Abel Tasman Coast Walk - The prelude

                                                          2015's vacation was fairly recent. It's not been more than a month since my last excursion to the beautiful South Island. It was a particularly special one as my parents were in NZ to visit me and I've been playing their local tourist guide, showing them the best of what the country has to offer. Just when I thought I've seen it all, I went on my second great walk to Abel Tasman national park.

I've been away from the blog for a while, mostly keeping busy planning how and where to travel next. Since the last post, a lot has happened and strangely I vividly remember every bit of it - the limper from the past posts is now posted in Welly; I travelled to Singapore, Malaysia and Kashmir; I went back to Lake Waikaremoana for more and that became my first great walk; lastly, I travelled the length of New Zealand from Auckland to Milford Sound in my latest Vacation with parents. Sadly, this post can't cover up for what we've missed, so let's start afresh (I might still have some throwback-posts in the future and I'll dot up something about those adventures too). In this post, I'll keep it about the freshest memories from my recent great walk - Abel Tasman Coast Walk.

After last year's incredible great walk, I've decided to dedicate 2016 as the year of great walks. I've created a bunch of private Facebook events and sent out invites to friends who might be interested to join. I set up dates and decided the order in which I'll do the walks, etc. Unfortunately, I did not receive the response I was expecting as peeps were slightly hesitant to book their calendars more than half year in advance. As I predicted, the huts got booked and we were left with the option of carrying our tents along and stay at campsites or wait for the next season. Just when I was about to give up on the plans, Derek, a friend of mine, asked if I'd be keen to join him on his Abel Tasman Coast Walk with his dad. I jumped onto the bandwagon at the first opportunity and with CC keen on it too, we booked our ferry and waited for 'D-day'. And the wait wasn't a long one.

Meanwhile, I've managed to have a few good water-lining sessions and frequented my local harbour to jump off the plank into the ocean to cool off for a bit. This year's Summer had been glorious and I've squeezed out as much fun as I could out of it. Anyway, getting back to the great walk, the day to start had finally arrived. I had done some last minute packing (it's a very bad idea to leave it till the end) and managed to forget some essentials like torches and towel. Basically, I went to a great walk littered with beautiful beaches leaving my towel home. I was leaving civilisation behind me, so I ate extra. (I just needed a reason to indulge and I got it) For the first time I chose the comfort of Kaiarahi to the cold winds of the cook strait. So, instead of staring into the blue ocean and admiring the Marlborough sound, I napped on the food court table all the way on my ferry.

And the last leg of the first leg (:P) was the journey from Picton to Marahau, where the great walk starts. I was already slightly groggy and I had to go through ridiculously windy roads behind an irritatingly slow campervan. After driving for nearly 3 hrs, I made it with my patience still intact (the double apple pies from McD helped). We reached quite late and crashed soon with thoughts about the next day and the weather to come. 

That reminds me, it's very very late already and I need  to get my ass into bed. I promise my next post won't be too far away ;)

See ya soon peeps !