Abel.tasman on blog.willprogramforfood.com

Abel Tasman: Mapua

hipposareevil@protonmail.com (Sam Jackson) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 20:02:55 +1200

We stayed the night in Mapua at a cool bnb that had an outdoor bathtub. Oscar kept saying “this is cool” as he looked around the house. He and we had loft beds, and the shower was really nice.

The next day we had breakfast with the Beatties and hung out on the waterfront skipping rocks.

Abel Tasman: Awaroha to Kaiteriteri

hipposareevil@protonmail.com (Sam Jackson) — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:58:41 +1200

We had an easy breakfast and headed down to the beach for our 11am pickup. Originally we were going all the way to Tōtaranui but the shuttle folks said they weren’t going up there. So we lucked out with the lodge and our pickup just down a small track.

The ride back to Kaiteriteri was pretty cool, with stops at the huts along the way to pickup and dropoff people. In Kaiteriteri we had treats and chips before heading to Mapua for the night.

Abel Tasman: Bark Bay to Awaroha

hipposareevil@protonmail.com (Sam Jackson) — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:48:46 +1200

The weather forecast was for tons of rain all day so we almost bailed but last minute decided to keep going. This meant to bag shuttle so we loaded up and threw on the rain covers and headed out.

Along the way our feet, ok my feet, were starting to hurt so I called up the Awaroha Lodge and saw they had one room left. I convinced Oscar we should go there instead of the hut as we could get chippies. This turned out to be a good call as it rained all night and the water crossing from the hut to the shuttle pickup was very high.

Abel Tasman: Anchorage to Bark Bay

hipposareevil@protonmail.com (Sam Jackson) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 20:02:55 +1200

We had an early start in the dark to make our tidal crossing at low tide. Ate breakfast and tea by headlamp and then made our way to the DOC sign to drop our packs for the days Sea Shuttle. Then went to a tidal crossing as the sun came up. Oscar thought it was a bit stinky.

Walked through Torrent Bay, which has a handful of old and new cabins, and up the hill. We decided we’d have to come back and stay for a while there at the Bay, it was super nice.

Abel Tasman: Marahau to Anchorage

hipposareevil@protonmail.com (Sam Jackson) — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 15:06:04 +1200

We started the Abel Tasman Great Walk from Marahau after staying the night in Motueka. We planned on taking a water taxi back from the end to Kaiteriteri, so we got a lift with the boat folks. We also had them carry our bags to the first hut so we could go with just day packs.

Oscar shot off on the first part of the tramp through the marsh and into the forest. We stopped a few times to play in the sand and eat. We picked our packs up from a DOC sign and schlepped them to the hut.