Six weeks ago when I agreed to go hiking (or as they call it “tramping”) in New Zealand with my friend Helen, it was with a sense of trepidation.
Helen spent 10 months hiking around various places in Europe in 2011; I was recovering from a badly sprained ankle and have dodgy knees. And let’s face it – I am really not that fit right now! It’s also been many years since I hiked more than a few days, and this is 8 nights and 10 days.
But Helen graciously suggested the easy Abel Tasman and slightly less easy Heaphy tracks as my first introduction to tramping in NZ. (Helen’s lost count of the number of times she’s hiked over here.)
So here I am in Nelson after a flight from Brisbane to Wellington (staying in the fabulous boutique hotel – At Home in Wakefield St), the spectacular inter Island ferry to Picton (where they serve freshly baked date scones on the top viewing deck), and a 2.5 hour bus ride.
The bus was full, every seat taken including the whole back row, but a gorgeous sunny 24 degree drive through the Marlborough vineyard country where they make the best Savignon Blanc in the world, despite only producing 1% of the world’s wine. This was according to our cheerful, skilful woman bus driver. Then through the small village of Havelock where they produce the world’s best mussels, up through the mountain passes where there’s plantations of the world’s fastest growing Pinus radiata (i.e. introduced ugly pine trees) and then down to the coastal plains of Nelson, where (but of course) there is the world’s longest boulder wall in the estuary.
So here I am, having packed and repacked my back pack several times, and about to spend my last night in a real bed after a real shower and a proper meal for another 9 nights!
7.45am NZ time I’ll be on the bus to the start of the Abel Tasman track at the Marahau car park. First night is at Te Pukatea Bay, a mere 12 kms away. Easy peasy!
Leaving Wellington behind on the Inter Island ferry
Inter Island ferry between Wellington (North Island) and Picton (South Island)
(1114)