New Zealand 8 – Precious time alone

When I called Heather and Toby in May last year to tell them we were coming to NZ, Heather said, ” You and Mark will have spent 24/7 with your kids for 6 months and will need some time alone. We will look after the kids, while you go off and spend some time alone together. Why not do the Abel Tasman Track?” While I would have been happy doing absolutely nothing anywhere, she managed to persuade us that it would  be a great tonic and much more memorable to do something that we couldn’t do with kids. She was absolutely right. It is listed as one of the great NZ walks. The track runs along a spectacular coast line, with golden, soft sanded beaches and turquoise waters and dense vegetation. Heather’s sister Pip, who leaves nearby, picks us up from the airport and drives us to Marahau and the start of the Abel Tasman National Park. We will walk the 54 Kms, along the coastal track, carrying our food and stove and sleeping bags and stay in the Park DOC (Department of Conservation) Huts, which are beautiful wooden cabins located in beautiful remote spots. We have a comfortable night in Marahau, before the walk.

Carrying a heavy rucksack takes a bit of acclimatising. Still, we do get slighter better at it as the days go by although we are only doing 4-5 hrs walking a day. We stop at beaches and cook up lunch noodles and have swims in stunning waters. The kids would love this soft soft golden sand and turquoise waters. When we arrive at our hut, the day tourists are in abundance but after 5pm they are ferried back home and all but the 28 people staying in the hut are gone and it’s totally tranquil and remote and peaceful. Mark and I have the last swim of the day, and there’s no one else on the beaches. I have missed this time alone with Mark, time away from the kids, a peaceful time, where there are no little needy people tugging at me for something or other. A veritable tonic.

The atmosphere in the huts is very convivial and the hikers from all over the world chat as they brew up their tea. We are up early and take our stove  down to the beach for an early morning cuppa and the first swim of the day. This feels special.

We sleep in an immaculate dorm, in this spacious wooden room, and I am quite ready for my sleep. The Oriental looking woman next to Mark, has no sleeping bag. She puts on an anorak and wraps her long sleeved t shirt around her legs and goes to sleep on her back, with her arms across  her, as though preparing to die. When she wakes up she has crackers for breakfast. Maybe that’s the way to do it – certainly lighter than what I am carrying. But it’s cold  at night and I am glad of my snug sleeping bag. The young Dutch couple also walking the same track as us, and at the same pace, are carrying a heavy camping gas stove and an enormous large heavy-sauce pan, AND a bottle of wine! which looks a little enviable in the evenings. They also bring out a different board game every evening and look quite smug as they tuck into their Vino Rosso.

The walking isn’t the most interesting or challenging, walk I have ever done, but the glimpses that you get from the path and sights of the beaches and the blue water away down below are utterly beautiful. We are serenaded by crickets the length of the way and the smells from the tea tree will forever linger in my memory.

On our last day we send our ruck sacks back by boat to Marahau and are guided back to Barks Bay by kayaks in a small group. The waters are calm  and it’s very therapeutic seeing the land from the sea and cruising along the coast, taking in the lagoons with their still waters. You can get up close to seals and feel the depth of the waters below your paddle. There’s something quite mesmerising about the rhythms we are making. Mark and I really enjoy our day, I think we might be doing more of this. From Barks Bay we get an aqua taxi back to join our rucksacks in Marahau. And a night in Nelson before heading back to Wellington. A sublime 5 days. Thank you Toby and Heather!