Just got back to the hostel after 3 days in the Abel Tasman National park, walking the Coastal Track. I caught the bus from Nelson to Marahau ($32 return) and then walked the track up and down - which is 51km times two, so 102km total in 3 days ;-).
I went at this on a real lightweight kick - carrying my light sleeping bag (~600g) and my Bivi. All other kit was kept to a minimum and I lived off Nuts, dried fruit and chocolate in the main, plus some pepperoni, cheese and crackers. I left the SLR at home and did not take a cooker. The upshot of this was a pack weight of around 6-7kg and much improved range. I also got away with not carrying a stove, and wore trainers.
Day 1 - 35km
Started at 9am from the trail head, and spent an enjoyable day tramping though the fantastic scenery. The weather stayed a little overcast after early rain, which kept the temp down and helped matters. I missed low tide on the first 2 crossings of estuary’s, which added a few more k’s on, but no real problems. Both main tidal crossings were pretty easy - only coming up to the top of my thighs. I camped at a site with a few others who had kayaked in, and we lit a fire.
Day 2 - 42km
Today was meant to be 35km, but I decided not to skip the end of the track and went for it ;-). I made it across the tidal crossing at Arowa at 9pm just in time to see the last of daylight. The next 2 hours of night hiking were pretty crazy - I came round a corner to find 2 yellow eyes watching me and nearly had a heart attack! It turned out to be a Possum, which climbed a tree and glared at me. I saw another 8 - its easy to get within 2 feet of them at times before you spot them. I camped at a site 1km early as I had had enough.
Day 3 - 25km
An easy walk out to the bus - weather was still good but not too hot. Made it for the earlier bus and slept back to town, where I had a McDonalds.
