New Zealand Travel Diary: Abel Tasman National Park & Nelson

I'm back with some more New Zealand travel coverage! It was quite the trip, and I've got at least 3 more posts after this one. 

After we left the little slice of heaven that is Napier, we headed towards Abel Tasman National Park, which is in the northern area of the south island. 

On our way to Wellington (the gateway to the south island!) we drove through Martinborough and did some additional wine tasting on the way. Not a bad way to road trip! Special shout out to my DD who let me try as much wine as I wanted :) 

he's the best :)

The nice guys at Martinborough Vineyards let us taste all of the wines for $5NZ! Quite the deal if you ask me. We also stopped by Margrain Vineyards, and while the wine wasn't my preference, they were perfectly nice and poured generous samples. They also have a very cute cafe is you need a snack!

Then we drove our little car onto the Interislander Ferry and took a trip across the Cook Straight! The ferry was comfortable and nice, and the ride was only about 3 hours. There are plenty of booths and chairs to sit and relax if you want, they also screen a movie you can buy a ticket for if you'd like. 

They have a cafeteria style restaurant if you're hungry, but you're also able to bring your own food (which we did!). They also sell beer, wine, coffee and other fun drinks. While you're invited to bring your own food, you cannot bring outside alcohol for consumption. 

I'd also suggest bringing something to fill your time. We hung out on the deck for the sunset, but once it went dark, I kicked back with my book and sat by the window. We also played cards for a bit, but you could also watch a movie on your laptop or take a nap :)

PS - Check with your rental car provider if driving your car onto the ferry. Some require you turn in your car in Wellington and pick up a new one on the South Island. Jucy allowed us to drive our car across, which saved us a lot of time! And driving the car on/off was actually a lot easier than I imagined it would be.

The drive after we landed on the South Island in Picton, was the worst part of the trip for me personally. Luckily, I had anticipated a little car sickness, as per my friend Claire's tip (THANK YOU!) and had some ginger gum to help easy my nausea. YIKES. 

While it might not look that bad, let's zoom in a little bit.

Every single little zig and zag was pretty much on the side of a cliff. And like I said before, unless you're in a major city like Auckland, you'll be driving on 2 lane roads. In this case, in the dark. With people coming careening around the corner.... I was miserable. I think this would be slightly better if done during the day, but still would make me nervous as you wouldn't have the headlights to let you know someone was coming!

But once we got to Nelson (the town outside of Abel Tasman) where our hotel was, and I was a happy camper again! We stayed at The Sails hotel which was adorable and modern. It was a favorite of ours from the trip. We stayed on the ground floor, which I actually preferred because I could sit on the balcony and drink wine in my bathrobe :)

In the morning, we drove over to Able Tasman to go sea kayaking on a half day tour to Split Apple Rock. It was so beautiful and so much fun!

We were the only two on our tour with The Sea Kayak Company, so it was like we had a private guide to ourself! It was also nice not having to wait for slower people and kind of go where we wanted! You can just rent kayaks rather than going on a "tour", but I enjoyed having someone who knew where we were going and history on the islands we stopped at.

We stopped on this beautiful beach and went shelling (I'm a dork and love shelling) and found some gorgeous shells and awesome sea glass! It was interesting shelling on the complete other side of the world, I saw things I'd never seen before, even with living in Florida my whole life.

After exploring the beach and paddling back, we were shocked to see the beach we started at was much longer... the tide had gone out almost a quarter mile! 

When we got back from our kayaking adventure!

When we arrived! Big difference!

I also found this pretty little starfish guy. So unique, right? Definitely unlike any starfish I've ever seen! The perfect end to a perfect day.

After a long day of kayaking, we wanted a nice dinner! We got a few suggestions from our guide, one of which he said "you'll never get in without a reservation" - but we walked right in! The hostess said we were incredibly lucky, apparently this never happens. I'll take it! It was one of our favorite meals :) 

It was at the Boat Shed Cafe, and I loved it! We ordered several of their "small" plates and shared... my favorite way to eat. Not to mention, we got a table on their covered patio (it's open when the weather is warmer!) with this beautiful view of the sunset! The whole restaurant was adorable and we loved it. 

I would definitely recommend making the reservations if you're headed to Nelson! And ask for a table on the patio ;) 

We also dined at DeVille for coffee and a breakfast to-go that we loved in Nelson! I wish we'd had another day to stay and hang out in adorable little Nelson/Abel Tasman. We loved it!

Have you ever done Abel Tasman? While it might not be Milford Sound, I think it's a site not to be missed on your epic trip to New Zealand!

xo

Packing List for New Zealand

It took me WEEKS to figure out what I was going to bring to New Zealand. The weather was changing every time I looked, wavering from cold to warm. Not to mention we were traveling a significant distance (over 1400 miles, essentially the distance between Orlando, FL and Minneapolis, MN). We were facing temps between 40 & 85 degrees, and occasions from high class wine tasting to hours, in the car, to climbing a mountain.... how do you pack for that?!

Layers, my friend. Layers.

The funny thing, is I ended up packing almost the same things I always pack; half of my suitcase was working off my Spring Capsule Wardrobe with a few tweaks, and the other half is Hiking Gear for New Zealand. 

POWER PLAYERS ON THIS PACKING LIST

• Beautiful Maxi Dress: Warm enough to protect me from the breeze, beautiful enough for nice dinners and wine tasting, but casual enough for strolling around town. I wore this dress several times. We went to a nice dinner and the girl next to me was wearing North Face style from head to toe, and I was so thankful for my one beautiful outfit!
• Thin Sweaters: I practically lived in these while we were driving around. They were so comfortable, lightweight, but warm! 
• Scarf: As always, a scarf can be a life saver. I used it as a blanket on the plane and in the car, as an extra layer of warmth on a slightly windy day, and even as a beach blanket in a pinch. 

Just a few ways I wore these while wine tasting, walking around town, checking out easy nature sites (nothing that required hiking clothes), flights, driving all over the country and more. I mixed, matched, layered up and down, and managed to dress for every occasion on a pretty limited wardrobe.

POWER PLAYERS ON THIS PACKING LIST

• Rain Jacket: I've said it 1,000x - I don't know how I traveled before this thing. Even if it doesn't rain, a thin black jacket can be extremely helpful.
• Beanie: Keeps you warm, keeps the rain off your head, and can also be used as an accessory around town.
• Moisture Wicking Layers: When we did major hikes, layers were key. Dry fit fabrics take the sweat away from your skin, keeping you from freezing later on. They don't have to be expensive, they can come from Target or Wal Mart! But these fabrics are essential for hiking. Having layers around for less intense hikes was also good, so I could choose how many I wanted to wear. 

I definitely got my mileage out of that rain jacket. We penciled in a lot of activity (three longer hikes, sea kayaking, and several impromptu hikes along our way!) so being fully outfitted in activewear was necessary.

I would say that visiting New Zealand anytime of year would require suitcase half filled with active wear and half filled with nice, casual clothing. 

Have you visited New Zealand? What did you pack?!

xo

Tongariro Alpine Crossing - New Zealand's Best Day Hike

I'm so excited to tell you guys about one of the highlights of our trip.... hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing! It's a 20k hike and it's been called "New Zealand's Best Day Hike" - and I have to agree. It was definitely a hard day, but I'm so glad we did it!

The night before the hike, we stayed at Discovery Lodge because of their great proximity to the hike (Tongariro is kind of in the middle of nowhere), and the fact that they had a shuttle service available. You can park at the start and arrange a shuttle to bring you back at the end, but we opted for round trip from the hotel. It was seamless and I'm really glad we chose this shuttle service!

The Discovery Lodge shuttle offered pick ups every hour for 5 hours, which gives you plenty of options to go at your own pace. Not to mention, we were dropped off early, which meant we were done earlier than most! Also, please note that the Crossing will be closed if the weather is unsuitable (they won't close for a little rain or snow, but any heavy rain or winds can shut it down), so know that if you only have 1 day carved out for this hike, you may have to skip it if the trail is closed. They actually did not open the Crossing for the 4 days prior to our hike due to weather... but we were lucky with a really beautiful day!

We started before the sun, which sounds terrible but was actually quite beautiful. If you do this, I would suggest a head lamp or flash light. It was only dark for about 30 minutes, but this may vary depending on the time of year you visit.

Some tips for what to bring with you on this trek:
- 2-3 water bottles per person. Better to error on the side of caution, as there is nowhere to refill your bottle. We used a Camel Back each and brought an extra water bottle and it was great.
- Easy snacks. Think nuts, dried fruit, granola bars, or a PB&J. And make sure you fuel up with a good breakfast!
- Tissues & hand sanitizer. There are only 2 port-o-potty stops on the trail, both of which were DISGUSTING in my opinion. I'd rather pee in the woods any day! But even if you use the "facilities", there is no TP - so make sure you bring your own. And hand sanitizer, because there are no sinks!
- A small day pack to carry all of this, plus the ability to de-layer if needed. 
- Hiking poles are optional. We each used one, and I was thankful to have them for extra balance on the narrow, steep sections. I think you can do this hike without them, but it wouldn't hurt to bring one.

The first hour of the hike is very flat. You are working your way UP, but it's very gradual. Once you hit the first (of TWO) port-o-potty stops, you'll start really making the trek up hill.

This was at the first summit. I would say this was one of the hardest parts of the hike! Behind us is Mt Ngauruhoe, but LOTR fans might recognize it as Mt Doom. Another LOTR note (I found this on the Tongariro Crossing website) is much of Frodo and Sam's journey into the land of Sauron was filmed on and around the Tongariro National Park. So that's cool! I'm not super familiar with the films, but it was fun to see. The vegetation changed so much throughout the hike! As you can see from the progression of these photos, it was constantly changing.

Crater Lake

The Alpine crossing features three big lakes: the blue & green lakes seen above (known as the Emerald Lakes) and the Crater Lake. This section was very up & down, but the lakes were so beautiful! Because they're separate, different minerals make them the distinctive blue & green colors. I've never seen anything like it.

I know you're thinking how great our outfits look - but I could care less, because we layered PERFECTLY! I talked a little bit about gear here, and that's exactly what I wore. Running leggings topped with wind/water proof pants. A sports bra, work out tank, running shirt (short sleeved), and long sleeved, PLUS a wind breaker. This sounds extreme, but so were the temperatures - when we started it was about 30 degrees, and after a couple of hours I was down to the tank top! We layered down and up several times when cloud cover, wind, or sun could change. We were lucky to avoid rain, but you never know - so no matter what time you take on the Crossing, I'd be sure to have a waterproof jacket at the very least.

For the love of everything, PLEASE wear athletic gear. You don't need technical gear (I wore regular running shoes and was fine), but you do need to be able to move. I saw one guy in Tevas and another guy in JEANS. On a 20 kilometer hike. I have a feeling these were regrettable later. It's also best to avoid cotton if possible, because it doesn't wick sweat. With constant temperature changes, you might become quite cold. Choose dry fit style tops & pants. These don't have to be Lululemons or North Face style brands, they have awesome moisture wicking athletic clothing at Target and TJ Maxx.  Please, just promise you'll wear athletic clothing! Optional but helpful would also be a beanie, gloves, and wool socks. I wore them, but depending on your weather, you might consider bringing them along.

This volcano erupted in 2012... so they installed a volcanic warning system. The driver of our shuttle said "if this light is on, you need to turn around and go back. No, you need to run back". The volcano hadn't erupted for over 100 years, so I think we'll all be safe for now :)

The descent was hard on the knees! We actually RAN the last 4 miles down hill because we were getting stiff and needed to be done :) We ended up catching the 1.30pm shuttle, which we felt great about! The first shuttle left at 12.30, and the last one was at 4.30, so we actually had plenty of time! We finished around 1.15pm, which means we finished in just over 6 hours. I was really surprised by this time, I thought it was going to be more like 7-8 hours for us, but I guess we made good time! When you reach the second port-o-potty station, the signs say you have about 1.5 hours left - however, the shuttle driver said it was closer to 2, and I agree. Better to know ahead of time than be disappointed when you're soooooooo tired! :)

All in all, this was a GREAT hike. It was really difficult for my short legs, but I felt so accomplished at the end! I would NOT suggest you bring children along on this hike (there are tons of kid friendly hikes in NZ, but I don't think anyone younger than 16 should attempt this). In my opinion, if you can run a mile (even if its slow and hard), you can do this. Just listen to your body and take breaks when you need them. And make sure you dress properly and bring some food and water.... you'll be fine! :) 

Have you ever been on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing? Are you interested in going? Let me know if there are any questions I can answer for you in the comments!
xo