Hiking in Abel Tasman - Day 1: Marahau to Anchorage

My first ever hiking trip! hahaha ...i never thought I could do it ..but I gave it a try anyway ..sebab memang nak sangat tengok kecantikan Abel Tasman ..and one of the way to enjoy it is through hiking ...so, sesampainya from Malaysia, aku terus gi Kathmandu and MacPac stores ..carik hiking shoes, outdoor thermal, rucksacks, fleece jacket ...and also carik hiking socks etc ..nasib menyebelahi diri coz masa tu sales masih on!  kasut tu $300 but ada 50% off so, dapat le $150 ...suka sangat ...my friend offer her ruckscck but bila aku try it on, beg tu besar lagi dari aku hahaha sebab tu aku beli sendiri ....and sebab schedule giler padat ...malam tu aku unpacked barang from Mysia and pack barang utk hiking ...hahaha memang giler ok ...but it is all worth it at the end :-)

our first bay ...Tinline Bay :-)

We only planned for a two day hike actually ..day one from Marahau to Anchorage ...the the second day tu from Anchorage till Barks Bay...Kalau ikut kan, kalau nak track the whole of coastal track takes between 4-5 days ..and inland tracks pun at least 2-3 hari ...Abel Tasman National Park nie ada dua track ..inland track and coastal track...track yang kami pergi nie is a coastal track ..so banyak view pantai, laut etc ...kalau inland track mostly masuk utan ..lots of forest and climbing etc ....coastal track part 1 i.e. Marahau to Anchorage nie lah yang paling easy hahahaha ..sesuai untuk beginner macam aku :-)

The day begins dengan jaya nya ..hahaha pakcik driver shuttle yang kami book tu terlebih awal sampai kat our place (we stayed at a backpacker di Nelson) ..pakcik tu ketuk our door 10min awal dari waktu yang dijanjikan ...sepatutnya dia datang kol 7.30am! the trip to Marahau from Nelson tu selama 1.5 hours ..and dalam bus tu we watched sunrise ..such a wonderful view ...gambar takde coz masa tu camera aku boh dlm rucksack and rucksack disimpan di luggage compartment dlm bus ...

siap pakai puffer jacket coz it is super cold ....sapa soh hiking in winter kan! Memang sangat sejuk walaupun ada sinaran mentari ....baju 4 lapis ...thermal, t-shirt, fleece jacket and puffer jacket ...

 the start of the hike ..after passing Marahau Information Point ...crossing the estuary ...pastu masuk dalam forest ...and then terus permandangan terbentang luas depan mata ....

the estuary just off Marahau

 the first bay we came across after 20mins walk ... Tinline Bay

The beauty of hiking kat sini masa winter is that it is not crowded ...we seldom bumped into other people ...and most of the time, we are the only two people on the beach or on the track! heaven sungguh ....

decided not to stop at Coquile Bay ..sebab ingat nak straight to the next Bay ...tapi yarabi ...it was a long hike to the nest bay ...turun bukit, naik bukit ..winding through the forest ..saw the famous NZ fern ...waterfall, creek and so on ...then baru le sampai kat Apple Bay ....and again, we were the only two people there ..a slice of paradise!

masa nie dah panas ..so puffer jacket dah off ....

was so relieved to reach Apple Tree Bay hahaha ...masa tu dah kol 2pm! and sort of marked the midpoint of our planned track for Day 1 ...tak sangka I did nearly 7km dah masa tu ....the great thing that really surprised me was my own fitness ...i just go on and on and on at this point ...i guess my fieldwork kat kampung kampung aritu help to build my stamina! 

with Adele Island di kejauhan

and Fisherman Island at the background ...selain kami berdua hanya ada burung2 jer kat situ :-)

we spent at least 30mins at each Bay ...but masa kat Apple Tree Bay, we spent an hour! so the next bay tu pun we spent some time jugak ...next on the list is Stilwell Bay ...a secluded bay, very romantic setting and again, such a beautiful view!

hahahaha ..we just dumped our rucksack at the entrance into the bay ...coz berat oiiiii ....and the strain on our back and shoulder were tremendous ...nak masuk ke Stilwell Bay nie kena lalu area yang berbatu batu ...so by dumping our bags, we walk quicker! but the view was worth the pain (katanya!!!)

pas this bay, we walked quickly hahaha in the sense that we didnt detoured into Akensteen Bay and a few lookout ...we only stopped now and then (like every 10mins!) to take photo ..seriously, sangat2 cantik ...i am so grateful that i visit this place!

but My God, the last 2km really tested my patience ...kaki rasa nak putus time tu..and it seemed so far away ...lol but the view makin lama makin awesome ....

nearly at the summit ....tapi nak sampai situ tak terkata aku betapa penat nya ..and Berna was so wonderful, hahaha penuh kesabaran layan aku yang dah malas nak jalan lol ....this stretch of the track is going a bit inland ....and it reached the very top...where we can have wonderful views of several gullies ..and the view of the wonderful Torrent Bay ...

and we timed our walk in such a way that we wanted to be at the very top of the hill during sunset ..it was worth it ....sunset was so beautiful! 

from there we started our way downhill, toward Anchorage Bay ...our destination! we booked the

 hut for a night there ...macam backpackers lah ...but very basic facilities (nanti buat posting on that) ...and when we reached Anchorage, terbentang pantai yang cantik ...at during sunset ...such a beautiful ending to my first day of hiking!

That was the end of the hiking ..reached the hut by 6.30pm ..took us 8 hours of walking from Marahau to Anchorage ...and we took long detours to many bays and lookouts ...kalau gi direct tanpa stop kat mana2, katanya only 4-5 hour ajer ...kalau direct walking it is 12.4km ..kalau detour, it will be 13-14km ....so there you go! penat akak ...but berbaloi ...

posting lain akan menyusul :-)