Abel Tasman National Park

The next stop on our whistlestop tour of the South Island was the Abel Tasman National Park. It is the smallest of New Zealand's national parks, at 20 by 23 kms in area, and doesn't have any roads in it. To get anywhere in the park, you have to catch a water taxi along the coast and then hike back (or hike both ways if you've got more time than we had).

The scenery was again outstanding - New Zealand, and the South Island in particular, has far too much amazing scenery! We thoroughly enjoyed our 12km walk back to the car.

Being cheapskates on a budget, we took the cheapest possible water taxi to save ourselves approximately £1.20 each. This massive saving resulted in us having to wade part of the way along the beach to the boat which was driven by a crazy bloke with a 'tache who preferred to drive the boat by looking back at us, rather than any of the sea kayakers who lined his path. Still, we got there safely and we're not aware of any fatal accidents involving canoes as he continued his journey.