We had a peaceful night in Torrent Bay and awoke early to prepare a cooked breakfast for a change from muesli and fruit. We had mushrooms, bacon and poached eggs on toast, my favourite! We had enough time to fit a new bolt and nut to the boarding ladder, that had somehow come undone and must have dropped in the ocean without me noticing yesterday when I went swimming?? We then weighed anchor and took a leisurely cruise up the coast, hugging the coastline as we went to maximise the views of every little bay. All the bays had golden coloured sands that were just stunning especially with the backdrop of the stunningly beautiful Abel Tasman National Park and the early morning sun combined with a backdrop of crystal clear blue skies. Even travelling slowly at 12 knots we were soon in Awaroa Bay and, oh my god, this place does not disappoint!! Robin took some aerial footage which I hope to be able to share with you all some time soon. Had my first sandfly bites today too, just a couple, but boy these things are a good size, about double that of Hamilton’s sandflies. At least they are easy to see! Might have to try the natural repellant Jo was given when we were in Havelock.
Awaroa Inlet - beach and peninsula is to the left see next photo
The beach New Zealanders bought back!
This footage shows the inlet behind the beach, we were there at low tide which was actually the best time to explore in the kayaks and on foot. We could see the signs of the storm damage everywhere though. It must have been a wild time for the local Bach owners and residents. We saw evidence of significant erosion, large pines that had their root structure undermined to the point where they simply fell over. There was a large ramp structure that had the foundations ripped out from around the piles to leave them dangling in the air, breaking the back of the walkway at the same time. In the southern corner there was a mountain of tree debris either washed down from the hills or washed in from the sea leaving it all stranded up on top of the wetlands.
Despite all the damage, the place still looked largely natural, even in it’s damaged state; you simply could not destroy the natural beauty of this spot if you tried!! We made a small donation to help buy the peninsula back last year for all New Zealanders, our children and grandchildren as well as tourists, to enjoy the unspoilt beauty for decades to come. So it was particularly special to see that many other New Zealanders saw this fundraiser as a worthwhile cause too and now it is safe and secure under the management of DOC.
Access ramp to Lodge badly damaged by recent storm. Several of the piles are swinging from the structure from above!
We returned to the mother ship about 1:00pm after our exploration of Awaroa and had some ham salad buns for lunch followed by a couple of toasted hot cross buns. After lunch the wind began to get up so we looked for more shelter on the chart rather than head further north to Golden Bay. This took us back to Tonga Bay however this was exposed to the Northerly wind howling over the hill and down the valley into the anchorage. We stayed there a short while before deciding to seek more shelter in Bark Bay, a bay we had cruised past this morning. There were two other boats there and we tucked up behind a yacht. Robin took a ‘Nana nap’ while the older brother, namely me, prepared and loaded my next blog.
When Robin surfaced we went ashore to discover great facilities, fully utilised by young tourists and an inlet behind the beach. It was strange to see Weka and their chicks nesting a couple of metres from the track and the campers tents! There was a great semi-open kitchen with sinks etc for campers to use. All facilities were well maintained and it appears people were respectful of our environment here too (no rubbish left around) which was really good to see. It is clear that a small charge on tourists entering the country, properly applied through DOC with the funds ring-fenced to provide facilities like this in other tourist destinations around the country is just so logical. None of these facilities has spoilt the location in any way either, simply made the experience for any tourist, local or otherwise, even better! We have such an awesome opportunity with the draw-cards ( stunning destinations) all around us, to ensure visitors have the best holiday ever. I can see these people going home and raving about NZ to their families and friends, effectively becoming our ambassadors. They will come back in the future to do a more ‘up market’ version, later in their lives too.
Now I know I am definitely coming back to Awaroa, Abel Tasman and the Marlborough Sounds, but I quietly suspect the best is yet to come for us, when we venture further south??
Having dined, we are all settled in for the evening in flat water with no wind. Hope it stays like that for the whole night.
Tucked up in Bark Bay doing my blog! Not a bad office aye?
The Inlet was full of bait fish and heaps of stingray biggest in here I saw was 1.2M across
My shot of the day - bloody easy when there is such good subject matter!
Looking out into Awaroa Bay from the Inlet. Horizon III just visible in the background