Abel Tasman National Park

Voted by AA# as	No: 1 of  101 New Zealand Walking Tracks Must-Do's
	No: 1 OF 101 New Zealand  Nature and Outdoors Must-Do's
	No: 1 OF 101 New Zealand  Family Friendly Must-Do's
	No: 1 OF 101 New Zealand  Free Must-Do's

With all these Recommendations you cant not visit the Abel Tasman National Park whilst in the Nelson / Tasman Region

Is the smallest and most beautiful of the national parks in New Zealand. Abel Tasman National Park is a rough and mountainous area, best known for its coastline of crescent-shaped bays, and golden sand beaches, clear waters, little islands and granite headlands. Whether its sea-kayaking or tramping, boating, swimming, you can be as busy or as lazy as you like. Stunning country and extremely popular with tourists. The beginning of the Abel Tasman coastal track is a picturesque 1 hr drive from Nelson.

Classed as one of New Zealand's 'Great Walks', the Abel Tasman's Coastal Track takes between 3 and 5 days to complete. It climbs around headlands and through native forest to a series of beautiful beaches. The track is walkable at any time of the year. Expect to see lots of other walkers and day visitors in summer. For a different view of the park, there are inland tracks that lead up to the dramatic karst landscape of Takaka Hill.

Tramping Times:

• Marahau to Anchorage            11.5 km Approx 4 hours
• Anchorage to Bark Bay             9.5 km Approx 3 hours
• Bark Bay to Awaroa                 11.5 km Approx 4 hours
• Awaroa to Totaranui                  5.5 km Approx 1 hr 30mins
• Tataranui to Whariwharangi     7.5 km Approx 3 hours
• Whariwharangi to Wainui         5.5 km Approx 1 hr 30mins

Many guests choose to base themselves in Nelson Accommodation

History and Features of the Abel Tasman National Park

For at least 500 years Maori lived along the Abel Tasman coast, gathering food from the sea, estuaries and forests, and growing kumera on suitable sites. Most occupation was seasonal but some sites in Awaroa estuary were permanent. The Ngati Tumatakokiri people were resident when, on 18 December 1642, the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman anchored his two ships near Wainui in Mohua (Golden Bay), the first European to visit Aotearoa - New Zealand. He lost four crew in a skirmish with the local people and soon moved on.

Permanent European settlement began around 1855. The settlers logged forests, built ships, quarried granite and fired the hillsides to create pasture. For a time there was prosperity but soon the easy timber was gone and gorse and bracken invaded the hills. Little now remains of their enterprises.

Concern about the prospect of more logging along the coast prompted a campaign to have 15,000 hectares of crown land made into a national park. A petition presented to the Government suggested Abel Tasman's name for the park and it was duly opened in 1942 - the 300th anniversary of his visit.

The most noticeable features of this park are the golden sandy beaches, the fascinating rocky outcrops (mainly granite but with a scattering of limestone and marble) and the rich, unmodified estuaries. The landscape has been modified, perhaps more than in our other national parks. The vegetation cover varies and reflects a history of fires and land clearance, but the forests are regenerating well especially in damp gullies where a rich variety of plants can be found. Black beech dominates the drier ridges.

The more common forest birds, like tui and bellbirds, can be seen along with pukeko around the estuaries and wetlands. The park's boundary excludes the estuaries and seabed but in 1993 the Tonga Island Marine Reserve was created along one part of the Abel Tasman coast. Like a national park, all life in the reserve is protected.

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