January 4

Begin Abel Tasman Track, Separation Point

I got up at 6 AM to catch a Murray's Bus van at 7:10 to the beginning of the Abel Tasman track. A number of people were on the bus, mostly going to the closer southern end of Abel Tasman National Park. Kay from Virginia and her German friend Connie were on the bus as well. They would be sea kayaking. That sounded like a good idea, and in fact it is very popular. They had to reserve a kayak a week in advance. Also, you need at least two people to rent them, which is why they went together on this. Otherwise, you would have to sign up with a group tour.

On the bus, I told Kay I would be scanning some pictures from this trip and putting them on the internet, as I did for my visit to Nepal, and told her my home page and e-mail address in case she wanted to see them or contact me later.

At Motueka, I got off the big bus and boarded a van to the northern end of the track, Totaranui. I was the only one on the van, although we stopped to drop off some packs at a visitor's center for some cyclists going to Tarakohe. This part of the ride wound up and down through the hills, coming finally to a dirt road. The Abel Tasman track actually begins further east at Takapou Bay, and crosses an inland section to Whariwharangi Hut, before arriving at Separation Point and continuing south down the coast to Totaranui. However, I was leaving off this first inland part, and starting at Totaranui, which is also a popular car-camping site with a wide beach.

I arrived at the beach at 10:40 AM. There was a visitor's center here, but I already had my camping passes, and didn't bother signing in. I planned on doing the part of the track north of Totaranui that went up to Separation Point, and then coming back before heading south. This is supposed to be one of the nicest segments of the track. I didn't need to carry a pack, since I would be returning, but I didn't want to leave it at a car-camping place, so I carried it up the trail a way and hid it in the forest. The walk to separation point and back to Totaranui is a popular day-hike.

It was supposed to take two hours to reach Separation Point, but I wanted to make better time than that, since I had to cross Awaroa Inlet, another two hours to the south, between 2:10 and 6:10 PM, while the tide was out. I could walk fast without a pack, just carrying water and a camera. It was sunny and hot today.

I came to the beach at Anapai Bay soon after climbing a few hills. It was pretty, with some distinctive pointed rock formations at the end pictured on the Abel Tasman track map. A bit further was another beach. The track alternates forest and beach, climbing up and down a lot between beaches.

At the last beach before Separation Point, in Mutton Cove, some people were waterskiing. You couldn't really get a feeling of being in the wilderness in this park, with all the car-campers and power-boaters. It was more like one of the popular hikes in the Smokies back home. Many day-trippers walked the easy track from beach to beach, some without shoes.

I made it out to the end of Separation Point at 12:15. This point had good views all around. Back the way I came, there were beautiful views of the beaches and clear, turquoise water. To the north were high bluffs, and mountains in the distance. The Tasman Sea here had some of the clearest water I had seen in an ocean.

My heavy hiking boots were not really needed here. When I got back to my pack, I stowed them and changed to sandals, and I had lunch at 1:30, when I got back to the Totaranui visitor's center where I started. I still had plenty of time to make the low-tide crossing at Awaroa Inlet, but it was still annoying to have to deal with this time constraint, with so many beautiful beaches around.

The track to the south left the beach and entered the woods, and then crossed a long beach at Goat Bay. The beaches here were sandy, not like the rocky, rugged beaches I had encountered further south. I found it easiest to cross them barefoot, wading in the water sometimes. After crossing another beach, the track climbed inland for a while, emerging at the now-dry Awaroa Inlet. Many people were crossing, since it was 4:15, at the lowest tide.

I crossed to Awaroa Hut, following the track to a big orange disk across the bay, although a shorter route would have been possible. There were a lot of clam shells in the soft sand, which was still quite wet. There were a few water crossing too, all shallow. I crossed barefoot, ignoring the clam shells. After a brief rest at the hut, I followed the track toward the mouth of the inlet, past some vacation homes and beached boats. Here the track felt much more like a beach resort than a wilderness walk. In fact, there are a number of places where the track passes private land.

An inn here tries to entice trampers to its cafe ten minutes off the track. Going past it would have made a good short cut. Instead, I followed the track high into the hills for about two hours, with occasional ocean views. Finally, the track descended to Onetahuti Beach, one of the longest on the track, over 1 km long. A large vessel was parked a short distance from the shore. On the way down, I passed a noisy group of teenage girls, who I hoped would not be camped anywhere near me. I planned to camp at the far end of this beach.

The campground was already rather full, with both trampers and boaters. I explored a small cave at the end of the beach, which is said to contain Maori writing. I didn't see the spirals, but I saw some enormous cave crickets, or wetas, and some glow worms. It was deep enough that I had to bring a light. There was another cave to the right, but according to Lonely Planet, that one, which had water in it, should not have had the writing.

I thought maybe there was a cave further out that was not accessible from land. Some people were swimming there. I put on my water shorts and swam out past some big, rough boulders to a cave. It was big and had water in it, possibly connecting to the other cave on the beach with water in it. This would not be the one with the Maori writing. Now that I was used to the water, I stayed in and swam a while longer. The water was chilly, but not uncomfortably cold.

When I got out and changed, A bee got into my shorts, and when I picked them up, it stung my finger. It was really sore. Some Germans camped nearby saw this, and said they had something to help. It turns out they were into holistic medicine, and had a case full of vials of various mysterious substances. They gave me a few little tiny pellets that were supposed to help bee stings. I was skeptical, but my finger really hurt, so I tried them anyway. I also got out my antihistamine cream, which I trusted more.

After fixing dinner, I took another walk on the beach as the sun set (over land), and looked in the cave again, before going to bed in my bivy sack. This was the first time I had used the bivy sack, and I found that it worked well.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1996. All rights reserved.