Ramble
Quest - Fool's Luck on the Abel Tasman Coastal.
For no good reason I decide to start the Abel Tasman Coastal at Totaranui, rather than at either end. I know little about the track and nothing about the tide schedules. My only reasoning is that I can setup camp here and do the northernmost portion of the track sans pack.
The big drawback to this plan is that the bus ride to Totaranui is a milk run of epic proportions The weather's shitty, so sea kayaking is cancelled and I'm the only person on the bus We're stopping everywhere -- deserted info centers, deserted shops, and seemingly deserted towns. The driver actually delivers newspapers for awhile. We stop to get our windshield wipers fixed. We stop to help a bus load of lost students. At one point the driver and I pop into a bakery for a snack. I think it took well over four hours to get there! If the weather wasn't so bad I'd be climbing the walls, but as it is I find it all charming.
The Totaranui camp is modern, huge (850 sites!) and totally deserted I knock on a door to talk to someone She's surprised I want to camp there (rain forecast for next three days) but invites me to setup anywhere. Only one section (X) is near the beach and it is only open to AT hikers, so my choice is clear. Despite the rain I quickly put up the tent, toss in my stuff, and start hiking north.
After about 20 minutes the rain lets up and it gets progressively nicer. The trail ducks in and out of lovely forest, sometimes rising for views, sometimes popping out onto secluded beaches. I'm able to do a bit of a loop on the way back, climbing high for a view of my lonely little tent down in that big empty camp, before swinging down to some worthwhile side trails. I see two people the entire time.
Despite my late start I have no trouble getting back to camp well before dark. I enjoy a beautiful, peaceful evening by the beach after one of my best day's hiking. I'm treated to amazing stars at night.
Up at 5:30 the next morning to make the Awaroa Inlet crossing. I get there just after lowest tide and the water is about knee high at deepest. I carry on past Onetahuti Beach so I don't have to worry about tides for the rest of the day. Although I get there very early (10:30) I decide to setup camp at Tonga Quarry. I have the place to myself on a perfectly gorgeous day! Many seals bask on the small island in front, many sea birds here as well. I scramble around the rocks on both sides of the beach. To the south I find some amazing arches -- four of them that you can walk through at low tide. Some neat tide pools are near here too. You can't see the arches from the trail. I come across a wild goat -- a surprisingly lovely creature with long black hair.
Remember that weather forecast that read rain-rain-rain? Well it's no match for my fool's luck because all of my remaining days here are so amazingly perfect that I couldn't imagine better weather. The hiking is tremendous! My next campsite at Ankorage is meticulously maintained. I meet several nice and interesting people. I guess you could say I had a good day!
The short side trip to Cleopatra's Pool is fun. A little waterfall is imediately channeled into a slide at a 90 degree angle from it, then sliding back into a calm drop to a tranquil pool. It's so cute and cunning that it doesn't look natural.
The loop hike up to Pitt Head, around Te Pukatea Bay gives astounding views of most of the coastal track. I think a lot of trampers skip this but it's a huge loss.
My last day's tramp out is again perfect, with few crowds. To have the opportunity to see such a wonder like Abel Tasman under such unusually fabulous conditions (AT gets very, very busy in summer) was far more than I'd believed possible.