“Hi, my name is Rodney but everyone calls me Rowdy, and I’ll be your skipper today. Go ahead and put your life jackets on, even though we haven’t had a trip that’s needed them since last week.”
And thus began another day in New Zealand.
After a scenic thirty minute boat ride, Rowdy dropped us at Bark Bay, and it was on to the trail. I had expected the Abel Tasman Track would be right along the coast, but it mostly traversed forest, and there weren’t really views of the ocean or beaches for probably 95% of the route, but it was a good walk nonetheless. The weka (ball birds) are utterly fearless here, and I was finding myself eye to eye with them on a few occasions while climbing embankments. One even came over to check me out while I was sitting at an overlook, pecking at my sock before taking a good whack with his beak at my ankle, and while he drew blood I’m confident that I won the fight.
The track wound through forests, across rivers, over estuaries, and past a few beaches, and was a relaxing way to spend the day. I made it back to town about eight hours after starting out, with the iPhone claiming that the total distance covered for the day was about 18 miles.
An odd side note: while at the Wilderness Lodge a few days ago, the only people who joined all of the guided walks were a German couple who spoke limited English. A day after departing from the lodge I was hiking to an overlook at the Franz Josef Glacier, saw the Germans hiking in the opposite direction, and joked with them that they must be following me. Today, in the midst of the forest, the same German couple appeared again; clearly we must have the same travel agent.
Tomorrow I’m on the move again, and sadly there are only a few more days remaining on the South Island before flying up to Auckland to start a circuit on the North Island.
NIIIIIICE!!!