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March 6th 2008 by Tina
Abel Tasman National Park

Posted under New Zealand

The tiny town of Marahau is the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park. The smallest of New Zealand’s national parks, it is also one of the most visited. We stopped off in Motueka, just 18 km south of Marahau, to buy groceries for three nights in the woods and made our way over winding forest roads to our small family-run lodge, Kanuka Ridge. The cabins were small and basic, with communal restrooms a good thirty yards down the hill, but the common lodge area was cozy and we made ourselves at home. We booked a guided half-day kayak trip for the next morning and settled in to make dinner as well as a picnic lunch for the kayak trip.

The morning was brisk as we bundled up in our long pants and jackets I was dreading the prospect of a water activity. New Zealand summer has been a bit chillier than expected. In fact, the maritime climate ensures that long sleeves, short sleeves and jackets are required in various combinations throughout any given day. We dropped the car off at the car park and walked to the kayak office. After a tedious two-hour briefing, instruction and equipment preparation, we were finally pushing our two-person boat into the water. By the time we started paddling, it was already turning out to be a beautiful day. After the lesson of the canoe in South Africa, we were both keenly aware of the importance of good teamwork and I felt confident that, with the four other kayaks in our group, the Bear would be on his best behavior. With me setting the paddling pace from the front position and Aaron controlling the rudder, we started off well, impressed by how smoothly the long sea kayak cut through the water when we paddled in unison. The water in Tasman Bay was surprisingly temperate and I couldn’t stop dipping my hand in to feel it, especially as the midday sun beat down on us.

The view from the water was spectacular with forest-covered Adele Island and the smaller Fishermans Island to our right and the unspoilt beaches of the national park on the left. The beaches are only accessible by hiking trails and by boat and are strewn with boulders and driftwood. With the exception of the occasional pair of hikers stopping off for a swim, the beaches are uninhabited.

At Watering Cove, we beached the kayaks and recharged with hot coffee, sandwiches and crisp New Zealand apples (delicious!). Most of the paddlers in our group took a water taxi back to Marahau but we’d decided to walk back through the national park. We changed out of our wet clothes, pulled on our hikers and hit the trail. We immediately noticed that the landscape was much drier than the fiordlands and Routeburn, but as we reached the first lookout point at the top of the hill, the stunning views of jagged coastline opened up before us, showcasing the full allure of Abel Tasman.

We took the nearly four-hour walk back to the car as leisurely as two high-strung, competitive, efficiency-minded former yuppies can, stopping briefly at every beach and scenic viewpoint along the way but never lingering long. We encountered at least four distinct species of bees, including a white bee and an evil-looking fuzzy hornet-like menace that taunted and haunted me throughout the hike. Not surprisingly, this region is known to produce wonderful honey. Our walk ended with three consecutive long bridges with high tide on the Tasman slowly filling the lagoons below. We were tired from the day and looking forward to a relaxing evening at the lodge.

My most cherished benefit of long walks with my husband is their propensity to stir up conversation and positive, productive energy. Often we find ourselves absorbed in quiet thoughts or a good book, creating those crucial pockets of private time within each other’s company that we wouldn’t otherwise get on the road. We’ve found, in fact, that we can endure an excruciatingly long bus or train ride together with the minimum of conversation but walks make us talk. They get our hearts racing and our wheels turning out thoughts and ideas that simply pour out of us. We do some of our best planning then.

We occasionally recall with a smile now how we felt during the crazed preliminary planning stage of this trip in our quiet suburban neighborhood in Texas. Our house was on the market but, in the four months that it took to find a buyer, we couldn’t yet share our rather unconventional plans with our friends and colleagues so we were constantly bubbling with excitement and holding it all inside. Almost every evening after work, we would come home, collect our little dog, and go for a long family walk, letting everything spill out – our excitement, dreams, nervousness, frustration over the home sale, my mania over the prospect of leaving my puppy, and the financial impact on our family. We kept setting deadlines. “If the house doesn’t sell by the end of this month, let’s just call the whole thing off.” The deadline kept extending until one day, on another of our many walks, we decided that the deadlines were nonsense. The dream had taken over and the notion of having the ability to pursue such a dream and turning away from the chance suddenly seemed crazier than the idea of the trip itself. That night, we committed ourselves and set a departure date. We would carry the house for a few months if we had to. The more excited we became, the faster we walked until all of that nervous energy and pent up frustration pounded themselves out on the pavement.

As the years go by and our lives get busier while our bodies get older, I hope that we will always make time for long walks together. In addition to the exercise, fresh air, and beautiful scenery, I love it because of the bond that it fosters, the free flow of ideas that play off one another and entwine into ever more dreams.

1 Comment »

One Response to “Abel Tasman National Park”

  1. Emly on 07 Mar 2008 at 6:34 pm #

    What a nice tribute to your relationship!