Abel Tasman National Park has 56 miles of coastline with clear, turquoise sea, more than 50 sandy beaches, and a very popular hiking trail. The park has no roads so visitors access the trails by taking water taxis, kayaks, or hiking in from either end. We hiked part of the track three years ago, but this time we chose a combination sailing trip with two sea shuttles and a little beach walking.

We were picked up by a bus at our Motueka campground which transported us to Kaiteriteri this morning. Our driver enjoyed sharing some local history. He told us that Motueka used to be a tobacco growing community, but that that crop has been replaced mostly by fruit, including apples, kiwi and stone fruit, and it is almost time for harvest. Many of the orchards have crab apples planted at the ends of the rows to attract bees to their fruit trees. He also pointed out that vineyards plant roses at the ends of the rows to cut down on disease of the grape vines. Another major crop here is hops used to make beer, much of which is imported to the US.

We arrived in Kaiteriteri, which is a very pretty little village at the southern boundary of the park. There we boarded our sailboat for the morning which took us into the park. Our "mates" consisted us 5 beautiful German girls and a Kiwi threesome consisting of a 70 year old mom celebrating her birthday, her adult son and his wife.  

Our skipper took us around some of the islands so we could look for seals and penguins and to the “split apple rock” which is an Abel Tasman Park landmark. Our Kiwi shipmate swam to the rock for a photo opportunity.  We were dropped off at Anchorage Bay for lunch.

Then we caught the first of our sea shuttles, a very fast water taxi that took us up to the most northern point of the park, picking up and dropping off passengers at each bay along the way. The sea shuttle has an ingenious ramp which extends to shore, so you don't even get your feet wet as you disembark.  

We then went to Awaroa Bay, which has a wonderful lodge on the beach. We enjoyed the beach for a couple of hours before we were picked up by another sea shuttle to take us back to Kaiteriteri for our ride back to Motueka.  

We arrived back at the campsite at 6:30, in time to do laundry, go to the hot tub, and fix our supper. Thus, I’m finishing the blog at 11 PM.