High Tide

Abel Tasman National Park is a beautiful coastal area. There are hills, covered in native bush, going down to the sea, numerous bays with golden beaches and an azure sea. There is a very popular 51km walking track covering the whole length of the Park, but it is also accessible to day visitors. Water taxis and bigger cruising boats go up and down the length of the coast and stop at various bays to drop people off and pick people up.

So it is possible to choose your own day out, depending on how much cruising and how much walking you want to do. It is very efficiently planned by the different companies involved and we are pretty sure that no one gets left behind, having missed their boat. Last time we did this, we went by water taxi and the one we were on seemed to be 'sweeping' up the last people!

After cruising the whole length of the Park, we were dropped off at Tonga Quarry on Onetahuti Bay. We then walked through the bush, on a well-made track, to the next one, Bark Bay. We were rather glad we had gone for a shorter walk, as it got very hot in the afternoon. Unfortunately the high tide made it impossible for us to walk across the beach when we got there and we had to take a 'high tide track' round the bay. Then we waited on the beach in the sun for our boat to pick us up. Beats waiting at a bus stop in the rain in England!

Here's the bay we should have been able to cross, but the high tide made it impossible.