Where in the World is Saura

Here it is. Almost three months after we walked the Abel Tasman I’ve finally put this together. The walk was absolutely gorgeous, and its touted as the easiest of New Zealands Great Walks (although you couldn’t tell that to my feet after four days of carrying a heavy uncomfortable pack). The track takes you over the hilly coastline down to sandy beaches and bays, then up and down over and over again.

Our trip began with a water taxi, although there are several different ways to go about the tramp. The water taxi ride alone is a nice outing, taking in the crystal clear aqua blue waters and the golden beaches. The drivers are really cool and you get alittle info about the area. They took us by Tongo Island to see the seals sunning on the rocks. We even saw a few pups. Its a great perspective of the area that you don’t see while your hiking along. We were dropped off near the top at Totaranui and spent the first day hiking up to Mutton Cove then back to Totaranui to camp. We came a bit short of covering the entire trail north of our camp, but I really had enough after a few hours the first day. The terrain was hillier and my pack was heavier than I was prepared for. So we turned around and headed back for the day and hit the hay well before the sun.

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We stopped for a short hike to some falls while on our way to Wellington to catch the ferry back to the South Island.  We left in the morning from Gisborne, which turned out to be a fairly uneventful stop.  Here’s the best glimpse we have from Gisborne. 

You often drive through Scenic Reserves in New Zealand and a few actually offer hiking trails.  Its not too uncommon to go through a reserve without a single place to stop and explore the place.  I guess these areas are more for preservation than public access.

From the parking area of the reserve it only took about 20 minutes to get out to the falls.  It was more like a pleasant stroll in the woods than a hike, and it was the first forest in New Zealand that reminded me of the forest in western North Carolina.  The waterfall though, was a bit unlike those I’ve seen back home.  They tend to be cascading falls, were this one was long and streaming, falling from a pretty great height.  It was more impressive than I imagined from such an easy walk.  Most of the time you expect to put forth a pretty good effort to see such things.  We came across a huge wall that culminated in a 80ft waterfall streaming from the end.  The rounded rock wall carved from the falling water bore a large pool, great for swimming if it were warmer.

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As much as the South Island is characterized by ancient glaical activity, much of the North Island can be characterized by its geothermal history. We drove through the heart, along the geothermal highway to Taupo and Rotorua. We saw some ... [Continue reading this entry]

Sorry for the delay! Its been awhile since our last post and alot has happened since. We did the Abel Tasman track after leaving ... [Continue reading this entry]