Coastal ecology

We got picked up at 8:30 this morning, a short drive to the jetty where – because of the low tide – a tractor pulled our boat to sea.

We’re spending the day with Stew from Abel Tasman Eco Tours. He started the day with depressing stories about the damage done ecologically to New Zealand ever since people arrived here – introducing alien plants and animals.

Before the mood got too dark, we circumnavigated Fisherman and Adele islands where rats have been eradicated and birds are now happily breeding there again.

We sailed past Observation Beach to Te Pukatea for a wet landing. We had coffee and cake, and then took a 45 mins walk through the forest to a couple of viewpoints. On the way, he pointed out various plants and trees, and told us more about the recent conservation efforts in Abel Tasman. They are killing off pine trees by injecting them, and once the trees die and fall down, endemic trees will be able to prosper. We saw the silver fern, which is the national emblem of New Zealand.

Stew also told us that the whole coast was cleaned yesterday – the whole place gets a face-lift once a year – and they removed 120 kilos of rubbish. Some of it had washed up from the sea but sadly a fair bit is directly linked to the hundreds of people walking the trail each day, or using the camping facilities.

Our next stop was Onetahuti Beach where we started with lunch on the beach. We’d bought sandwiches and savoury muffins from Hooked Cafe in town this morning. And then we foolishly decided to go for a swim. We’ve been missing our daily swims and the opportunity was too good to miss. And once we got over how cold the water was, we enjoyed it. We dried off quickly enough on the beach and went for a stroll to check out a mini waterfall.

We continued our way up the National Park towards the Tonga Island Marine Reserve. Blue cod are now abundant there, as well as crayfish.

As the tide was coming in, we were able to go into the Awaroa Inlet. Fish were swarming in hoping for a good meal.

In Sandfly Bay, we were lucky to see the endemic grey duck, a white-faced heron and about three variable oystercatchers (also endemic to New Zealand), and one or two pied oystercatchers.

Big boulders and fat slabs remain from the quarries. The marble was used for the Parliament Buildings in Wellington.

On our way back, we sailed past Tonga Island where we saw fur seals and pups. Most of the adults seem to be having fun in the water. The pups remained in the sun on the rocks.

Stew dropped us back at the campsite. We dropped our bags in our studio and went to borrow some bikes from our bus. We cycled all the way back to the jetty, exploring Marahau a little further and on the way back, we stopped for ice-creams. We cycled for about an hour all in all – with many stops.

Dinner. I picked up a pizza from The Park Café and joined Andy and the group in The Fat Tui – a burger place which only had one vegetarian option which didn’t grab me. After the meal, the two of us popped to The Park Café for a drink.

Today was one of our better days in New Zealand. We had a little more control over our activities and the weather was decent.