After about two weeks in the North Island, we boarded the Interislander ferry for a 4 hour excursion to the South Island. We stayed overnight in Picton, which was a quaint little town right by the port.
The next morning we left for Abel Tasman which is located in the northern most point of the island and stayed at the Adventure Lodge right by the water.
We booked a tour with Abel Tasman Kayaks through the Adventure Lodge and got lucky with the weather the day of our tour. We woke up early and headed down the road to the rental and tour company. There was a food truck on the premises which served coffee for all of the early risers (thank god), and although we didn't have much time to eat, their chef apparently makes a great mussel burger which you have to try if you ever find yourself there.
We went kayaking up the coast of Abel Tasman for about four hours and saw tons of wild penguins and seals along the shoreline. We stopped every hour or so at remote beaches for homemade hot chocolate and coffee and a break for our arms.
Our last beach stop marked the end of our kayaking journey and the beginning of our long coastal walk. Before beginning, we ate our lunches (pb&j sandwiches of course) and explored the marine life and small tidal pools on the beach.
This walk lasted about 3 hours and was a total of 10 miles long. It was one of the most beautiful hikes we had done, and although it was all along the beach, we remained cool under the shade of the hundreds of different trees by the coast.
Despite Brendan's protests, I decided not to bring a change of clothes and only wore my jean shorts over my bathingsuit bottoms. As he had predicted, my shorts had become soaking wet and the three hour walk that lay ahead of us was looking to be terrible. Brendan heroically gave me his boxers and continued the hike in his swim shorts. As you can imagine, I looked like an idiot hiking in men's underwear-so naturally, everyone else on the trail seemed to steer clear of us.
When we had at last reached the end of the trail, we drove off to Nelson to properly celebrate with a few beers and burgers.
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