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Thursday, 26 February 2015

Kayaking Abel Tasman National Park

One of the "must do's" in New Zealand is to kayak the coast in Abel Tasman National Park. The park is located along the north-west tip of the south island and the kayak routes run along the coast line. It is known for it's golden sandy beaches and dramatic rock outcrops.

Annie, Didier's better half, joined us for this 3 day/2 night trip!

Annie & Didier

We started in Marahau where we packed up our kayaks and set off. The first day we kayaked up to Anchorage Bay along the coast exploring the many little bays, nooks and crannys in the coastline rocks.

The next day we kayaked up to Tonga Quarry, which is a small campground where we managed to get a primo camp spot right on the beach!

Cooking rock

This was a site of an old granite quarry (hence the name). One of its notable supplies was for the steps to the Nelson Cathedral. From this site we toured along the coast up to Barks Bay, which was stunning! It was a good sized inlet that gave us the impression of being in a secret lagoon.

Bark's Bay

On our way back we circumnavigated Tonga Island where a local seal colony calls home.

We also saw several ocean birds: Spotted Shags, Oystercatcher, Red Billed Gull, Southern black-backed Gull.

With the golden sandy beaches and crystal clear water, we felt like we were in a tropical paradise! Here are some great underwater shots of Didier and Tom as they try to capture the clarity of the water.

Click here for more photos!

 

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