Adventures Around Nelson

Hiking, kayaking & cricket

By Heather & Pravin

Angelus Hut

Our sights were set on the stunning Angelus Hut in Nelson Lakes National Park, just over an hour away from Nelson, New Zealand, to ring in the New Year with my sister Nicole, who was visiting from Vancouver. We booked bunks in the hut for the night of December 31st, but we decided to head up to the park early and spend a night camping and relaxing lakeside before the hike. We realllllly dropped the ball on purchasing beer before leaving Nelson, so we were left to choose from the very pricey and very limited selection in the lake village's general store. We came away with a case of the notoriously bad Double Brown, but we did our best to rise to the occasion and managed to polish it off while relaxing in the sun and watching the large and hungry freshwater eels that surround the lake's docks in search of handouts.

Bright and early the next morning, with some of us still feeling the effects of the previous day's Double Browns (ahem, Nicole), we packed up our bags and hit the trail towards Angelus Hut. After a short but steep climb, we found ourselves hiking on the beautiful Robert's Ridge, with a steep drop-off to a valley far below on one side, and an endless panorama of mountain peaks on the other side. There were some clouds in the sky, but none of them were low enough to spoil the outrageously beautiful vistas that we were treated to throughout the entire hike.

Angelus Hut is a beautifully equipped hut that has plentiful seating space indoors and out and bunks for about 30 people. It was a full house, given that it was New Year's Eve, and it was a lot of fun hanging out with people from all over the world who had chosen to ring in 2019 in this stunning location. We cooked a big veggie chickpea curry for dinner, and sipped on whiskey throughout the evening. Once it was actually midnight, everyone broke into a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne, and as things got a bit rowdier indoors, we retreated outside to the deck to do some stargazing.

Hiking out the next day, we had a few options in terms of which route to follow. Given that the conditions were clear with blue skies and sun, we decided to come back the same way we went, and were certainly not disappointed! The views from Robert's Ridge were again incredible coming the other direction, and the panoramas looking down as we approached Lake Rotoiti were gorgeous. All in all, it was a very Happy New Year's in New Zealand!

marlborough sounds

After our hiking trip in Nelson Lakes National Park, we planned something decidedly more low-key for our next excursion out of Nelson with Nicole. We loaded up the car and drove out towards the Marlborough Sounds. Pravin and I had already visited this area several times, but it's so beautiful and peaceful that we couldn't help coming back. This time, we drove out on twisting and winding gravel roads to the very end of one of the Sound's longest peninsulas, and set up camp at Titirangi Farm, which is a working sheep farm that also allows you to camp in a paddock that happens to offer spectacular ocean views.

We spent a couple of days relaxing on the beach, swimming in the very warm waters and exploring the rock formations along the shoreline. It was very windy at times, but the $35 tent that Nicole had purchased in Nelson seemed to hold up with surprisingly few issues! There were a lot of cheeky weka birds lurking about, ready to steal anything left unattended, but the shy sheep left us alone and didn't come into the paddock where people were camping.

mount Stokes

For our last morning at Titirangi, we decided to catch the sunrise at the highest point in the Marlborough Sounds. This meant a 3am wake-up to pack up the campsite and hit the steep gravel road out of Titirangi Bay. All went well until we encountered a huge herd of sheep moseying along the road, and they absolutely wouldn't move off the road for anything! We convinced Nicole to get out of the car and try her hand at herding them off to the side, but none of them would budge off the road and we were stuck slowly following this silly herd of sheep as they took up the entire width of the very narrow access road. Eventually, something spooked them enough to move off the road so that we could pass, and the next obstacle that we started to encounter were possums - everywhere! Possums are notorious in New Zealand because they are an invasive, non-native species, and they eat the eggs of endangered native birds and generally wreck havoc on the creatures that have traditionally called New Zealand home. They are basically universally reviled in the country, and since you can hardly drive a kilometre outside of cities without seeing possum roadkill, I always assumed that people try to run them over intentionally. Well, it turns out that you don't even need to try! We saw dozens and dozens of possums just hanging out on the road, and even with our car approaching them, they usually didn't move until we hit the brakes at the last second, and they they would slowly crawl away, or move slightly aside. We couldn't bring ourselves to actually hit them, but at times it was difficult to not do so unintentionally!

Once we got to the trailhead in total darkness, we switched on our headlamps and hit the trail, wanting to reach the top, at about 1200m, well before the sun crested the horizon. It was slow-going at times; the trail was quite rugged and very steep in places. Pravin shot up ahead as Nicole and I pulled up the rear, and as the skies started to lighten, we began to hear an ominous buzzing from the treetops around us. It sounded like thousands of wasps, and we started to get quite uneasy, as we were several hours driving from any sort of settlement, and we didn't even have cell service at the time. I didn't want to imagine what would happen if thousands of wasps decided to descend on us...but we also didn't want to turn around!

Of course, we kept walking and made it to the top and nothing happened, wasp-wise. The skies were just brightening as we explored the summit plateau, and did our best to take in the views around us. We were very lucky that the weather was clear, and we could see the many peninsulas and islands of the Marlborough Sounds far below us. It was even clear enough that we could see the perfect volcanic cone of Mount Taranaki, just over 200km away on the West Coast of the North Island.

Cricket

Once we were back in Nelson, we had an important day to celebrate - Nicole was turning 29! We started the day with homemade cinnamon buns, then packed up a picnic and set off towards the Saxton Oval cricket field to see New Zealand's national cricket team take on Sri Lanka's national team. It was to be the first cricket match for all of us, and what a day it was! Not a cloud in the sky and no shade from the brutal NZ sun for the spectators, so with temperatures well over 30°, it was a scorcher. Nicole and I had planned ahead and bought cheap-and-ugly hats to keep the sun off, and I felt like I spent half the match applying sunscreen! It was a fun day out, and although we intended on making it quite a celebration for Nicole's birthday, I don't think any of us managed to have more than two beers - it was just too hot!

The crazy thing about the sun in New Zealand is just how very strong it is - coming from anywhere else except perhaps for Australia, it's noticeably hotter and stronger and your skin will burn extremely quickly. Apparently there is less ozone and less pollution to filter the sun in this part of the Southern Hemisphere, and the way in which the Earth orbits brings this area closer to the sun in summer than most other places in the world.

New Zealand ended up winning the match by quite a bit, but we actually didn't manage to stay for the whole game - after about 6 hours, we had had more than enough sun for the day. The Sri Lankan team was definitely outplayed, and there were many more New Zealand fans in the crowd than Sri Lankan fans, but the enthusiasm shown by the small number of Sri Lankan fans was unbeatable!

Kayaking Abel Tasman

Our last big adventure with Nicole was something that Pravin and I had been wanting to do even before we arrived in New Zealand. Bright and early in the morning, we set off for the scenic drive to Marahau, and rented sea kayaks for a paddling trip through Abel Tasman National Park. Since we were three, we had one double and one single kayak, and we just rotated positions each day so that we all got to try out each seat. It takes more effort to paddle in the single kayak, but there is something nice about having your own boat all to yourself. We had planned for 3 days and 2 nights in the park.

Our first day's destination was Te Pukatea Bay, which meant that we would have to cross the majority of the "Mad Mile" - a rough patch of sea that is very open and exposed, with strong winds and choppy seas on most days. Since it was extra windy when we were making the crossing, we were really in for a challenge! I was in the single kayak that day, and there were times when the wind was so strong and the waves were so big that I would be paddling as hard as I could manage and would be making zero progress towards our destination. It was definitely an intense workout, but fortunately we had practiced kayak rescue techniques that morning, and Pravin and Nicole were sticking close to me in their double kayak in case anything happened.

Arriving into the sheltered bay of our first camp, we couldn't believe how beautiful the spot was. We had stopped at a couple of gorgeous, white-sand beaches paddling up from the kayak base that morning, but nothing compared to the tranquility of Te Pukatea Bay. Abel Tasman National Park is extremely popular for kayaking and also for pleasure boaters to visit its stunning turquoise waters, but you can also hike the busy Abel Tasman Coastal Trail which winds along a mostly-seaside trail. Some of the kayak campsites are also shared with hikers, but Te Pukatea Bay only permits a maximum of 7 tents, so it was incredibly quiet and peaceful.

We awoke bright and early the following morning, and Nicole was even brave enough to jump in the ocean for a sunrise swim. As we were packing up our tents, we saw a huge pod of dolphins cruising by the mouth of the bay. We all ran to the beach, awed by the sight of around 50 dolphins leaping and playing as they slowly made their way across the bay. Over the next half an hour or so, they went back and forth four times; it was a magical sight, especially seeing some of them leap fully out of the air repeatedly - it felt like they were putting on a show for us!

After a long day of paddling way up the coast to Onetahuti Beach, stopping countless times to swim at spectacular, secluded beaches; paddle through granite arches and caves; and watch seals on rocky island outcroppings, we doubled back on ourselves to set up camp at Mosquito Bay. Despite its name, there were more weka birds than mosquitos, and we couldn't leave anything unattended outside the tents, lest one of the cheeky birds sneak in to grab the item and do a mad dash towards the woods! We got in to the bay just as the tide was starting to go out, and by sunset, the bay was almost dry and you could walk out to the mouth and around the corner to explore other beaches. This campsite was boat-in only, so it didn't meet up with the Coastal Track and was inaccessible to hikers. In the evening, a huge windstorm came up quite suddenly, and Nicole's $35 tent started to show some weak points! All of the stakes ripped out of the sand and the tent tried to take flight, weighted down only by her backpack inside. Laughing our heads off, we all pitched in to hold it down until the wind subsided, and then moved it over into a more sheltered location and tied the guy lines down to some heavy logs instead of staking it down in the sand.

Kayaking Abel Tasman National Park was a magical experience, and despite the waters being quite busy due to Kiwi summer holidays and tourist high season, we were still able to have perfect, white sand beaches all to ourselves, and because we had booked far in advance, access to the nicest campsites in the park. It was the perfect way to wrap up our vacation time with Nicole, as she had to fly back to Vancouver on the Sunday evening after finishing our paddling loop on Saturday afternoon.

It was also time for Pravin and I to get back to work - we were starting jobs at a fruit tree nursery just outside of Nelson! We had dropped in at the nursery the day before leaving for paddling, and got a call while we were away to come in for an interview on the Monday, right after Nicole left us. We were hired immediately after the interview, came in for an orientation on the Tuesday, and started work on the Wednesday - never did Pravin and I think that we would end up working together!