Friday 07/12/2007 - NEW-ZEALAND (South Island), Marahau "Abel Tasman National Park", St Arnaud

We had a very good day visiting the Abel Tasman National Park, we saw beautiful landscapes and the weather was great. In the morning we caught the water taxi at 9am (Marahau Water Taxis, $28) to go to Bark Bay, where we arrived at 10am. On the way the skipper showed us the Split Apple Rock (see picture) and stopped at an island where we saw some seals, he gave us a lot of information about the park and even made a tied u turn with the boat...that was fun! From Bark Bay we walked back to Marahau, it took us 7h and we had plenty of time to take pictures and stop for lunch/snacks breaks. From Bark Bay to Torrent Bay the track goes through a very nice forest then at Torrent Bay the track follows the beach and we could cut through the low tide route....we still had to take our shoes off. We had a lovely break on the beautiful beach of Anchorage bay, golden sand and green water. After Anchorage bay the track goes up the hills and that gives you beautiful views on the coast. Then you have options to stop at some bays that are also very nice, we stopped only at Stillwell bay. After the last campground we left the track to walk on the beach up to the end of the track. We picked up the car and drove to St Arnaud through beautiful landscapes. St Arnaud is a very small village next to the lake Rotoiti where we stayed in a very comfy hostel.