Kaiteriteri is a tiny town, with literally a campsite, hostel, a pub and a couple houses… but it is also home to the Abel Tasman National Park, which is what we were going for. The best way to explore the views and waters surrounding the area is on a kayak… so the lady at the campsite told us where to go in the morning to rent a kayak, as everywhere was closed by the time we arrived.

The lady also said a Kiwi Bus was arriving that night and would be in the pub, so we thought we may as well go for a bit! Two Swedish girls were staying in a campervan next to ours and they got chatting to us and wanted to go the pub too. So after dinner we headed over there, and it was pretty dead! We saw Reemo again who was in there, had a couple beers, watched a Rugby game which was being played in the large stadium in Wellington, then went to bed… the pub shut at 11!! - even though on the door it said 'open til late'. The Swedish girls showed us there campervan, which was really just a 7 seated car, and the back seats fold down to a bed. There was a small fridge ( more of a coolbox ) , tiny stove etc in the boot! With all their clothes etc, it looked like the most cramped thing ever! They are paying the same as us, between 2 of them not 3, and…. We have got ours for 6 weeks, they have only got it for 2 weeks, so we got a really good deal!! - oh and they have broken down 3 times in the 4 days they have had it! Made us feel even more fortunate!

Next morning we woke up around 10, got ready and headed to where the campsite receptionist told us to get kayaks from. When we got there, three of the places were closed, and the one open said they were not doing it today! The man there told us to drive 10 mins down the road and we might be able to do it there! So we made the drive but when we got there, the lady said they only do guided tours, with a one hour safety briefing first, and we had just missed the last one! The lady at the campsite didn't mention any of this to us, or we would of got up earlier and done a tour - and we didn't think it would be so difficult to just rent a kayak! It was a lovely sunny day as well!!

As we didn't want to waste the day, we decided to do a 13km hike instead! From the place we tried to do kayaking from, they take you in a boat to a few spots, then drop you on a beach further around the coast for you to hike back. First they take you to a place called 'Split Apple Rock' which is a large rock in the middle of the sea, and I'm sure you can guess what it looks like… Next the boat took us to another little island where there were lots of seals basking on the rocks. They were all mother seals with their babies ( seal puppies ) which were about a month old… we have never seen seals in the wild before! The boat then dropped us at 'Anchorage Bay', we were given a map then began the hike back which was supposed to take 4 hours.

The walk through Abel Tasman National Park was really peaceful and we saw some amazing views, again the camera doesn't do it justice. It was a narrow path through the rain forest and overlooking the ocean too. There were little drops down to beaches all along the way, and we stopped for a little bit at one of them to have a little rest and a snack. The forest was really nice with small creeks, streams and waterfalls everywhere, and no one was around! Occasionally we walked past someone, but maybe about 6 people in the 13km. It took us just under 3 hours to do the hike, then we set off to the next place, about a 3 hr drive to Westport.