We woke up on Sunday morning in Picton after three tough days on the Queen Charlotte Track, and we were glad to know we didn’t have to rush for an early Stray bus pickup (the new bunch we were joining up with had taken the 8AM ferry from Wellington, so they wouldn’t be coming through Picton until close to noon). We enjoyed a really great breakfast at a place called Gusto – it was maybe the best breakfast we’ve had so far on the trip. It also arrived at our table in less than 45 minutes, which is more than we can say for the dinner we had at the place down the street the night before. After a bit of email and blogging back at our hostel, it was time to meet the new crew.
The day was, in a word, chaos. Our new driver, Curry, was one we’d been with briefly on the north island. She must be a fairly new driver for Stray (and she was definitely new to the south island), because we pretty much spent the whole day getting lost and listening to her say “well, I think this the way out of town” (or to the hostel, or to the next town). She had no idea how long any of the driving segments would take, and to make matters worse, the bus was completely full, with at least one or two pickups to do along the way, somebody had really bad BO, the air-con once again wasn’t working, and one particular Stray passenger from our north island bus who we’d hoped to avoid seeing again was sitting a row behind us and driving us crazy all over again. Needless to say, we were shocked back into the Stray experience after three tranquil days on the QCT.
;)
There weren’t many planned stops between Picton and Marahau (our endpoint that day in the Abel Tasman National Park), but we still didn’t get there until almost 7PM thanks to the Curry chaos. Fortunately, Laura had called ahead to book us a double room at the place where the Stray group was staying, because it was completely full. Old MacDonald’s Farm was a funky little place – very rustic, with sheep, cows, llamas, chickens (including a whole mess of cute little chicks), a very noisy rooster, and one very aggressive, slightly crazy duck (check out the photos in our Abel Tasman gallery). Oh, and about 14 billion sand flies. Our feet and legs had been eaten alive on the QCT by the little buggers, and we were already itching like crazy when we got to Marahau. We finally came to our senses and bought not one but two different kinds of bug juice; one of them is so gooey and sweet-smelling that I’m tempted to pour it all over a big stack of pancakes. We’ve also been running around for the last few days with bright pink calamine lotion all over ourselves.
But I digress. We quickly decided that Abel Tasman would be a great place to take an extra day and get on the next bus behind Curry’s. We tried to book another place in Marahau for the following two nights (I wasn’t looking forward to three nights of the rustic camping-style accommodations at Old Mac’s, even though Laura found living on a llama farm charming), but the tiny town was totally booked. So, we booked one additional night at OMF and decided to stay put. Our plan was to take Monday as a GSD day (get shit done, a Room to Read-ism), since the weather forecast called for “very cloudy” with a chance of showers. We walked into town and had a nice dinner at the Park Cafe, then rushed back to OMF before 9PM so I could get my Ego Caramel Magnum bar before reception closed! It was my least favorite so far, although I hadn’t had the Magnum White yet (yuck).
As luck would have it, Monday turned out to be a very sunny day, with no showers and only a few clouds (after a morning fog of sorts cleared). Alas, it was too late to book kayaking or sailing by the time the weather cleared up, but oh well. We took another walk into town, had a couple of flat whites, picked up more bug spray and anti-itch cream, and walked back to the Farm to GSD. It was a productive day of paying bills (must remember next time, though, that Monday here is Sunday at home… doh), catching up on email, travel planning, and blogging, and we managed to resist the urge to think too much about the nice day we were missing. We kept reminding ourselves that this year of travel is a marathon, not a sprint, and we need down days every now and then.
;)
Tuesday we went out on an all-day sailing trip that took us to some of the gorgeous sandy beaches and other sites along the Abel Tasman National Park seashore. And of course, it was mostly cloudy. We did get a sunny break at our lunch stop, so we enjoyed a packed lunch on the beach, played frisbee with the bus crew (I wowed them with my wicked lefty forehand), and found some very cool rock formations and algae-ish streams to take pictures of. The catamaran we were on was no On the Edge (as I’m sure you all remember from our day in Paihia), but it did the trick, and the captain was very friendly, funny, and knowledgeable about the area.
And that, in a (big) nutshell, was Abel Tasman. We rolled the dice the next morning and jumped on the next Stray bus, wondering if we’d finally find a driver who could rival Mambo’s style and chill vibe.