Abel Tasman National Park, NZ

We are the only guests staying at a B&B at Ruby Bay, near Abel Tasman Park.  The B&B is a vineyard; the entire region is full of vineyards, orchards, sheep pastures, and woods. Our hosts are from Hong Kong. The weather is such that we have breakfast on the patio outside our room, a very modern, well-kept wing of the home.  We discovered, on an evening walk, that a series of trails connect the entire neighborhood.  We met a neighbor last night who had lived in Santa Barbara, California, for 10 years while teaching geology at UCSB, which is where Dawn & I met and where I received my initial degree.

Dawn in the driveway of our Mapua B&B.  They also grow grapes, apples, and other fruit.  Many such orchards and vineyards are in the area.  We are only about half a mile from the coast.


We used this location to visit Abel Tasman National Park just NW of here. The park is a wilderness of towering heavily-forested headlands dropping off abruptly in places and revealing protected ocean beaches in other places, all of which are only accessible by hiking or boat.  Today we took a boat to a drop off point in Tonga Quarry bay, then hiked overland for 4.2 km. to Medlands Beach where we were picked up.  The hike included significant vertical gain walking through a multi-layered canopy of jungle-like plants including ferns growing 30-40 feet high. Perfect weather; how long will our luck last?

Looking down from a forested path to a beautiful bay in Abel Tasman park.

Bark Bay, Abel Tasman park. Substantial tide range and it is just starting to rise leaving wide sand beaches.

Split Apple Rock, just north of Kaiteriteri.  We needed to hike down from a cliff top to reach this beach; the other approach is by kayak.

We were hiking in a dark, overgrown canyon when we came across a group of these birds.  Due to the low lighting and zoomed lens, it was difficult to get a good picture before he scooted into the brush.  Kinda ugly but unique; they can't fly.

Looking down from Takaka Hill at the coast; what a beautiful area!  I could live happily here.

Travel in New Zealand is relatively easy. 1). The language is familiar. The perceived accent is relatively minor in most cases. We did meet a young man from central South Island whose pronunciation strained our comprehension, but that was exceptional. 2) The culture is familiar. Movies-music- TV fare get traded back and forth creating a common basis.  3) Credit cards are readily accepted making currency conversion a minor issue.  4) Driving is a significant change.  Not just right to left, but the complete absence of an equivalent to our Interstate highway system.  Mainly winding two-lane roads here.  Today, it took us five hours to travel about 170 miles.  With recent rains, a major tropical storm two months ago, and a major earthquake 1 1/2 years ago there are many large road repair projects in progress.