Abel Tasman National Park

Date 20/1/2015 Time Noon Position The Anchorage, Torrent Bay

We enjoyed the friendly, vibrant town of Nelson. It seemed a similar size to Launceston and the town centre was in easy walking distance from the port along walk and cycle paths which followed the Mattai River upstream. The river was beautiful with clean, clear water bubbling over river rocks. I didn't know a river in a township could remain so clean and untainted. We must have found all the 'boaty' type outlets and have stocked up on boaty bits for future jobs. Food and most other things appear to be more expensive here then in Australia. I'm glad I bought several months supply of food before we left Tassie so now we only need to stock up on fresh meat and vegetables. We went to the farmer's market which was great value and explored the art and craft market on Saturday. At the end of our stay we rode along the coast to Richmond and enjoyed a much deserved ice cream before returning via the old rail line route to enjoy fush and chups in the park.

Before leaving Nelson we looked into where we could obtain diesel to top up our tank. At the port there were two refueling stations which when investigated only sold fuel to account holders which left us in the lurch. So we did several dinghy and walking trips back and forth to the nearest service station. All part of the experience.

On Sunday we had a pleasant 16nm sail north to Abel Tasman National Park. We saw a group of about five penguins resting on the surface and lots of jellyfish with dark coloured rings. The water was a beautiful emerald green colour. We initially dropped the anchor in behind an island called Adele Island and had our chicken curry which I had prepared on the way over. It was a gorgeous spot with thickly forested hills rising from the water and little beaches with a few batches (NZ shacks) scattered along the shore. The sound of the cicadas was almost deafening, it reminded us of Sydney in summer. A gannet kept circling around and diving like a torpedo into the water to catch its fish. It was all very nice until a southerly started blowing making the anchorage very rolly, so we left and sailed around the next headland to Torrent Bay to an all weather anchorage which is where we currently are.

Yesterday we kayaked north along the coast exploring all the little rivers as we went. Apparently the rocky shorelines along Abel Tasman NP are breeding grounds for seals but unfortunately we are a few weeks late to see the seal pups but we were lucky enough to see several seals on an out lying island. They must be use to kayakers because they weren't fazed by our proximity. Wayne got in really close to the rocks and a seal came all the way down to have a good look at him. Then it dived straight under his kayak and just lolled around us for awhile. From his kayak Wayne prized some mussels of a rock which was exposed as the tide was dropping and we enjoyed them later in a delicious sauce.

It is a beautiful area but we are not alone! There are lots of water taxis whizzing people around particularly walkers doing the 3-5 day walk along the coast. There are also lots of people who have hired kayaks and are paddling along the coast rather then walking it. Last night we were surrounded by at least thirty racing yachts that I believe were all part of a race from Nelson. Thankfully they all left this morning and it is peaceful once again with just the buzz of the cicadas.

We plan to spend the rest of the week along the coast here exploring with our kayaks and when we get a good weather window which at this stage looks to be Saturday we will head out and down the west coast (about a 3 day sail) to Milford Sound.

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