codex nocturna: Abel Tasman National Park

From Nelson I took a multi day hike in Abel Tasman Park. 3 nights.

On the first day I met this Korean guy, Kim, who was spending only one night but came completely unprepared even for that. First of all, he didn't have a backpack. Instead he had a plastic shopping bag with a litre of chocolate milk (not water) and uncooked chicken and a bag of cookies. Second of all, he didn't have a sleeping bag, only the jacket on his back.

Let me explain something. It's winter. While the days are warm and pleasant, the nights drop to the freezing temperature. Enough to leave frost on the ground.

He was a pleasant guy though, and great to walk with (also I felt sorry for him just a little) so he was my walking buddy on day one. I shared my one flashlight with him as we walked in complete darkness (we underestimated how long it will take us to get to the hut if we took 2 side trips - one to see Cleopatra's pool and the other to see some sort of a waterfall. That second trip took us a while because most of the trail involved having to practically climb the hillside. I had to ditch my backpack because I just couldn't climb with it).

I shared my can of chicken with him (the precooked and seasoned kind you can just open and put on a piece of bread and voila - dinner) because the hut - being just a hut didn't have any cooking facilities unless you bring your own. I gave him the empty cans after and we mixed his chicken with the remaining sauce in the cans and cooked it on top of the fireplace.

I didn't share my sleeping bag, because that's just awkward. Also, if I did I would freeze to death. The huts are just wooden shelters. There is a fireplace in the main room or the "kitchen" and the rooms are just 2 platforms where you can use the provided cot to unroll your sleeping bag on.

I don't know how he survived the night. I was wearing 2 socks, 2 pairs of pants, a sweater, bundled inside my sleeping bag with my wintercoat and hoodie serving as extra insulating "blankets". He just sorta tucked his freezing hands into his armpits and tried to sleep in a doughnut shape - much like my dog does sometimes.

To be fair I did offer to unzip my sleeping bag to make one blanket we could share instead of the wonderful warm one-person-pocket it is. Maybe it is his pride or whatever, but he turned the offer down.

The second night was much much better. In the second hut we only had 4 people staying. So we arranged the cots around the fireplace and slept in the "kitchen" in our shorts and t-shirts.
That's how hot it was.

This was also the night I learned a little bit more about the good camping. A couple of guys traveling by kayak together told me that its better to buy the gas cooker. Why? because after the walk, it gives you something to do in the time between arrival and bedtime Another guy had red wine in one of those collapsible bottle things. He also had blue cheese. "Happy wife, happy life" he tells me. And while there was no wife around, sometimes it's worth to bring the little extra luxuries for yourself.

One of the guys made us some redbush tea with milk and manuka honey. I don't know if I was just so happy to have something warm at the end of my 30 km walk or I was just too tired to find a fault with it - but it was delicious!

That day I also met an Israeli fellow traveler who shared her chocolate with me (and I shared me nutella at breakfast) , and it was nice to catch up in my own language and admire together the aforementioned guys as they got geared up.

The last night I was completely alone. I had to make my own fire and chop some wood. The hut I was staying in the last night was some historical house and I got creeped out being alone. Suddenly I regretted ever watching paranormal activity as I wondered if any of the family had died there. I ended up reading the entire evening.

Thank goodness for the black-lit screens of tablets.

Abel Tasman is amazing. My photos don't do it justice - at all. It's like a piece of paradise. It is postcard beautiful. It is so beautiful that you'd think it was special effects for AVATAR. The sea is so blue and the beaches are gorgeous. The entire track goes all the way up to the hills and includes beach walks and low tide crossing (one of the crossings involved a river, knee deep). It was such a beautiful unique experience to have.