In Which Tramping Adventures Are Relayed

Kia ora!

I felt like Satsuki and Mai from “My Neighbour Totoro” today as I made my way to class in the rain, listening to rain drops ploink onto the hood of my jacket as I walked under the trees. While I wasn’t visited by a sprite of the forest – being that there is no forest to begin with and the sprite here would most likely take the form of a large moa bird and not a rabbit like thing – I did wish I had an umbrella.

The weather has been forecasted as cloudy and rainy all through this weekend and next week. I suppose winter is officially here now as I watch rain splatter onto my window and partially freeze there. As my mom is gleeful to take credit for having told me so, the weather is going into cold enough temperatures that I’m finding I need a new jacket. Ol’ reliable, aka the red jacket from Costco, just isn’t pulling its weight anymore, so this weekend I’ll be taking the bus to go jacket shopping.

But while I sit and watch the rain, I can’t help but think back to my trip to Abel Tasman, and the gorgeous weather we experienced on our three day hike! Abel Tasman National Park is named after the Dutch explorer who found the area: Abel Tasman. The park itself is part of the Nelson reason, and includes Farewell Spit (a sand dune) and Golden Bay, famous for its golden beaches. The track that my group tramped on can be done in 5 days/4 nights or 3 days/2 nights. We opted for the latter option, as several of us had homework to think about, and made the six hour drive from Christchurch to Nelson in high spirits.

The guys: Doug, Dan, and Juan, packed food – including two kilos of precooked sausage, a large thing of peanut butter, and spaghetti – while I did the planning. We picked up a girlfriend of mine, Brandy, at Nelson before driving up to Marahau, the start of the track. The plan was to meet another friend of mine, Megan, at our first campsite. The only problem was we got started late, and by the time we started the track it was late. It was supposed to take four hours to hike to the first campsite, however when we started, those four hours meant that unless we pushed the pace, we wouldn’t get to the campsite until dark. Leaving poor Megan at the campsite alone! We didn’t want to leave Megan alone for too long, so we booked it along the hike – a theme that would permeate the adventure, unfortunately.

Abel Tasman’s Coastal Track (one of New Zealand's premier "Great Walks") is called so because a good portion of the track runs along the coast. Nelson is famous for having some of the biggest tides in the world, and the water moves in and out at least 8 kilometers at times. It’s quite the experience to watch water come in and out of the bay! The other half of the track is through rainforest, and is rated “Easy” according to the Department of Conservation’s standards. While the track was easier than what I’ve done before, “Easy” for a Kiwi is an American’s “Easy/Moderate”, and so the four hour hike at super speed was a bit of a push.

To our horror, and despite wearing at least a year off our shoes in our speed, the beautiful ocean view began to grow dark as the sun set. We had not reached the camp ground yet (evidently distances on maps are further than they seem) and Megan, who had left five hours ago, was definitely already waiting for us. There were horror visions of having to camp before getting to our scheduled stop, and you can imagine our relief when we saw a head lamp in the distance! There was Megan, and the long awaited camp site! We set up camp and ate in the dark, and all of us fell asleep quite early.

Despite the first day, the track was beautiful! Abel Tasman is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been. The track we went through not only had rainforest and rocky coves, but turquoise water and golden sand beaches as well. If you ever see a postcard of golden beaches, chances are it is Abel Tasman. Though some of the climbs were more uphill than I am used to, especially with a heavy pack on, the views made up for the hike!

The hike was one of the highlights of my visit here. The second day was the hardest of the hike, and involved two tidal crossings, the first across a beach and the second across an estuary. We missed the second tidal crossing because the seven hour hike took longer than we thought, and we ended up camping at another campsite before the sun set. While on the way to said estuary to cross, we were passed by two park rangers RUNNING the track – it put all us 20+ year olds to shame! In fairness, they didn’t carry packs, but I can tell you that it inspired us to keep going!

At the estuary, we woke up early the next morning to cross, but ended up waiting for two hours for the tide to go down. Dan attempted to wade across early however he ended up coming back, soaked up to his hips, having discovered the trench in the estuary the water hid from view. The water crossings were indeed a unique part of the track. We finished the hike laying out on a golden beach, having decided we didn’t want to walk another five hours to the absolute end of the track.

With the sun just peeking out here in Christchurch now, I wish we were still at the beach, enjoying the green water and gold sand. However, Abel Tasman will remain in my memory as one of the best tramps I’ve done here in New Zealand, and ever, for that matter!

The rest of break was spent doing homework that decided to rear its ugly head and hanging out with friends. The next weekend was also busy as I went on TWALK, a 24 hour tramping event. I also recall that weekend quite fondly as the weather, during the day, was gorgeous. It was then that I saw the dark side of New Zealand’s winter.

TWALK is the Tramping Club’s 24 hour rogaine event. A rogaine is an event where you tramp uninterrupted for a certain amount of time – in this case, 24 hours. It is a test of orienteering and fitness as the point of the tramp is to find as many code words planted along the way as possible. These code words are often hidden in bushes or up mountain slopes.

We were dropped off at an unknown location with topographic maps and left to our own devices to get to the Hash Hut, the halfway point. There were five legs on this rogaine, the first leg taking at least six or seven hours to finish. Each team had at least two people on it, a theme, and costumes. My team was Team Oblivious, as no one had any orienteering experience except Chris, who dropped out the day before we went due to a leg injury. While we had no theme, and no costumes, there were several amusing costumes. The one that won the costume contest was a group of three who dressed up as beer kegs. I know I wasn’t the only one who thought that the costumes would slow the team down! Yet the last I saw of the beer keg team was the sun shining of their retreating backs as they ran the entire course. Other costumes included: sand flies, Ghostbusters, Planet of the Apes, Pacman, a dragon, zombies, and the Fellowship of the Ring.

My team, while we didn’t have a costume (though it fit for our team name of “Oblivious”) did manage to get a team leader who had orienteering experience, Malcolm, who managed to save all of our lives with his excellence in map reading. The first leg went well, and the snow capped mountains were a glorious sight as they loomed up around us! Yet as we neared the Hash Hut (an old sheep barn we were borrowing from the land owners), with the sun setting on the lake, the temperature decided to plummet. Inside the Hash Hut it was cold enough to see your breath, and my group ditched the tents outside and slept in the hut! All our jackets smelled like farm animals, but it was worth it to escape the even colder air outside! Overall, TWALK went well. It was a test to see if I could finish the first leg, and while I didn’t do the entire second leg, and didn’t bother with the third through fifth legs, it was a good time. Even if we were beaten by the two oldest teams there, teams of four with folks who had to be at least 55...

That brings us back to today, where the rain has been joined by wind. I’ll be glad for tomorrow, which is the only day that has any sunshine forecasted for it. I guess I’ll be carrying my umbrella around and wondering if a sprite will borrow it as I wait to cross the road to uni. I just hope they have the decency to return it! For now though, good luck to everyone with finals, and enjoy your nice, warm summer weather!


Cheers,
Nicole

1 Thessalonians 5:4-8