Sailing the Abel Tasman

Tuesday we went sailing on a 35 foot catamaran from Kaiteriteri Beach in the Tasman Sea along the coast of the Abel Tasman National Park. There were 12 passengers, which was very comfortable on the boat, and we had a nice time getting to know some of the others during our 7 hours together. We were able to relax, enjoy the sunshine, help with the sailing, and take in the sights. It was a bit chilly with the sea breeze, but the day was perfect with not a single cloud in the sky. There were so many beautiful bays with inviting sandy beaches. Most of the beaches are accessible by hiking thru the park, but the boat was our preferred method. We stopped on

Anchorage Beach for an hour to eat lunch and explore the area. We also saw a fur seal colony, with a few new pups. One of the popular sights in the area is Split Apple Rock, which we sailed by on our way out and on our way in. Dave even got to fish a bit while we were sailing back. He caught a kawai on a cuban yoyo, which was fun for everyone to watch. There were a couple little blue penguins swimming near us also, which was really cool. We enjoyed being out on the water and had a fantastic last day in the south island. Wednesday we headed toward Picton to catch the Ferry back to the north island. We stopped along the way in Havelock to eat green lipped mussels at a very popular well known restaurant, The Mussel Pot. After lunch we continued on and checked in at the ferry terminal. We crossed the cook straight and arrived in Wellington where we checked in to our hotel for our last night on the road.