Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 2: Anchorage to Bark Bay

Previous entry: Day 1 – Marahau to Anchorage
Part of the New Zealand Great Walks Journal

Journal entry for May 2, 2015
Distance Hiked: 11.5 km

I slept almost twelve hours despite having a big snorer in the same bunk room.

It was another beautiful day as I left Anchorage Hut. Since the tide was rising, I took the all-tide trail instead of the low-tide one along the beach. You can usually find a tide table for reference in each of the huts.

I then made the 20-minute side trip to Cleopatra’s Pool. It required some boulder hopping to get there, so I decided to leave my camera behind to avoid running the risk of dropping it in the water. The pool was fine, but I didn’t get into the water.

I soon reached the intersection for the side trail to Falls River. It’s three hours round trip, and after thinking about it for a bit, I decided to skip it. I just wasn’t feeling it this day and decided to just take it easy. The rest of the trail was just like the first day: lots of forest with occasional views of the coast.

Unlike other national parks I had visited in New Zealand, this one had an actual small village in it called Torrent Bay Village. I passed by at least twenty houses, which signs of “Do not enter, private property” everywhere.

There’s a nice beach at the northern end of the village, where I stopped for lunch. I stayed there for while looking at oystercatcher birds search for food in de receding tide. Before coming to New Zealand I wasn’t very interested in wildlife, but I had become curious after being in contact with them. After a hike, I would find myself looking for information online to learn more about interesting species. What I hiked about the oystercatcher was its bright orange beak, and the funny way it walked, as if always in a hurry.

From Torrent Bay it was another two hours to Bark Bay, which occasional lookouts with good views.

Bark Bay Hut was about about 500 meters inland from the sea. When I arrived there it was low tide and it wasn’t evident why they would built the hut so far away from the beach. Looking at how much the water level rose during hide tide later on, it become obvious why.

At the hut I met and spent most of the night with an Tara and Beach, an American couple from Idaho.

After two days, I wasn’t overly impressed with the scenery of Abel Tasman, but I welcome the relaxed pace and coastal scenery that was very different from previous Great Walks.

More info:
NZ Department of Conservation’s brochure and video for this walk.

Next entry: Day 3 – Bark Bay to Awaroa
Part of the New Zealand Great Walks Journal