty too. They all seemed to color coordinate with the sand and with one another.
We kayaked about an hour back to where we started. When you get back to the beach, they come with a tractor and fetch your kayaks for you. The tide goes out SO much while you’re gone that there’s no way you could drag it up by yourself. Since the tide went out, all the starfish were out on the sand. By the time we were done playing with them, the tractor had come to take us back up to the rental place.
Since it was only about 3:30, we got a head start on driving to our next place. Right now we’re in Westport on the west coast of the south island. Tomorrow we’re going to see some famous rocks and take a tour of Monteith’s Brewery…the maker of our favorite NZ beer, Radler. Then on Friday we’re taking a knife-making class. I think “experienced knife maker” will be good to put on my resume when I get home.
We dropped our car off at a lot across from the beach where we would be picked up by the boat. The beaches at this park are known for their orange sand. It’s a really pretty contrast against the bright blue water. In the parking lot we noticed a guy about our age walking around carrying a fish, asking if anyone wanted it. We overheard him saying that he kicked it and it died. We thought it was probably more likely that he just stepped on a fish that was already dead…and we thought he might be a little bit special. Turns out he was a little special, and he was on our boat. Our boat stopped every once in awhile to let people on or off if they were walking portions trail or just finished walking. He asked every single person who got on the boat where they were from and what they were doing there. There was also a lot of woo-hooing and clapping. It made for a fun/interesting ride, haha. It was a fast boat, (which is a good thing because I don’t get sea sick on fast boats) and it took us past things like split apple rock which is huge round rock that’s, you guessed it, split in half. The boat captain, who had a lazy eye, said they think it split because a pocket of water somehow got in the middle of it or something like that. In the pictures we saw before the boat trip, it looked really small and lame so we were pleasantly surprised that it was huge and actually really awesome.
The boat trip was 3 ½ hrs and took us all the way up the coast and back. There weren’t any opportunities to get out and do anything…it was just a boat ride to see the scenery, which is all we were really interested in anyway. We saw a couple seals and some birds, but no dolphins:(
Today we got up early (blah!) because we had to be at the kayak rental place at 8:30 for our seminar where they determine if we’re “fit” to have a kayak for a day. Even if you’ve kayaked before, you still have to take the class. It was actually pretty informative, but it was after 10 before we were actually on the water. We kayaked about an hour and a half around a small island and then to a private beach. Since the whole area is national park, everything is open so you can stop at whatever little beach you see along the coast as you’re kayaking. We stopped at one small enough to where we didn’t think anyone else would want to stop there if we were already there. We ate lunch and hung out there by ourselves for a couple hours. The sand is orange and white, and it’s made of granite so it’s super sparkly. And the shells on these beaches were really pretty too. They all seemed to color coordinate with the sand and with one another.
We kayaked about an hour back to where we started. When you get back to the beach, they come with a tractor and fetch your kayaks for you. The tide goes out SO much while you’re gone that there’s no way you could drag it up by yourself. Since the tide went out, all the starfish were out on the sand. By the time we were done playing with them, the tractor had come to take us back up to the rental place.
Since it was only about 3:30, we got a head start on driving to our next place. Right now we’re in Westport on the west coast of the south island. Tomorrow we’re going to see some famous rocks and take a tour of Monteith’s Brewery…the maker of our favorite NZ beer, Radler. Then on Friday we’re taking a knife-making class. I think “experienced knife maker” will be good to put on my resume when I get home.
sarah, i am quite impressed... kayaking, beer tasting, knife making.. you amaze me!! i am so jealous! you must be having the time of your life... your dad must be quite jealous himself seeing you kayak in such beautiful surroundings... stay safe! love you! Ms. O
ReplyDeleteoh sarah... you amaze me!!! you look like you are having a blast... knife making... not so sure about that... beer tasting... that sounds like fun... kayaking.. .your dad must be jealous as all get out... it is fun seeing your pictures and sharing your adventure... be safe... i say that for your mom's sake...and have fun!! love you, ms. o
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