Category: Uncategorized

April 23, 2016

Falls River lies deep in a gorge, surrounded by the hills of Abel Tasman National Park. As we headed in, we found ourselves surrounded by walls of dense foliage. The mix of trees was striking, the leaves spanning every shade of green, the trunks ranging from dark to light. Some trees were tall, towering over us, while others were low and squat. All of it was highlighted by moss hanging off branches near the water. The shore was thick with ferns and keikei, and occasionally we’d spot the red flowers of a vine-tree called a rata. This profusion of plant life was magnificently reflected, mirror-like, in the still dark water.

We made our way up the river further, discovering a suspension bridge high above us, the hikers looking down at us while we looked up at them. As we continued on, the water became green and so clear that we could see logs on the bottom. Boulders began to appear along the shoreline, getting more prolific as we neared the unnavigable end of the river. The quiet here was broken by the sound of rushing water over the rocks just beyond. We turned here and made our way back down the river, passing a couple of kayakers on the way.

In all, the trip up Falls River took about 20 minutes each way. When we started I’d been concerned about the coming front, whether Legacy was anchored well enough where she was, whether we had time to get to Frenchman Bay next door, etc. In circumstances like these, I generally try to quiet my mind and focus on my surroundings. There are times, however, when scenery can be so fantastic that it overwhelms the chatter in my head, like overloading a breaker. That chatter can’t compete with this new load of information, so it shuts down, leaving a void. In comes a feeling of having my breath taken away, of being awed, spellbound, and enchanted. Nothing else exists but the enormity of the vision I’m seeing. My body chemistry actually changes in response to the surroundings, totally without effort on my part. I guess I’d call this a state of rapture.

For all the beautiful places we see in our travels, this feeling is still surprisingly rare and very special. Falls River is definitely a very special place. –Cyndi

(Below, a gallery of photos; click to enlarge/scroll).

April 23, 2016

A trough (windy squally weather) was due to arrive, and our plan was head to the most protected anchorage in the park: Torrent Bay. Meanwhile, though, we’d noticed the weather seemed to be lagging behind the forecasts. It was still a beautiful clear morning, and we might have time to do two more outings before heading on.

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With that, we went around the headland to place called Sandfly Bay Lagoon. To save time, we took the boat down there instead of taking the dinghy, anchoring just behind the headland. It wasn’t a great anchorage but it would do for this outing.

Sandlfy Bay is basically a lagoon formed by a long arm of a sandspit that nearly encloses it, leaving just a small pass. We were shocked to see a sailboat in there–how did he do that? Local knowledge, I think. Knowing it was deep enough for him to get in at high tide, and having seen other people do it and succeed. As we went through the pass, we saw it would be deep enough for us, but I don’t know that we’d have the guts to try it.

Once inside the lagoon, it felt like being on a small lake with thick forest along the shoreline. We crossed the “lake” to the far side, looking for the entrance to a waterway called Falls River.

After we spotted it, we headed up to see how far we could go. (That will be the subject of the next blog post.) –Cyndi

Check out the images below. Click to see and enlarge the photos under the captions.

April 23, 2016

Yesterday we got to see Bark Bay at low tide. It was beautiful, but many of the pools were dry. I wanted to see what it looked like with more water; so we got up at dawn to catch the high tide. We were early for it, but that gave us the benefit of watching the area change as the tide came in. It was interesting to watch one area of sand become an island, while smaller sand islands disappeared, the scattered pools becoming one big lagoon. It looked like it would be a lovely place to swim, but not this early in the morning!

In all we probably spent an hour there, watching the tide come in while the scenery was gradually lit up by the rising sun. Beautiful! (Click to enlarge/scroll through gallery)

As we headed back to our boat, three large stingrays swam right by us. Both the Marlborough Sounds and Able Tasman areas are rife with stingrays of all kinds. They seem to enjoy swimming near the shore; and it’s easy to see them in the clear water. They’ve been a real treat this season. –Cyndi

April 22, 2016

Bark Bay is one of Abel Tasman National Park’s “big guns.” What appeared, from the anchorage, to be a long golden stretch of beach was, in fact, a big playground of sandbars and lagoons, making it one of the more popular spots for day visitors.

We landed on the cream-colored sand of one of the outer sandspits. It turned out to be low tide, making it an easy wade through shallow channels to the tiny sand islands. Birds lazed around, used to human traffic. There were a few people around, walking in small groups or sitting quietly on the beach. A couple of people were sleeping on the beach fully clothed, as though they were so tired they couldn’t be bothered to change or even lay down towels. Somehow that didn’t seem strange; this place seems to have a subduing effect on people. In all it was a very quiet, low-key area. Below, a gallery of photos of our afternoon at Bark Bay (click to enlarge/scroll.) –Cyndi

April 22, 2016

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Our next stop was about 2 miles down the coast in an anchorage called Bark Bay. Like Onetahuti it faced east, but this bay’s larger headland offered some protection from the southeast breezes.

As we hoped, the bay was calm and protected enough for the day’s light winds. As we expected, it was another very pretty place with Able Tasman’s signature look: thickly forested hills, a light golden beach, and blue-green water. We looked forward to going ashore to explore. (Below a gallery of photos taken from the anchorage. Click to enlarge and scroll.)