Manuel and his carry on baggage...just making sure that it will fit.
Nicole and Manuel about to get on the plane to head to the South Island.
This was baggage claim...not even kidding. 
Packing our last minute things in front of the grocery store.
Nicole and I on the shuttle bus that takes you to the start of the track.
This burger stand in the middle of nowhere came highly recommended from the lady who drove the bus and let me tell you...they were fanfreakintastic. 
Of course Edward came on this adventure, but don't worry, we didn't see that many people so it was ok for him to be out in the sun showing off his sparkley self. 
This was the very beginning of the Abel Tasman. And yes, Manuel was a bit faster than us so he was ahead quite a bit. 
And I was usually bringing up the rear. 
Look! Nature!!!
Better pick it up, Nic, we're only two hours in.
We took a break, Manuel kept walking. We all would just meet up at the huts later...yes, I said huts.
Pretty water that was too cold for me to really enjoy even though it was hot. This trail was pretty neat because you walk along the beaches and the woods/jungle/set of LOST. But there were just so many hills...like big ones. 
We had some cooking issues. Other campers were incredibly concerned since there was like a brush fire warning or something. 
This was the view from one of the huts, the hut itself was not spectacular enough to warrant a photo.
Nicole all packed up and ready for the day to begin.
So there were specific times when you had to cross certain points otherwise they would be completely under water when the tide comes in. Hope no one needs those boats in an emergency situation. 
yay for a photo using the self timer...wonder why I wasn't looking at the camera at all. 
That's me on the bridge. I was expecting this to be some super terrifying swinging bridge and I was so looking forward to it but it wasn't scary at all and didn't move even when you jumped. Apparently they have a 'safety first' motto in the A.T. 
Nicole fell down...like actually fell down. I almost peed on myself with laughter. 
A bedroom in one of the huts that we got to share these massive bunkbeds with about 15 other people. 
The highest quality bathroom with freezing cold running water!
Clearly, there wasn't a lot to do except entertain ourselves. We did learn a really cool dice game from this older couple who were doing the walk as well. 
While Nicole was making blue hair with a pillow, I was busy making an animal friends out of the wax that her little cheese wheels were wrapped in. We left them on the window sill when we left, I kinda wonder what eventually happened to them.
Um. Excuse me. I was told that there would be a foot path. So this clearly doesn't look that hard to cross but it was sooo muddy and when you have that huge pack on your back, you don't have the greatest balance. I felt like I was on the high wire in the circus!
We sent Edward up this tree so that he could tell us how long we had to walk until we were at the next hut but something wonderful and amazing caught his eye...
...in the middle of nowhere, absolutely nowhere...
...A hotel appeared complete with a cafe, I'm not gonna lie, I was completely convinced that this was a mirage...
...but it wasn't and this, this was when I realized that Jesus really does love the little children of the world...
I'm pretty sure that I used all the cash that I had on me to buy this very expensive cake and coke...so worth every penny. I don't know if Nicole ever told Manuel about this little side trip to Heaven of ours. 
So thanks to Edward, we arrived at this hut just a little happier as you can see from Nic's face. 
Remember that whole tide time table I mentioned earlier, this was us cutting it close as the tide was coming in. If you miss the opening, you either have to wait hours and hours or walk around it which generally added a few hours to the tramp...not good. 
These beds of shells that were everywhere and very uncomfortable to walk on contained mutant ninja crabs about the size of a dime that would pop out and chase us as we stomped through their lair. I was brave though. 
Notice that I was in the front for this picture, as in ahead of everyone else. 
Now this was a cool spot. A little cave-like alcove created by boulders and hanging branches and with a flooring of soft sand. We enjoyed a snack of granola here. 
The last hut and probably the coolest simply because I like old things. There was only a few of us in the hut this night including our friends who taught us the dice game and an older Dutch lady who joined us for the last leg of the trip. 
This little fantail bird also joined us! These birds are pretty curious little creatures and he fluttered from tree to tree for us for about an hour before he whistled us a tune to bid us farewell. 
Just keep walking. Just keep walking. Just keep walking, walking, walking...that's what we do we walk! I pretty much repeated Dory's song in my head over and over. 
Edward pretty much kept pace with Nicole and I so that we were never in any danger even though he could have hiked this whole thing in about 3 hours. 
I'm pretty sure the camera was on zoom and you can clearly see how far ahead Manuel and the Dutch lady were. We were too busy taking pictures. 
After four days of hiking, freezing cold showers and no makeup...this was my best angle. If you look closely, you can see Edward waving from his spot in my pack. 
We're done!!!! Or are we???
Our last quest to complete before leaving the Abel Tasman and securing our place in civilization again was to defeat this dragon house! Bizarre huh?Eventually we made it home and it was good to have a hot shower and a real bed to sleep in. I'll have all sorts of funny memories and stories, plus the scars from all the sand fly bites as a reminder of this trip of the beautiful Abel Tasman for the rest of my life, for that, I'm thankful. And when I say that the highlight of this experience was when I got stung by a bee, I'm only kidding.
....Sort of
