If there is a place in New Zealand that has it all, it might be Abel Tasman National Park.

Abel Tasman contains one of the nine Great Walks, the Abel Tasman Coast Track. It is a gorgeous hike - golden beaches against the backdrop of the vibrant blue sea, lush coastal forest, abundant wildlife, and hidden bays and other detours along the way. The terrain is relatively easy - the path is well trodden and well marked.

Many visitors to Abel Tasman choose to see it from a different perspective - instead of hiking they kayak, looking back at the pristine beaches and rock formations, weaving into crystal-clear bays reachable only by water, and getting up close and personal with fur seal colonies.

One important feature of the area is the crazy tide changes - up to 6 meters twice per day! Sometimes your hike or kayak trip can be either helped or hurt by the tide changes - low tide often means a shorter trek because you can just walk from beach to beach instead of following the more winding track. But when kayaking, low tides can make access to various inlets and bays nearly impossible.

Walking the entire Abel Tasman Coast Track takes three to five days, but it can be combined with water taxi transport and kayaking to speed things along. We decided to do a combination of walking and kayaking to really get the most out of the park. Check out our photos from both perspectives below!

On the first day, we boarded an aqua taxi from Marahau at one end of the Abel Tasman Coast Track early in the morning to take us to the halfway point at Bark Bay. We planned to spend the day walking back to Marahau - a 20 kilometer hike.

The water taxis are loaded into the water by tractor.  By midday, the tide will have gone out and the tractor will need to drive the water taxis hundreds of feet to reach the water. — The water taxis are loaded into the water by tractor. By midday, the tide will have gone out and the tractor will need to drive the water taxis hundreds of feet to reach the water.

We began our hike at Bark Bay.

The track is absolutely beautiful. Every so often, you catch glimpses of the sparkling turquoise Tasman Sea through the trees.

Walking a little further reveals panoramic views of many of the secluded bays and beaches.

We came across the bay in the photo below - Torrent Bay. It is right off of the trail, so we stopped for some lunch and a swim.

These kids were jumping off a dock at Torrent Bay where we stopped for lunch. It was really sunny and hot and the water looked incredibly clear and refreshing. We asked the kids if the water was warm and they told us it was like a bathtub and to jump in with them.

The little shits tricked us - the water was freezing!!! Stephen was brave enough to jump in numerous times, but I decided to refrain after the first ice bath.

Back on the trail, we continued to be amazed by the stunning scenery and endless beaches inviting us to take off our hiking boots and relax. But one thing was motivating us to keep on going - the legendary burgers we'd heard about from The Fat Tui at the end of the trail.

After 20 long kilometers and 6 hours, we made it back to Marahau (below). As it was high tide, the bay was totally drained! It was really cool to see, and there were people riding horses in the sand. The tides changes in the park are crazy!

Riding horses in Marahau on the Abel Tasman Coast Track.

Finally, we reached The Fat Tui! We definitely earned these burgers.

the fat tui abel tasman marahau new zealand

The following morning, sore but excited, we joined an overnight kayaking trip to explore more of the park. We began from a beach called Totaranui at the farthest end of the walking track. This meant that we were going to get to see parts of the park that we hadn't seen on our hike, but also see the areas that we had seen from a completely different perspective.

Our guide knew all of the best nooks and crannies to paddle into.

This bay was really shallow and incredibly clear and beautiful. We paddled further into the bay where we came across a rushing river and waterfall.

Stopping to rest on one of the gorgeous golden beaches.

We stopped for lunch at one little beach that could only be reached by boat. The beach had a ton of non-poisonous jellyfish.

Hundreds of mussels on the rocks at one of the bays where we stopped to rest.

We ended our first day at Mosquito Bay, another of the beaches only accessible by boat. Mosquito Bay proved to be a great stage for the tide changes - when we arrived, it was completely drained and we had to carry our heavy kayaks about 100 feet to avoid them being swept away when the tide came back in.

low tide mosquito bay abel tasman new zealand

Stephen standing on a small island in the middle of Mosquito Bay as the tide was coming in.  Soon, that entire area was underwater. — Stephen standing on a small island in the middle of Mosquito Bay as the tide was coming in. Soon, that entire area was underwater.

The next day, we set out again in our kayaks. We arrived at Te Pukatea Bay, a very secluded, very gorgeous bay. Postcard Abel Tasman!

Before we finished our second day of kayaking, our guide had a cool idea for us to "sail" back to shore. We all lined up our kayaks, and the people in the four corners of the makeshift raft held onto the sail.

We left Abel Tasman feeling very satisfied - satisfied with how much of the park we'd seen, satisfied with the beauty of the park, and feeling like we'd had much more fun than we'd expected. It was awesome to be out on the water, meeting other travelers, and soaking up this incredible part of New Zealand.

-Michelle