It’s almost 2020 and that means I’ve been a New Zealand permanent resident for almost two damn years. Hello, citizenship (in three more years). Over the past (almost) two years, we’ve gone on some epic hikes/tramps/walks. But a few weekends ago we finally completed the other half of Abel Tasman, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks. My goal? To complete ALL the Great Walks of NZ.

Anyhoo, cool story, Feder. Second half. Abel Tasman. If you’re a true friend, you would have read my previous post about the first half of good ol’ Abel. And yes, I know it was months ago. Don’t judge me. Blogging is hard.

The nice part about living so close to this gorgeous national park is you can stalk the weather and decide a few days beforehand if ya wanna go. That is, not in the height of tourist season. Because that’s when shit gets cray. A few weekends ago was our weekend. The weather, perfect. My excitement, uncontrollable.

We decided since we’re in our mid/late 30s that we would splurge a bit and treat ourselves to lodge life instead of the huts. So we booked (and got a spring discount on) a fancy room at Awaroa Lodge.

On NZ Sunday/our Saturday, ahem US-work schedule, we hopped in our car and drove an hour to Kaiteriteri (but us locals like to shorten the shit out of everything, so it’s just Kaiteri).

We boarded the 9:20am boat which would drop us off at Torrent Bay. There are tons of Abel Tasman cruises. We’ve used Wilsons twice now and they are great. You can book one-way trips or do set excursions with them. They are pretty much massive water taxis that are constantly moving back and forth along the park.

We got to Torrent Bay around 10am – you can only get dropped off at before noon or else #sorrynotsorry – and got on a little boat to take us ashore. From there, our walk began. With a climb. See said little boat in bottom of pic below.

We were doing quite a mission. Even the lady at the boat company called to tell us it was a long walk. “That’s at least 7 hours,” she said. Clearly, she’s never met us. Because the Feder-Glennie household LOVES to walk. We were going from Torrent Bay to Awaroa Lodge which we read would take anywhere from 4-7 hours. We’re naturally fast walkers, so we were up for the challenge. Spoiler alert: it took us a little under 5.

Over the next 5-ish hours, the views were ever-changing and gorgeous. Craig probably wanted to shove me off the path for saying ‘it’s so pretty’ so many damn times. Story of my life. You would hike inland a bit among beautiful ferns and dancers…

and then BAM! See secret spots…

Then you would get to forks in the road and venture off to pretty lookouts.

I’m pretty sure if you look closely at the pic above, you could see our house across the Tasman Bay. JK. Kinda.

After walking for a few hours, we were ready for lunch. I had read that Medlands Beach is a lovely spot that many just walk on by since Bark Bay (the bigger beach) is right next door. Suckers.

Minus a small family, we had the beach to ourselves. Well, if you’re not counting the birds. After a delicious wrap made by yours truly, I set my bag down right outside the bathroom, because nature called. I heard some bird call, too. I got out and saw this fella right above where my pack was sitting.

Having never seen this bird in my life, Craig informed me that these birds, kakas, love to destroy and rip shit apart. Glad I peed so quickly and this bird didn’t rip my pack apart. Also, glad I didn’t see the signs that warned me about these birds. Good job, Feder. Way to read.

Onward we go.

But seriously, can we talk about the water in Abel Tasman? Like, how is it SO pretty?

Just when you pass one pretty view, another is right around the corner.

Abel Tasman National Park has a few tidal crossings that make timing very important for this track. Lucky for us, the tide was on our side on this beautiful day (and the next). And then just like that, we reached another fork in the trail. The most important one.

We arrived. After 17-ish kilometers (which was less than what all DoC sites said – interesting), we were ready to shower. And drink. Let’s be honest. You’ve met us. Maybe. We checked into our nice room.

And then after a quick shower, we made our way to grab a drink. We earned it.

We spent the rest of the evening chilling. We dragged our tired legs down to the beach. Don’t be that impressed by our energy, it was only a five-minute walk. And it was totally worth it.

Since it was after the last boat, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves.

Insert contemplative/staged pic here.

God, I really need a haircut.

After beach time (and the sand flies discovering us), we made our way back to the lodge and played some checkers. We had to consult the instructions because we both haven’t played checkers in ages.

I’m pretty sure I lost, too. Awk. And just like that, it was dinner time.

The dinner (which is not pictured) was delicious. We even chatted up the lovely staff and became Facebook friends. Thanks, technology.

When the clock struck elderly, we made our way back to our room to read. Minus our neighbor, Slam-the-Door McSlamerson, it was a lovely evening/stay.

We woke up the next morning like we normally do. Before 6am. We were the first ones down for breakfast. That’s just how we roll. And then I forced us to do a little stroll up to a lookout point on the property. I don’t think Craig wanted to, but he loves me. I think.

It was a good warm-up, too.

Back at the lodge a little after 8:30am, we grabbed our packs and headed out since low tide was happening RIGHT now and you can only cross the Awaroa Inlet two hours on either side of low tide. Otherwise, ya shit out of luck. There’s no high-tide track.

This is so NOT my pic (I wish we had a drone), but this gives you an idea of the inlet crossing which happens towards the bottom of the pic. You can spot the beach we were at the night before right in the middle. Curved for your pleasure.

She’s pretty, amirite? The low-tide crossing was pretty easy. But I would definitely wear jandals (flip-flops, for you Americans) since there are shit tons of shells.

This second/last day, we just had to make it 2-ish hours to Totaranui Beach to get picked up by the boat at 11:20am. After crossing the inlet, you enter a sweet jungle-like atmosphere and then BOOM. More stunning beaches.

The trail was pretty empty since this section is dictated by the tide. No complaints here.

And it should come as no surprise, that before you reach the end you have to put in a little leg work by climbing up and over from one beach to another. Then, you finally see her. She’s golden and quite the looker.

And then we waited for our boat to come and pick us up. Hello, sand flies, we meet again. But first, let us take a selfie.

The boat came. Even a few minutes early. We were the only ones to get on and we made our way back to Kaiteri, stopping at the usual beaches to drop people off. Soaking in the views…

Having now completed the Abel Tasman track, I will say, the second half is where it’s at. If you don’t have the time to do it all, I would totally get dropped off past Observation Beach and walk along there.

Up next? We’re taking full advantage of being remote workers and heading south to explore for the entire month of December. Christchurch, Twizel, Queenstown, Te Anau, Hump Ridge, Caitlins, we’re coming for ya.