Abel Tasman adventure...

I discovered Monday night that you should really make plans ahead if you want to do a lot of the things in Abel Tasman. Are we seeing a theme here? Yeah, I'm apparently not a planner. I like flying by the seat of my pants, really I do - even when it comes back to bite me in the... Well, you get the idea.

After a fantastic sleep I woke up with big plans to hike a big chunk in Abel Tasman. I had booked a water taxi to take me into the park, and on their recommendation went for the prettiest hike from Torrent Bay to Bark Beach. Only 7.8km (just under 5 miles). Up the side of a mountain. In flip flops ( did I mention my walking shoes were ruined in the dolphin adventure?). By sheer dint of will I made the hike. Well, mostly because I started it then realized I'd gotten to the point that returning would be as bad as continuing on. Yes, there was lots of cursing. And maybe just a little crying. And finally a realization that I am really in bad shape and seriously need to work on that. And I need to pack lighter. That camera bag distributes weight well, but it's still weight! But in the end, I made it in 3 hours (aka a lifetime of pain and torture) and laid on the beach for 45 minutes just basking in the glory. And it is glorious. Then the water taxi picked me up and I went back yo civilization and had KFC for dinner. Funny, eh? But the KFC here is much healthier than there. Except for the fries. Those were sinful, but I'm guessing I needed the sodium by that point.

Then I decided to go ahead and leave for the west coast, and while still in cell service range, make arrangements for a place to stay in Westport. A mere 3 hours away. Through the mountains. God, I'm brilliant sometimes! Well, in this case I really was because it was, for 80% of it, a glorious drive. Then the sun set all the way and it was just dark. But I knew I had a room waiting, so it was all good. They did tell me when I called that if the doors to the lobby were locked that they had gone to bed and I would be in room 55 and they key would be in it for me. How's that for a friendly country? This with no cc number to hold it or anything. It makes you try harder to live up to their expectations I think. I could've stopped at a couple of other places along the way, but kept driving (no, I wasn't tired) because they had a room waiting for me.

Ok, next post will be the good stuff. All jumbled and out of order I'm sure. But I'm posting this from the ipad and photos for posting are on the phone so they have to be separate posts...

Today is Westport, Punakaiki, Greymouth, Hokitika and Lake Kaniere. They say its a 3 hour drive... We'll see!