Abel Tasman!

Hi!! So Emily and I just got back last night from Abel Tasman National Park. We tramped (hiked) for 4 days and stayed 3 nights in huts along the way. It was so beautiful!!!! The tramp was about 40km of lush forest, beautiful beaches, waterfalls, and rolling hills. We even saw seals! The weather was great. We had 3 days of gorgeous sunshine. I think we both kind of forgot it was winter. :-) The last day was great too, just a little rainy. And luckily I have a camera now so I've got some pretty good pictures to share with you.

The whole trip was just so peaceful, like a vacation from my vacation. I found myself in Christchurch getting really caught up in the logistics of things and thinking a little too much so it was super nice to have all our accomodation prepaid and food packed, where all we had to do for the day was hike the path to the next hut.

The tramp was rated "easy" by Lonely Planet, but Emily agrees it was a bit more uphill than we expected. And they don't mess around with traverses unless absolutely necessary so the uphills are pretty rigorous. But it wasn't too bad at all, especially considering we were carrying ~40lb. packs and I've really never done anything like this before. Not for this many days in a row, anyway. We hiked for about 4 hours each day. I guess a lot of tramps you hike a lot longer than that each day, but I thought it was perfect because we had enough time to take our time packing up our stuff in the morning, and make breakfast and then we could stop at beaches along the way. It was really relaxing and nice. Emily brought a hammock with her as well so we'd set that up when we got to the hut and just sit and read. I finished Pride and Prejudice, which I thought would last me a lot longer!!

I got horrible blisters from my hiking boots and bitten all over my legs by sandflies (way less annoying than mosquitos, but with the same results), and at one point when we were down on the beach looking for caves to explore I slipped off a deceptively muddy rock and scraped up my leg, but it was a small price to pay for the awesomeness of the trip. I think a few pictures could probably explain this trip better than I can.

(Emily)

So all in all it was a great trip!! I will post many more pictures on Facebook and will show them all to you when I get home!

The next Stray bus leaves on Saturday to go north and I'm thinking that's when I will leave. It stops in Kaikoura which we actually went through on the way to Nelson, where we booked our huts for the tramp. Kaikoura is a super small beach town. It's supposed to be a great place to swim with dolphins and seals and whale watch, but I'm not sure how great it is in winter. After that the bus heads up to Wellington, which I'm really excited for. Emily and Devin (her boyfriend) both loved Wellington. But wherever I go I will keep you updated!!

Love you all and miss you lots.

Laura