We arrived in Nelson on 2nd September quite late in the evening. The next day we spent preparing for our 5 day hike in Abel Tasman National park. We booked return transport to and from the national park and got several maps. We spoke to the department of conservation and got the times for high and low tide as there as several estuaries that can only be crossed at certain times. We also had to sort out our hut tickets. I managed to pick up some good hiking style trainers in the sale as my old ones are now totally useless. We managed to rent two stoves, pans and gas canisters from the hostel for next to nothing, and we also arranged to leave some stuff there while we were away. They were very helpful. Buying food was a challenge; it was hard to get the balance between having enough to eat and not having too much to carry. We had a tasty meal of bangers and mash in the hostel, and the last shower for several days and got an early night.

Day 1

We got up at six the next day and our shuttle bus came to pick us up from the hostel. The drive to the start of the trek took about an hour. The driver dropped as at Marahau and we were off! We had packed as lightly as possible and our packs seemed quite manageable at first. The first leg of the trip was about 12 1/2 km. We did it in about four hours. We took our time and stopped to admire the awesome beaches along the way. We walked up to a couple of amazing viewpoints. Alan took several million photos. We got to our first hut at Anchorage Bay in time for lunch (beans and meatballs).
The huts are very basic. The have bunks, tables and sinks. Thats about it. They had no electricity but they did have proper toilets. We were the first ones to arrive and after lunch we sat on the beach for a while as it was a really nice day. We saw a few more people that day as it is a popular day walk, people walk to the hut and then get a watertaxi back. Later on we decided to do a short side trips. We left the bags in the hut and headed along a few beaches and up to a viewpoint on the headland.
We got back just before it got dark. A few more people had arrived but the hut was only half full as not many people do it at this time of year. Apparently in the summer it is really busy, as there are along a lot of campsites along the way. We cooked up some pasta for tea. We had to light candles, it seemed a lot later than it really was. We played a bit of cards. They had a heater in the main room so it was fairly warm. We were the last ones in bed at 9.30, and we shared our room with 7 American lads. It did get quite chilly in the night.

Day 2

The Americans all left at 6am, making a lot of noise but after they'd gone we got a nice peaceful lie-in until 9ish. We had one estuary crossing to make that day which we couldn't do until after 2.30. The was a longer track you could do to go around it which added an hour and a half to you journey but it involved a bit of backtracking on yesterday's path so we decided just to wait. After breakfast (porridge) we went on a walk without the packs which took us about 2 hours return. We walked through the forest to an area of streams and waterfalls called "Cleopatra's Pool". When we got back we had dried noodles for lunch and had about half and hour to relax on the beach before setting off.
It only took us about three hours to get to the 2nd hut at Bark Bay. The weather was great, we were lucky as it was really sunny throughout the week. We had to take our boots off and paddle across a few streams in the estuary, but the tide was far out and it wasn't too bad. We arrived just before it got dark. This hut was slightly nicer and also warmer.We met one guy going they same way as us, most people seemed to be doing the track in the oppositite direction. This guy was from Hong Kong and had the biggest backpack ever. He also had a huge camera and it took him forever to get anywhere. Bet he got some good photos though. After pasta and a few rounds of cards we were ready for bed. It was warm and cosy during he night which was nice.

Day 3

Again, we were almost last to leave the hut at about 10. Alan stuck his head under the freezing shower to refresh himself. We had porridge again, it was pretty good. We had one obligatory estuary crossing that day, but it was tiny and you could cross it 3 hours either side of low tide so the was a big time window to made it. After a couple of hours we stopped for lunch (noodles again unfortunately) on a beach. We saw lots of cool birds there running around. I saw some possum footprints on the beach too but we didn't see any. While we were having lunch the ranger walked past and had a chat with us, she was the only one we saw during our trek. After that we carried on, did the crossing and from then on it was another couple of hours to the next hut at Awaroa. This one was also quite nice. Two English girls were already there, and pretty soon we got the wood burning stove going so it was nice and cosy. Pre-chopped wood was provided which was handy. We went for a quick stroll around the bay before coming in for the night. Two older guys came in, they were Scottish and Kiwi but both live in Sydney. Finally Sam from Hong Kong arrived just before it got dark. We had a good evening chatting in the hut after tea. The two guys had actually brought a bottle of peach flavoured vodka which they shared out with everyone. It was pretty gross. We stayed up talking to the incredibly late-feeling time of 10.30, knowing that we had to be up at 5.30 the next day.

Day 4

Today we had our major estuary crossing. Due to the tides we had to be across by 6am at the latest. We got up at 5.30 and left with a few other guys. The crossing took about half an hour, boots off and across 3 or 4 streams. It was still dark when we left, we were pretty groggy. The water was absolutely freezing, it was actually painful. I had never felt water so cold. Once we got across we stopped at the next beach for breakfast, having a panic cos we realised our gas was running out. When we got out the extra cannister they gave us we found it didn't fit the stoves we had so we had to ration its use from then on. Hence we had a lukewarm sloppy oaty mush that day. After several more hours of walking we made it to the final hut at Whariwharangi (we couldn't pronounce it either) by midday. This was the nicest hut, and was a old converted farmhouse. We had lunch and had a quick nap in the sun for an hour. The we headed out for a walk up to the seal colony. It took about an hour to get there. Once we were there we saw loads of seals loounging on rocks in the sun. You could get really close to them, and they didn't seem bothered. We did get barked at a couple of times though. We spent quite a while there before heading back. That night there were five of us in the hut, us, Sam and a couple called Kyle and Julie. We'd seen this couple on the first night, but they were doing it slightly differently to us. They were doing a combination of kayaking and hiking, and they were mad enough to camp. However after 4 days of waking up with frost on their tent they decided to come into the hut on the final night. We piled up the woodstove and it was really cosy. For tea we had a boil in the bag curry that we'd been saving specially. It was excellent. Then we all played cards for a while before bed.

Day 5

We left at ten after breakfast. Today we took an inland track which looped back round to a beach we past yesterday, called Totaranui. This is where we had to go to get a watertaxi back home. It was quite a steep hill and was hard work but we made it to our destination in 2 1/2 hours. Then we had time for a quick lunch before getting picked up. I was getting sick of noodles. The cruise back in the boat was really nice, as we saw how far we had come in the past five days. We took a look at some seals, a penguin and a stingray on the way. Our driver was really nice and had an impressive mullet and handlebar moustache. We also took in the famous split apple rock before getting a bus back to Nelson. That night we went out for a curry with Julie and Kyle who were in the same hostel as us. It was really tasty. It was also nice to have a shower and sleep in a warm cosy bed.

Our last day in Nelson we spent relaxing and getting organised for our move to the North Island of New Zealand. In the evening Kyle made us all some tasty pizzas and we had a big poker game with a few other guys from the hostel. The day after that we got us early to catch our bus, and get the ferry.