Abel Tasman Park on Foot

I took the Aqua Taxi from Totaranui Beach all the way down to Onetahuti Beach and walked back north. The track went along Onetahuti Beach, through the bush to Awaroa, across the Awaroa Inlet, more bush walk to Waiharakeke Bay, then Goat Bay, and finally back to Totaranui Beach. Click on the shaded place names to jump to the photos.

Here's Onetahuti Beach, where the water taxi dropped me.

Golden Bay received its name because of the golden color of the sand along its beaches. That's Tonga Island out in the water.

After about 20 minutes of tramping through the bush, there's this view of the beach through the trees.

Looking up from the same spot, you can see the circular patterns created by the fern leaves.

After about an hour's walk through fairly dense bush, one arrives at Awaroa Bay which has the wonderful Awaroa Lodge and Cafe, that grows much of its own produce organically. I had a very nicely prepared piece of salmon. When I ordered, I asked the waitress which was best, the salmon or something else (might have been lamb, I forget). The waitress' reply was, "Well, I'm a vegetarian, so I don't know, but the salmon is very nicely presented, and people seem to like it." It's very tiring when vegetarians call attention to themselves like that. Perhaps it's because they're baiting you for a conversation about their choice of being vegetarian, so that they can demonstrate their moral superiority. Similar to when cosmetics companies shriek about no animal testing, when the realty is that the ingredients in their products have indeed been tested on animals (could not be sold in the US otherwise), but that all the ingredients were tested back in the fifties, before the company's management was even born. Of course they don't test on animals; they don't have to. All the testing has already been done, and they can just compile their products from a list of approved ingredients. Anyway, the lunch was very nice, as the restaurant has a delightful outdoor terrace.

After lunch, I set out across the Awaroa Crossing which can only be crossed in a 2 hour shoulder period around the low tide. It took a good 45 minutes to cross the Inlet. I walked from east to west, along the southern side of the estuary, and then turned north to cross the estuary towards another hour's worth of walking through the bush. I pretty much kept to the track as outlined on this map .

At the beginning of the walk along the south side, near the inlet's opening out to the bay.

After walking west along the south side of the estuary for a while.

It takes another hour or so through a bush track to arrive on another beach, this one at Waiharakeke Bay.

After the beach, the track carries north from Waiharekeke Bay to Goat Bay. unlike the track from Awaroa, this was along shore, with a sharp drop to the ocean. Some very nice glimpses down to the water.

After the bush, another beach at Goat Bay, complete with one gull on a rock

Then further north through the bush at the far end of the beach in the above photo, to arrive at a spectacular view of Totaranui Beach, which is where I started the day with the water taxi trip south to Onetahuti Beach.