Our last post was from Nelson, we had planned on staying there a day or so, but it was so busy and hectic we just kept going and got to Motueka that night and have been here since. Its a cute town not to far from Abel Tasman, yet still has all the facilities that you can get in any big city. When we arrived here we found a nice place to stay called The Hat Trick. Not sure if that was a hockey reference or not, but ill try to figure that out while we are here. So as usual we try to settle in and get our bearings. Figure out exactly how to get in and around Able Tasman, asking locals to see which are the best sights, and activities. All that good stuff. We have come up with a big list and I'm glad to say we are well on our way to achieving all of the items on it.
Day 1:
We talked to the friendly owner of the hostel and she recommended going to some of the look out points, the caves, walks, and countless other things around the Golden Bay area. So we hopped in the car and away we went early that morning. First stop was to a short hike into The Riwaka Resurgence. Its this 20 minute round trip walk that leads you into the bush, along side a river of crystal clarity. This area is actually a series of cave systems that was created by a underground river, which then exits at the base of the mountain above through a hole not bigger than 6ft in diameter. The water was chilly, a lot like our mountain water at home. The kind that makes your bones hurt if your in too long. Headed up to the head of the springs was a body of water called Crystal Pool. Very cool to hear that some cave divers also enter this area to explore. Not sure i am quite ready for that adventure yet though. After that we headed to Hawkes Lookout, not more than a 10 minute drive away North. Here we looked out over the town of Motueka. It was just clear enough to see across Able Tasman Bay towards Nelson, and some of the other far reaching mountain ranges.
Holy shit its hot in this Internet Cafe.......
We then headed to Caves to see if we could catch a quick tour, unfortunately we would have had to wait the better part of an hour to catch the next trip so we kept going. Up the mountain, down the mountain, up the mountain, down again to the town of TAKAKA! Miles found this name quite fun to say, and thrilled Brianna by saying it over and over again, as if to scream some sort of asian fighting word. Try it, its quite fun. Anyway we got there. Neat town with lots to do. Its really an arts town, full of hippies. While eating at a Cafe for lunch we saw a man not unlike Gandolf from the Lord of the Rings. Probably in town for the ILLUMINATE festival held at the Harwood Hole. Harwood Hole is supposedly a neat area to see as well, but we were told to stay clear unless your into the whole flower child and hippy deal, think Shambala.....Not really our scene. In TAKAKA! we checked out a book store where Miles brushed up on his bird recognition skills and Brianna browsed around at some curious topics. We went into a place called the Traders of the Lost Art, which intrigued our interests due to the whole Indiana Jones pun. Its a small shop dedicated to keeping the lost "art" of wood toys and glass bead ware. Pretty cool little toys that you pull along the floor and move, wobble, wiggle, and all sorts of things. The lady there was working on some beads at the time, so we watched for a while to see how it all worked. We also visited an art gallery that showcased many local artists work. The one that struck Miles was a copper bust piece of a woman, while Brianna was captivated by the intriguing though admittedly less intricate coins on chains.... What can we say... they were shiney??? Also they were old coins no longer in circulation, such as the New Zealand penny, half penny, shilling, and such. The copper piece really was a work of art though.
We decided to move on from TAKAKA! and visit more springs. These are apparently the biggest freshwater springs in the world. They pump out an incredible 40 bathtubs full of icey water every second. The headwaters form a large pool, probably forty feet across, and the springs are about 6-9 feet underwater, the force of the water coming out is so great that the water rises up in a dome about 6 inches high. Apparently according to a gentleman who had been there 30 years ago, the water used to make the surface dome up almost a whole meter....
And then we started the drive back to Motueka, stopping at a place called the "Grove" on the way. Its basically this random rocky outcrop in the middle of a bunch of flat fields. There are towering Granite columns, arches, strangely shaped boulders, and a fantastic thick jungle in amidst it all. It felt like something out of "The Never Ending Story" we almost expected rock biters to come out of the caves and crevaces. Almost. And then the long drive home, up the mountain down the mountain, up the mountain, down the mountain, around the mountain.... you get it. New Zealand is ALL hills and ALL curves.
Day 2:
Abel Tasman Coast Track. The only access to the actual National Park is via foot or water. We decided that due to the persistence of the sand flies and the lack of screen netting on our tent, we wouldn't tent it. We took a water taxi from the town of Marahau up to Torrent Bay, approx a 30 minute water taxi ride, let me tell you, that was by far the shortest part of our day. The walk back out to Marahau was over 25 Km by the time we finished exploring off shoot paths. At a decent pace that's an 8 hour venture. We got in at 10, we got to the car at 5:45. In the hours between, we encountered a few really neat things. First was our jaunt up Falls River Track to Cascade Falls, about 1.5 km of nearly vertical and partially washed out trail to a pretty and very tropical looking waterfall set in the rainforest. Our second and by far the coolest was our exploration of Cleopatra's Pool. Its a widening in a creek about half a kilometer off the main track. It is strewn with HUGE granite boulders worn smooth by the water, and made slippery by the algae. (not a lot and not icky or anything, just really frickin hard to stand on!!) One of the boulders has a shallow trough that has become a natural waterslide which is the attraction of the area. Its a bit sketchy to get onto though, so we didn't try it. We did however take a dip in the waist deep pool. With the eels. As Miles got to about the middle of the pond, Brianna (who had chickened out due to the cold water) suddenly said "hey Miles!!! An EEL!!!!!" Miles' response "how big??" to which Brianna's gesture of over 2 ft made Miles head for shallower water- at the far side of the pool from said eel. Of course he later tried luring it over with small splashing motions of his hand (he was perched up on a rock OUT of the water). And when that failed and he got bored he got back in the water to swim. Natrually, THEN the eel decided to check him out. It got a little too close for comfort but a strategically kicked stone (small and harmless don't worry) scared it away. We continued our swim and were joined by a Scottish couple and a German guy. The German lad decided that if there were eels in the pool, he wasn't going in. The Scots were much braver, joining us in the water. Once we were all out and were sitting on the rocks having a snack, the eels came out in full force, two or three visible at a time, coming up into the shallows hoping for food to fall within their reach. We parted ways with the Scots and the German, and carried on down the track. We enjoyed the walk all told, the scenery and the views of the bays and islands along the Abel Tasman coastline were beautiful, but by 5:30 we were well ready to sit for a while.
Day 3: We take to the seas!
And that brings us to today. Today we tackled another kayak run. We woke up to rainy weather, seriously overcast skys, and a lack of sleep thanks to some not-so-considerate assholes at our hostel. Brianna doesn't do well when her sleep is interrupted. Scary! Regardless, we dragged our asses out of bed, drove the twisty stomach turning roads to Kaiteriteri, jumped into a water taxi that spent more time in the air than in the water, but he played some sweet jams along the way. Miles was bouncing to the tunes (and the huge waves) it was a huge mood turner. When the ride is that rough, you cant even get seasick (thank god). Our group got off at Bark Bay and kayaked south back to Kaiteriteri along the Abel Tasman coastline. We paddled into Falls River lagoon where the river meets the ocean, and the fresh and salt water mix to make hazy, shifting, swirling patterns. The water in the lagoon is notably cooler than that of the ocean, and despite the mixing, the water is still clear enough to see the bottom. The narrow entrance to the lagoon made for a SWEET wild ride. Much more like white water kayaking than ocean kayaking. Brianna was in the front and got a wave right over her head, down her shirt and into the spray skirt. She sat in a puddle until lunch. Miles a little more fortunate, sat in a puddle until lunch as well, but even our guide said that Brianna was a very good shield. (Honeymoon my ass!!!) We took in Frenchman's bay as well, another shallow lagoon at high tide, that becomes salty sand flats at low tide. We hit it with just enough time to slip in between the beach and the rocks, paddle around and squeeze back out before the water was too low for us. There was a type of moss hanging off the trees in these bays. Our guide was telling us that botanists say that this particular moss can only survive in the cleanest, purest air, and it is found in abundance in this little corner of NZ, and not much anywhere else. So we all took a deep breath and enjoyed! We carried on down the coast a bit farther to have ourselves lunch. We were treated to sandwiches, hot chocolate, and muffins. And for dessert THE SUN. Yes it finally decided to show. By the time we departed our beach from lunch the sun was well on its way to hiding again. We checked out along our travels Adele Island to try our hand at spotting seals. We saw about 8 or so seals, mothers mainly resting on the rocks with their pups. After a quick photo shoot we moved along the island to see mussels, oyster catchers (birds), a large stingray, and oysters. Unfortunately we did not get to indulge in the freshest of seafood. The next stretch from Adele Island to Split Apple Rock was a push. By this time we had covered over 15 km, paddling non-stop the entire way. We were more than ready to have a break on the beach and have some photos of The Iconic Split Apple Rock and the granite cave systems just to the North in the same bay. We had ourselves a juice, a few more chocolate chip cookies that we had been fed at the start of our journey by our amazing guide TANK aka Paul. Yes for those of you keeping track, we met yet another PAUL. Just as good as all the other Paul's too. So we did our thing there and made the final leg back to Kaiteriteri. Along the way back Paul stopped to help rescue a boat full of confused teenage girls who thought that a STINGray actually STINGS. So two jumped aboard the back of his kayak and he got them back to shore, so they could organize a mass rescue of the rest of their friends still stuck on a boat too scared to swim away. Bear in mind the water is only hip deep and maybe about 50 feet from shore. We had a good laugh, thinking to ourselves that we would love to swim with such an animal. So this concludes another blog entry, until next time.
Cheers
Brianna and Miles.
P.s we will try to post some pictures tomorrow. We desperately need to catch up
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