April 24, 2016
Technically this walk is considered the Pitt Head Loop Track (the Te Pukatea Track is just a section of it). The entire walk takes about 1 1/2 hours or more, depending on how much a person cares to linger in any given spot before their husband tells them enough already! It’s a bit lengthy, but the beautiful views, singing birds, coastal forest, and gorgeous Te Pukatea Bay make it well worth the effort.
(You can click to enlarge/scroll through the galleries that follow.)
Our trek began with an uphill climb amid trees and a chorus of bellbirds (rare outside bird sanctuary areas)…
Eventually we split off onto the Te Pukatea Track, which took us down a hill to the much-photographed Te Pukatea Bay. There’s a good reason for this: Te Pukatea Beach is the quintessential perfect Abel Tasman beach with forested hills and a rim of golden sand surrounding clear turquoise and green water…
From this beautiful beach we climbed a hill, rejoining the Pitt Head Track to its spectacular viewpoints near the tip of the peninsula…
On the walk back we took a small unmarked trail, a bit overgrown, and were surprised to find a sizeable wooden platform with impressive views of the entrance to Torrent Bay. Wow, they ought to consider putting up a sign up let people know it’s there…
This walk was a great way to cap off our visit to Torrent Bay. We next planned to take advantage of the nice weather and head south as soon as we got back to the boat.–Cyndi
