Tramps? Did Britt go all ‘girls gone wild’ on us? Sadly, no. My ASU days are over. But fun fact: kiwis call hiking “tramping”. So before you get your panties in a bunch over this post title, just know the contents are very PG-13. Minus my normal cursing. Shit happens.

So, my husband let me know that I was slacking on the blogger front. ‘Did you know you haven’t posted since last August?’

Yes, we started this blog back in 2016 when we were super cool and traveling around the world for a year. Those were the days. But then we moved to the other side of the world, so I thought we’d keep the good bloggin’ times rollin’. Because people totally care what we’re doing with our lives, right? Except, I didn’t keep the good times rollin’. I failed you since we’ve moved to the land of the kiwis. And for that, I’m sorry. Unless you didn’t care. Then in that case….see you next Tuesday.

It’s been over a year since we’ve moved here and we’ve see a lot of nature. Because, New Zealand. So naturally, I thought I would bore you with our top five cool hikes we’ve done this past year in the Nelson/Tasman area (aka our home). Plus, it’s totally Earth Day so it seemed rather fitting. Cool? Cool.

Everyone flocks to Nelson for the obvious: Abel Tasman National Park. Don’t get me wrong, it’s bomb.com but the area has tons of other equally gorgeous money shots.

CABLE BAY WALKWAY

Let’s start with closest to our house. Cable Bay is a 20-minute drive away. Jackpot for those days when you wanna sit on the couch, but it’s sunny outside so you feel like an asshole if you don’t take advantage of it. Anyways, Cable Bay. She’s close by and she’s a major show-off. Exhibit A:

You can access it from two points: Cable Bay (duh) and Glenduan. Those two create the Cable Bay Walkway. You can do parts of it, but no matter which side you choose, you’re in for a climb. We’ve tackled her from both angles and I think Glenduan is a bit steeper. But has lots of benches to catch your breath.

Regardless of your starting point, you’ll have epic views. Some days we just drive to Cable Bay and hike all the way to the top and then back down. Which takes us around 40 minutes because I stop to say hi to all the cows and sheep. Naturally. And take a rare selfie.

On days we’re feeling a bit ballsy, we start at Glenduan and tramp all the way over to Cable Bay. Which we’ve done once. And we didn’t walk down into Cable Bay, because eff that noise. We are old and are knees suck on the descent.

Glenduan to Cable Bay was pretty too. Pretty with lots of up and downs. But still. Epic picnic spots.

And you can creep on sheep and Cable Bay from afar.

If you do the entire walkway, you’re looking at 4-ish hours. And you’ll probably be limping back to the car. But it’s worth it. DOC (Department of Conservation) says 3 hours each way, but that’s for slackers.

MT. ARTHUR SUMMIT

Next up, Kahurangi National Park. And in my opinion, the gem of the Nelson/Tasman region. Within 1.5 hours of Nelson, you have so many walks at your disposal. We decided to tramp the shit out of Mt. Arthur. I even made a snazzy YouTube video of it. Watch here if you hate words.

I’ve done my fair share of hiking/tramping. But this one is up there in my top three. Let’s be honest though. The road to the car lot is a bit sketch and classic kiwi. Which means narrow as shit and gravel. And Mt. Arthur? She’s a bitch. But she’s hot. So it makes all the pain worth it. I mean, she totally loves you. She just has a shitty way of showing it. Or a pretty way. Depends on how you look at it. DOC estimates around 4.5 hours to reach the summit. We did it in around 2.5 hours. Not the first time DOC underestimates us.

This is one of those climbs where you think you’re almost there. And you look off in the distance and go ‘is that people WAY up there?’ And then mumble while catching your breath ‘that can’t be where WE are going. that’s too far’…but it turns out that is where WE were going. Neat. Wish we bought more snacks. Onward and upward we go.

We met a fair amount of people doing the same summit tramp, but on their way back down. So they were all positive and shit and all ‘you’re so close’ (which was a lie) and ‘it’s SO worth it’ (which was totally true).

As you near the top, the path is full of parts where you can see your self slipping to your death. But you don’t. You just follow the slippery rocks and blue trail-marking poles. And after you think ‘mom, are we there yet’ you reach the very top and see for kilometers and kilometers (or miles and miles, for my American friends). And you feel like this:

But let’s be honest, you’re tired. So you act more like this:

MT. ROBERT CIRCUIT

Another amazing area in Nelson/Tasman is Nelson Lakes National Park. Again, around 1.5 hours from Nelson, and gorgeous walks/views. We’ve been to the area a handful of times. But usually we just stop and look at the pretty lake, have lunch in St. Arnaud, and move on.

Recently we tackled a loop tramp that took you to top of Mt. Robert. Even from the carpark you have amazing views of the lake.

But just wait, it gets better. And by better, I also mean harder. The first hour of the walk is just a straight climb with lots of fun switchbacks. In her defense, there are views the entire way so it makes all the panting worth it.

You reach “the top” and you can either keep on tramping to Angelus Hut (which is on my must-do, overnight-hut bucket list) or you veer left and wander back toward the lake. Which is what we did. To the left, to the left. Just like Beyonce would’ve wanted. And the views didn’t suck. Lake, meet Mountain. Mountain, meet Lake.

You also realize just how massive that said lake at the very beginning truly is because she stretches and stretches.

And before you know it, you finished a 5-hour tramp in 2.5 hours. Suck it, DOC. Jk, I love you. Thanks for everything you do for the environment.

ABEL TASMAN

Hello, Captain Obvious here. Of course Abel Tasman National Park is a must-do. It’s gorgeous. Filled with a bajillion golden beaches. What’s not to love? When we first moved out here, we had booked the 3-day tramp but then I had a bum knee so we canceled. Fast forward many months, and we decided to do a day tramp/kayak trip when Simmi came to visit. Whee!

We booked through Abel Tasman Kayaks and it was rad. You check in at their place in Marahau and they tell you which you’ll be doing first: walk or kayak. We were in the walk-first group. Abel Tasman trail starts a mere minutes from Marahau, so off we went.

They tell you that you have to be at Observation Beach by lunch. So we had many hours to kill. So we walked. We stopped at the endless, seemingly private beaches along the way.

Some of us walked barefoot (like a true Kiwi) because the path is so great.

And then we made it to Observation Beach where we met our kayak guide, had lunch, and went for a swim.

After a safety briefing and sunscreen slathering, we were ready to rock, and paddle back to Marahau.

Lucky for us, the wind switched directions so we were getting a lovely push back home. Phew.

MT. STOKES SUMMIT

My last-but-not-least tramp isn’t in Nelson/Tasman area, but suck it, this is my blog. Mt. Stokes is nestled up in the Marlborough Sounds. Most people visit the sounds to do Queen Charlotte track. Which we totally need to do soon, btw. But we were all about Mt. Stokes. She takes a bit longer to get to and not really a day trip, but she’s worth it. We camped at our fave, hidden-gem campsite in Kenepuru Head. The campsite is about 2.5 hour drive from Nelson, on super windy roads. But no joke, it’s the best damn campground around. And barely anyone goes there.

I digress. From the campsite, you have another 20 minutes to the trail head for Mt. Stokes (the highest point in the sounds).

If you are looking for a walk with absolutely ZERO flat bits and climbing over roots of trees on what you think might be the path…then this is the tramp for you. It pretty much looked like this:

And then you get to the top and you see this:

What made it even better? We were the only people up there. And it was ah-maz-ing.

And shocker, it took us less than what DOC suggested (2.5 hours instead of 5). I’m not saying don’t trust them, but we don’t.

We spent about 30 minutes at the top. Just soaking in the views. Not wanting to leave. But knowing if we stayed, the sun would set and and going down would be a bitch. So we said our goodbyes…

So that about covers it. My Nelson/Tasman tramp stamps of approvals. And that’s just the tip. I have a list saved in my phone and keep adding tramps to it. Don’t believe me? Here’s proof:

Until next time. And I promise I won’t let eight months go by without saying hi. Maybe.