THE ABEL TASMAN COAST TRACK is the most popular of the great walks, partly due to being one of the few tracks accessible throughout the entire year, and partly due to its relative ease with the huts being relatively close to each other in some of the most beautiful bays on the planet. The numerous beaches also makes this walk accessible at different points by the regular ferry service, allowing hikers to arrive and depart at different points along the beach as they please. Its popularity is increased through the numerous kayaks heading up and down the coast, camping at secluded beaches even the walking track doesn't access.
I start this trek in the middle, catching a boat from Kaiteriteri northward to Bark Bay, where I stay two nights exploring the local tranquility before hiking northward to the remote Waiharakeke Bay to stay at the camping ground. From there I continue northward as the weather closes in, setting up camp at the even more remote Anapai Bay from where I explore the northern reaches of Separation Point and Whariwharangi homestead (now a hut) before returning to Anapai for the night. The following rainy day I head southward until reaching the long beach camping ground of Onetahuti. The weather then clears over the following day as I head to the pristine Anchorage Hut before heading out of the southern end of the track at Marahau on the final day. |
