Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 1: Marahau to Anchorage

This post is part of a series called 8 Great Walks in New Zealand

Previous entry: Coastal Pacific Train, Hitchking, And Nelson, In Between Great Walks
Part of the New Zealand Great Walks Journal

Journal entry for May 1, 2015
Distance Hiked: 12.4 km

With water taxis stopping at various points along the way, there are many ways to hike the Abel Tasman Coast Track. Some people do a one-day section, some do three days going south from Totaranui, others go in the reverse direction, but I found out that few people do the entire track from Marahau to Wainuy Bay. I chose to do the entire track at a relaxing pace of five days, with an added loop at the northern end to catch a water taxi at Totaranui to return to civilization.

Abel Tasman Coast Track elevation profile

After two relaxing days in Nelson, I found a window of good weather and booked my huts online. After the fiordlands were becoming a bit too cold for me, it was nice to be in semi-warm weather again. There are four huts along the way, and many other campsites. I did consider camping, but after reading a notice from the Department of Conservation about a big number of mice in the park, I decided to just stay in huts.

After waking up at 6am, I took one last shower, prepared three sandwiches and headed to the nearby Paradiso Hostel where the shuttle picked me up at 7:15am. It took almost two hours to arrive at Marahau. Once there I had a flat white at the cafe by the trailhead, before finally hitting the track.

Right away I saw a heron and stayed there for a while to take photographs. I hadn’t seen any one in any of my earlier hikes.

The southern trailhead of the Abel Tasman Coast Track

On this first day, it was for the most part a forest walk, with many short trails to lookouts of the coast. Since the estimated hiking time for the day was only four hours, I took my sweet time and stopped often. Unlike other Great Walks, I did get cell phone reception in many areas. The trail is very flat and in great shape, but the vegetation wasn’t very exciting. I walked by many daytrippers, and very few with larger backpacks.

I arrived at Torrent Bay in less than the four hours estimated by the track’s brochure. It was a perfect day for being on a beach. The recently built Anchorage Hut is only a few meters away from the sand. It’s big and spacious, with three separate bunk rooms and a large common area. There were signs telling us to not drink the water from the tap. Instead, there was a separate tap outside the hut with filtered water. After picking a bed and dropping off my stuff, I went to the beach to read my book (One Hundred Years of Solitude).