The Abel Tasman Track is one of New Zealand’s ‘Great Walks’ and most popular overnight tracks. It’s sixty kilometers (about thirty-seven miles) in total and takes around three to five days to walk in its entirety. The trail winds up through the forest and hills and tracks along the northern coast of the South Island. There are water taxis along the first part of the trail, making it a popular day/overnight hike destination. I did the full five-day hike, starting in Marahau and walking up to Wainui Bay.
I spent the first forty-five minutes of my morning trying to figure out how the spout on my camelback worked. After that crisis was averted, I realized I was still missing some essentials. I headed to Katmandu to grab extra food, a flashlight, a first aid kit, and a sleeping bag and crossed my fingers that I’d be able to stuff it in my already over-capacity backpack.
Deciding that I was as prepared as I could be, I got in my unreliable rental car (which I named Hilda) and began the twisty drive to Marahau. I got out of my car and was promptly bombarded by a swarm of curious bees, triggering a full-on Nic Cage ‘Bees!’ moment, as I darted from the car while flailing wildly.
Not a great start.
The man parked next to me politely pretended not to see the whole affair. I swapped my flip-flops for hiking boots, tied my sleeping bag to the front of my pack, locked my car, and headed down the dirt path towards the entrance to the Abel Tasman.
I hadn’t walked ten minutes before my right shoelace got caught on the metal hook of my left boot, sending me falling flat on my face and scraping up my elbows and knees on the gravel path.
An even worse start.
This is the first lesson I learned on this hike: double knot your shoes.
A short walk later, I reached the beginning of the trail, ready to start my adventure. My neck and shoulders were already sore from the weight of my pack. I wish I could say this was temporary, but the pain persisted for the entire duration of this hike, making for an unpleasant journey.
Mental note: when I get back to civilization, purchase an actual hiking pack.
The first thirty minutes were spent realizing how out of shape I was and getting used to my pack. The path was pretty crowded, filled with a lot of day walkers who had driven/water taxi’d in. All that said, the next two and a half hours were equal parts difficult and blissful. The view was incredible, the trail winding along the bay and up into the dense forest hills.
The entire walk, I had this back and forth in my head, on the one hand feeling incredibly lucky to be here, being young/fit/privileged enough to do something like this. On the other hand, I heard this low hum of buzzing everywhere I went, and I couldn’t tell if it was my anxiety making up noises to get my heart rate up or if those bees were really following me.
(Spoiler – it was a bit of both. There were a LOT of bees and wasps.)
Between the backpack, I was feeling incredibly top-heavy and off-balance. I spent a lot of time staring down at my feet and trying not to trip. I wish I had eyes under my chin so I could see where I’m going and watch my feet. It would probably make looking at my phone easier too (hurry up evolution!).
This is the type of intense introspection I was doing to pass the time.
The path was well paved so it was easy to figure out where I needed to go, but the signs marking the way were a welcome sight for gauging my progress.
The last leg of the hike climbs along a beautiful white sand beach to my stay for the night—Anchorage Hut. The hut was bunk bed style, with eight bunks to a room. It was surprisingly nice, with solar-powered lights and each person getting their own bunk. I put my pack down and laid on a bottom bunk, suddenly aware of how much pain my upper back was in.
I arrived around four in the afternoon with a lot of daylight left so there weren’t many people there yet. I got up and went to the beach to do some meditating and ended up falling asleep for a few hours. I woke up with just enough time to walk along the beach and eat dinner before sunset.
12.4 km on the books. All in all, successful day.
At dinner, I met two kiwis in their late teens, Fletcher and Denny, who were doing most of the hike, but splitting off around Aowara to continue a more ‘off the beaten path’ journey. From what I could tell, half of their pack was peanut butter and candy (mad respect).
A couple from Sydney (whose names I feel terrible for blanking on right now) and a man from South Korea were doing the complete journey as well. We spent the night getting to know each other since we’d be staying together for the next few nights. I felt a strange sense of camaraderie. I had expected this trip to be pretty lonely so it was nice to feel bonded to a group of people, even if we were a motley gang.
That first night, I was so exhausted and excited to go to be, certain that the second my head hit that pillow, I’d be out.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t that lucky.