Today is the day we start our first big hike! In New Zealand, they have what's called the "8 Great Walks" and these are various multiple day hikes throughout the country. Last time we did 2 of these and we are doing 2 more this time. Anyways, this hike is called the Abel Tasman Coastal Track (their word for trail). My husband is the BEST and arranged for my heavy backpack to be transferred by boat, so all I had to wear was a small waist pack! That made a huge difference! The first day was about 22 km and it was beautiful! We walked along the ocean, up the mountain though incredible greenery and even had to take off our shoes to cross some estuaries. We stopped for a picnic on the beach but the sand flies were terrible so we ate quickly. On this trail we had 2 choices of lodging. There are huts you can stay in, which have bunk beds and a big kitchen for everyone to share, or you can bring your own tent. This time we decided to use the tent...more privacy and it just adds to the adventure. We arrived at the camp site 6 hours later and were relieved that my backpack had been delivered. We set up the tent and it was literally about 20 feet from the beach- beautiful! The name of the area was Bark Bay, but we renamed it Beagle Bay! The beach was very private and we basically had it to ourselves. Dannie is in charge of camp cooking and whipped up a great meal of salmon, rice and Mac n cheese. I was the bartender!
Small world story!
Six months ago, Dannie did a hike called the West Coast Trail, which was on Vancouver Island, Canada. He met a lot of great people from several different countries. Fast forward to our hike. As we were finishing dinner, 2 boys came walking into camp (when I say boys, I mean one was 19 and the other about 24). We said hello and chatted for a minute. One was from the States and the other from Canada (can you see where this is heading?). Long story short, turns out the 19 year old, Hector, was on the West Coast Trail the same exact time Dannie was...and they had actually met and hung out on the trail! Dannie even has pictures of Hector on Facebook from the hike! This revelation only took about 30 seconds...since as soon as Hector said he was from Canada Dannie told him he had just done that trail. Such a small world! What are the chances that 6 months later, these 2 would meet on another trail in the Southern Hemisphere across the world. Bizarre! We invited Hector and Matt to join us at our site and they made dinner while the two told stories about the West Coast Trail. Such a small world!
Later that night, Dannie and I laid on the beach, completely alone. It was a little cloudy, so we couldn't see as many stars as we hoped for. But just laying there, alone, on a secluded beach in NZ, loosening to the crashing waves....was so amazing! We could have slept out there if it weren't for the nasty sandflies (that found me in the tent anyways!).
The next morning we made soup for breakfast, said farewell to the boys and got back on the trail. The place we were supposed to be picked up by the water taxi was expected to be too windy, so we hiked a shorter distance to be picked up. Conveniently, this location just happened to be a 4 star hotel called the Awaroa Lodge. Cheapest room is $400/night. We got there early, so we enjoyed lunch overlooking the mountains...and also finished off a bottle of wine! Dannie went off to explore while I sat on the patio and updated my journal. Then it was time to walk down to the beach to catch the water taxi. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were on the boat for almost 2 hours, as we had to stop and pick up people/kayaks along the way. Our boat driver took us to an island where there is a seal colony, but it was a little windy for them and we only saw two. Back at the water taxi office, I was glad to see my backpack arrived safely again. Too bad I can have it transported EVERY time!
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