We decided on just a day trip around the Abel Tasman National Park rather than a 2 night trip as we both didn?t feel like slumming it in a tent overnight. We stayed in Nelson, which was the closest town to access the park. We spent 3 nights at Shortbread Cottage. A small hostel which sleeps only 12 people and leaves bags of shortbread on your pillow- it was gorgeous. Nelson is a busy town and the craft market was pretty good, but except for that we didn?t really do much there. On the Sunday we had to get up at 5.45am to catch our bus to Kaiteriteri (where we would start our trip) We didn?t think we would get there in time for our water taxi as the driver was so disorganized. Kaiteriteri is a beautiful little beach village and Shania Twain has a property right on the beach. Our water taxi took us to Bark Bay, but stopped at some cool places like Split Apple Rock along the way. The park looked so beautiful from the water, didn?t feel like we were in the South Island as the beaches were really different to the rest of the island. The park has 90 bays and beaches in total, and every one is special. From Bark Bay we started our 25km walk back to Marahau. It was quite a nice walk and the weather was lovely, probably one of the hottest days we have experienced since being in New Zealand. The walk was not too strenuous except for a 30minute uphill climb at one stage. The walk varied from walking across beaches and bays to walking through forested areas. The park is a definite for anyone going to South Island, it?s beautiful. The sea is so blue and is really calm, people were kayaking the route we were walking, which was probably quicker and not as hot, but we still enjoyed ourselves all the same. We stopped at Torrent Bay and Anchorage along the way for quick rests and some lunch but other than that we just powered on, we were determined to beat the minimum walking time- and we did. We completed the walk in 5 and a half hours rather than 8! The last half hour of the walk really killed us as our legs had just given up and we were shattered from the early morning start. The bus picked us up and got us back to Shortbread Cottage where we enjoyed more homemade shortbread before heading to bed.