Abel Tasman - The Coastal Campaign
- Natty Knees
- May 4, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 22
Abel Tasman is known as the easiest Great Walk and the crew are pumped to finally get to hike this trail. The track follows beautiful coastline, stunning blue ocean, and golden sandy beaches. The Abel Tasman requires crossing estuaries that can only be crossed around low tide, otherwise you end up waist deep or these sections are impassable. Read on to find out if the crew makes it to the crossings in time and if we successfully navigate the estuaries without mishap. Spoiler alert...we thought we did.
Track: Abel Tasman Coastal Track
Time of Year: March 2024
Day 0 - Fly into Nelson and shuttle to Kaiteriteri
The crew have trickled into Nelson over the last two days, and a shuttle organised through Scrambled Legs transports us 1 hour 30 mins to Kaiteriteri, a small town situated at the gateway to the Able Tasman National Park. The shuttle owner Karen is awesome and quickly becomes our new best friend when she suggests a pit stop on the way for ice cream and beer. We are staying at the Kaiteriteri Recreation Reserve Apartments for the night which are situated right on the beach front.
The Recreation Reserve also runs a campground next door and will happily store our extra luggage while we complete the walk. There is a great general store underneath the apartments where we can pick-up last-minute supplies, coffee and the mandatory pre-hike pie in the morning.
Day 1- Marahau to Anchorage Hut
A bus picks us up from Kaiteriteri and takes us the short 20-minute drive to the start of the Abel Tasman track at Marahau. The forecast is for hot sunny weather, and it is going to be a cracking day on the trail. Today we are hiking 12.4km to Anchorage Hut which should be a comfortable stroll and take us about 3 hours. We are all stoked to hike the Abel Tasman Track as this is one of the easier Great Walks with undulating terrain, wildlife, and plenty of pristine beaches to swim at along the way. It is also one of the busiest with access into parts of the track via water taxi, so we expect to see more people than usual on a Great Walk.
We cross the bridge over the estuary and start climbing up into the coastal forest. The track is wide and dusty, and we catch glimpses of the brilliant blue water through the trees.
We are thankful for a bit of shade from the overhanging foliage as the temperature continues to rise as we hike upwards. Around the halfway mark a sign points us down a steep sidetrack towards Apple Tree Bay, where the bush gives way to a long white sandy beach. We are in no rush today and discard our packs immediately and dive into the ocean to cool off. We lounge around on the beach for a bit and try to shoo the naughty Weka birds that are trying to steal our socks. Eventually we reluctantly wipe the sand off our feet after some lunch and get a move on. After all, there will be plenty more beaches to come.
We have another hour or so to go and make quick work of the track until we reach the turn off to Anchorage Bay. From here we leave the shade protection of the trees and start the sweaty descent down to the beach. There are incredible views from the ridge to the west giving us a taster of what’s to come over the next few days.
We feel awfully over dressed as we cross the beach to Anchorage Hut and are looking forward to stripping off and floating in the inviting waters.
Anchorage Hut is a well-maintained beach front hut that has 4 rooms containing bunks and a separate common room area. The Abel Tasman huts don’t have gas burners in the kitchen, so you will need to carry a portable cooking stove for this walk. After a relaxing afternoon swimming we all take the opportunity to cook and eat outside in the balmy evening night.
Day 2 - Anchorage Hut to Awaroa Lodge
We wake up to brooding skies this morning and have a long day ahead of us with 25kms to cover. We are destined for Awaroa today and have decided to be fancy AF and stay at Awaroa Lodge instead of the DOC hut. By the time we make it to the end of Anchorage beach the heavens have opened and rain is heaving down upon us. We stop to change out our footwear before the Torrent Bay estuary crossing which you can only cross 2 hours either side of low tide or you will be swimming. There are sharp shells that can cut your feet, so we have opted for a combination of Crocs, Tevas, or aqua shoes and make our way to the other side.
The rain is bucketing down, and we decide not to bother changing back into our hiking shoes and instead press on, up into a winding forest trail for another 10kms. By the time we reach Bark Bay Hut the rain is finally starting to ease off, which is well timed for a break and to scoff some food.
There is another water crossing to get across Bark Bay estuary and we are then finally able to put our shoes back on. We have all opted for trainers as hiking boots are a bit overkill for the Abel Tasman Track, which is not very technical or difficult. We climb steeply out of Bark Bay and spend the next couple of hours drying off and navigating easy trail around the coast, until we descend into Onetahuti Bay. Onetahuti Bay is a postcard New Zealand beach, and with the sun now making an appearance we don’t hesitate to have the first swim of the day to beat the rising humidity. It’s very difficult to put clothes and packs back on after the swim and we find that each beach is better than the next and it is very easy to want to stop and chill all day.
We reluctantly head off up the beach and cross boardwalk back into the forest. Following a steady climb, we unexpectedly stumble across the Awaroa Lodge turn off sign much earlier than anticipated. The sidetrack spirals us down to the lodge in about 20mins and we are grateful to be staying in such luxurious accommodation for the night, compared to the DOC hut. When the weather is good, Awaroa Lodge opens a pizzeria and garden bar which would be a sweet little side trip if going on to Awaroa Hut.
After dropping our packs in the rooms, we headed down to the beach for a swim but promptly turned back, as the wind had whipped up the sand and the waves looked too rough. The staff at the lodge were incredible that night and they catered to our rowdy crew serving up amazing food and hospitality throughout the night.
Day 3 - Awaroa Lodge to Whariwharangi Hut
We have a later start this morning and get a sleep in as the Awaroa estuary can only be crossed 1hr 30mins before low tide or 2hrs after. The hike today will see us travel 16.9km towards Wharewharangi Hut and is expected to take just under 6 hours. After a relaxing breakfast, we pick up our packed lunches from Awaroa Lodge reception and make our way across the airstrip onto the beach. When we reach the estuary, it’s difficult to see
how deep the water gets and we discuss the best plan of attack to cross without going for an unexpected plunge. It’s decided we cross in height order sending in the tall Irish first to see how high the water rises on him. As I watch the taller members of the crew wade across, I make some quick calculations and decide to remove my shorts in an attempt to keep them dry. After a few hairy missteps we all make it across keeping our packs dry…or so we think.
It's another gorgeous day and the next few hours to Totaranui are cruisy as we make our way in and out of bays and cross remote sandy beaches.
An unexpected strenuous climb is required before a long winding descent takes us down to Totaranui Beach, our next pit stop. Totaranui Beach has road access and is a very popular campsite in summer, with sites selling out in minutes over the holiday period. The packed lunch from the lodge is bloody delicious and hefty including a sandwich, cake, fruit, and bag of chips, which many of us struggle to eat in one sitting (but we try anyway). After a quick dip we push on across another small estuary before heading into dense bush land. The Abel Tasman Track requires climbing in an out of every bay and there is a steep incline out of Totaranui Beach to get the legs pumping. The track snakes inland for a bit before coming back to the coastline until we reach the beautiful Anapai Bay.
One hour later we reach my favourite beach of the trip, the exquisite Mutton Cove. Few people travel past Totaranui so we finally feel like we have the track to ourselves and take the opportunity to sit for a bit and enjoy the waves rolling ashore.
We have one last climb to navigate so throw back some snacks and begin the last hour of the hike with a decent climb out of Mutton Cover and are rewarded with epic views at the top.
The beach is more rugged here and Whariwharangi Hut is an old, restored farmhouse built in 1896 that sits back from the shore. The hut has a series of pokey rooms that surprisingly has beds for 20. We manage a final swim in choppy waters to wash away the day as the temperature quickly starts to cool off.
There is plenty of firewood and Dr J has cranked the fire inside as Loco Boko (the shortest in the crew) has discovered her sleeping bag got wet during the Awaroa Crossing. Loco Boko broke the first rule of Hike Club and didn’t put her sleeping bag inside a pack liner. Thankfully the fire is roasting, and the bag is bone dry by bedtime.
Day 4: Whariwharangi Hut to Totaranui Beach - water taxi to Kaiteriteri
For the final day we backtrack to Totaranui and water taxi back to Kaiteriteri rather than hike 2hrs and finish at Wainui car park. The reviews about the inland Gibbs Hill Track back to Totaranui were a tad unappealing, describing it as ‘a bore’. I figured the crew would prefer to stick to the coast and have a lazy day stopping for swims, which they were (once they got over the fact, I added an extra 4km to the hike total). We retraced our steps from yesterday and had fun relaxing and chilling at each beach along the way.
We arrived at Totaranui for the water taxi by 3pm. As we motored back to Kaiteriteri, we were grateful for yet another amazing experience on a Great Walk with incredible weather and as always, incredible friends.
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