Racing the Tide - Cameron

Today we embarked on our journey to Abel Tasman. It required us to wake up fairly early and then hop in the car and get going at 7:00 in the morning. I was actually surprised at how long it took. I thought the drive would be as long as yesterday's drive but actually it seemed really short. We got to center fairly early and checked in before anybody else came.

Marahau ReflectionSince we had the extra time we decided we would head down to the store and possibly take a look at the beach down there. When we finished the walk down to the store we were slightly disappointed because there was nothing we wanted there. But looking on the bright side, there were lots of pretty views out there! Shortly after we exited the store we realized we needed to get back because it was time to go! So we all rushed and got back with plenty of time to spare.

Abel Tasman Water TaxiI only had to take one look and the boat and thought "This is going to be SOOOOO EPIC!" I found the boat ride a ton of fun because we kept bouncing up and down on the waves and it was very exciting. We had many stops around the way including some beaches where people got off.    Split Apple RockMy favorite place where we stopped was the "Split Apple" rock. Our guide told us some interesting facts about its marketing and what it looks like when it is high tide.

Landing at Bark's Bay - the start of our hikeWhen we reached the place we learned that we had to take our shoes off to walk through the water. At first this wasn't that big of a deal but it took us awhile to dry off our feet and clear them of sand. The bad thing was that we hadn't realized there was another water area we had to cross to get to the actual trial so thats what really slowed us down. My dad volunteered to cary us across the water so we did not have to put our shoes on and off again.

My dad only made one mistake while doing this and that was that he forgot to take off his shoes so when he finished carrying everybody over the other side his shoes and socks were soaking! They were so wet that he decided that he would go barefoot for the rest of the trip.

Swing BridgeI was really happy that we were finally on the track so that we could get to the beach. The my parents told me that there was a shortcut near the end of the trial that would cut off a whole hour of walking. I was really for this until I heard that as the tide came in the shortcut would be flooded. I was still determined to make it to the short cut in time so we could take off a whole hour of walking. I was almost power-walking through the entire thing. Before we got to the swing bridge there was a "few" mountains to climb and I RAN up all of them. of course I was exhausted after that and had to have some chocolate. Then, we got to the swing bridge and had fun walking across it while having it sway underneath us. I still think everybody was glad to be on the other side.

12' tides fill this lagoon dailySame lagoon during our 2009 tripAfter a bit more walking and a few more stops for chocolate we made it to the shortcut. The tide was already starting to come in so we had to rush across the flooding land.

Clam shells cover the tidal flat at low tide

 I also found it interesting that the ENTIRE place was full of shells. That was also the bad thing about the shortcut, sense my dad was barefoot he feet got all cut up by the shells. Once again though my dad carried us across until we made it to the end of the shortcut. While we were crossing the shortcut I looked at the mountains we would have to go through if we hadn't been there in time and I was then very happy that we managed to make it in time.

Arriving at Anchorage BeachAfter we finished the shortcut it was only a little ways until we got to the beach. Once we actually made it everybody was super hungry so instead of playing first we decided that we would eat lunch. During lunch the bee's seemed to be attracted to me and i even saw a few huge ones. At first I just sat down on the towel at the beach and played in the warm sand but then I decided I wanted to go in the water. The water was super freezing at first but eventually it got warmer.

 

Happy Face in the SandBefore we left Shannon and I decided to bury me and then build a sandcastle after I broke through. We finished everything just in time before i heard my dad shout "The boat is here! The boat is here!" Then it turned out that it wasn't actually our boat! A little after that we actually got on our boat to Marahau.really enjoyed todays trip but the walking part wasn't my favorite.

I look forward to what we get in to in Kaikoura!

- Cameron