Abel Tasman Coast Track: The Easiest of New Zealands Great Walks
I didn’t do any of the Great Walks in New Zealand apart from the Abel Tasman Coast Track and the Tongariro Crossing. But Lukas did almost all of them and therefore we state: The Abel Tasman Coast Track is the easiest of the Great Walks in New Zealand.
Why is that you ask? Well, first of all: The (recommended) days are short, the trails are easy and the huts are comfortable. But mostly because: you can quit whenever you want, skip sections, have your luggage carried to the next bay without you having to carry it. All of these magical circumstances are brought to you by something normal trails (and especially no other great walk) don’t have: Water taxis. There you have it, the water transportation system makes the Abel Tasman Coast Track the easiest of all the Great Walks.
If this sounds like the right level of adventure for you, this is how you can do the Abel Tasman Coast Track. Be aware: I only did the first two days, following the recommended plan and Lukas combined the days and did it much faster than the plan suggests. But my general suggestions still hold for every version of the hike you want to do.
Before Going to the Abel Tasman: Preparations
If you have done your homework on the Great Walks of New Zealand, you know that you need to book them up front. And you will also know that if a hike is popular it fills up really fast. You don’t have to book a park permit or anything like that, they control how many people do the hike by having you book tent or hut spaces up front. When the huts/campsites are full you can’t do the hike on these days. Freedom camping is illegal and not recommended. “Don’t be a dick” is the general guideline to go with. On the official page of the Department of Conservation, you can find all the information on the trail and also all the booking details for the huts.
I booked the Abel Tasman huts well in advance, my aunt and I were planning the hike like half a year in advance.
Things You Should Bring On Your Hike
As I mentioned already, the huts along the Abel Tasman Coast Track are great. You can find filtered drinking water in all of them and some of them even have showers. All the toilets have toilet paper and a flush (except for the ones that are along the smaller bays in between the main bays.). Therefore you only need to carry drinking water for the first day and you can skip the extra toilet paper. You will need sleeping bags, food, and stove, but you can leave your sleeping mat at home.
If you carry biodegradable detergent, you will even be able to wash yourself after a sweaty day. The showers are cold but their mere existence is already a huge luxury so don’t complain ;-) We didn’t encounter any sandflies, just a few mossies. But this is subject to changes in wind and weather so definitely come prepared. Bring long clothes for the evenings, no matter how warm the days are, you will be cold at some point. Along the hike there will be a bunch of low tide crossings — so bring sandals or flip flops if your hiking boots aren’t waterproof. They will keep your feet from getting cut open on mussels. Like everywhere in New Zealand, the sun in the Abel Tasman National Park is intense so apply sunscreen more than once — trust me.
Day 1: Marahau to Anchorage Bay
The Abel Tasman National Park is pretty accessible, you can hire buses that bring you to the beginning in Marahau or hitchhike of course. We were staying in Kaiteriteri the night before and had someone drive us to the beginning.
We followed the recommended plan (my aunt isn’t a very experienced hiker) and walked until the Anchorage hut on the first day. The trail is very wide and (on a dry day) solid and pleasant to walk on. You can find toilets along the way and beautiful bays to explore. We were prepared for the hike to be crowded that but that was really put mildly. The trail was crazy occupied, most people weren’t even hikers. They just went to the national park in their swimmers and were walking around in Flip Flops. So don’t expect peace and quiet at any point and you’ll be fine.
The Anchorage hut was amazing. Normally you expect a mattress camp in a DOC hut. But in the Anchorage hut, the rooms had 8 beds each and they were normal bunk beds. So much better than to share the room with 40 people. We chilled in the lovely common area and were playing cards. The beach was already pretty during the day but it became even better during sunset and I recommend you go for a stroll, right before it gets dark.
Day 2: Anchorage Bay to Bark Bay
The second day was made very short by us taking the shortcut over the low tide crossing at Torrent Bay. This saved us 1,5 hours.
In the end, we only hiked for 3,5 hours and hung out at the Bark Bay beach for the rest of the day. If I would ever do the Abel Tasman Coast Track again I would probably combine day two and three into one. There is really no need to hang a whole day at the Bark Bay beach. It was beautiful though, and not so overrun.
The Bark Bay hut was more like you’d expect a DOC hut, with mattress camps in two rooms. But even though we were around 30 people in our room it was pleasantly quiet at night. We found a small shower in the forest, just off the hut clearing. The toilets had a flush and paper, and there was a fresh-water sink. Great stuff. If you really need internet the Bark Bay hut is your spot btw, just outside the common room you can find a bit of reception (if you have the right operator).
Day 3: Out By Water Taxi
Because the weather forecast was really bad (as the hut warden told us), we decided to abort the hike on the third day. In retrospect, we didn’t regret this decision at all — even though the weather wasn’t that bad in the end. The hike was just not very intriguing. The trail winds itself up and down the coastline. This is pretty. But it is also very repetitive and once you’ve done one day on it, you will know what the rest of the hike looks like. Lukas confirmed this and he has done the whole thing. There are several water taxi operators. You can either book the transport up front or ask when the boat arrives if they’d still have a spot for you. Chances are, they do. They want to make money after all.
The craziest thing about the water taxis was for us, that people had their backpacks transported from hut to hut by the boats. They’d leave them on the beach in the morning and start hiking. When they arrived to the next hut, their backpacks would already be waiting for them. Do you still have doubts about the Abel Tasman Coast Track being the easiest of the Great Walks??
The Verdict
So, should you do the Abel Tasman Coast Track or not? It depends on your preferences of course. Are you traveling New Zealand but you are not overly fit and won’t do any big mountain crossings etc.? You like to be a bit more sheltered than in a basic mountain hut? You want to chill at beaches and see some nice sunsets? Then go for it. Abel Tasman is pretty and definitely pretty easy. But if you are more of an adventurous soul, planning to do many cool hikes in New Zealand I would say you can skip this famous hike. If you must know what everybody is talking about do the first day and walk back to the beginning. This way you can save time and a lot of money on the huts.
Originally published at Two Sundowners.