Andrew and I arrived in New Zealand on the 16th of August in 1994, towards the end of our round the world trip. We had been determined to do some walking while there, but unfortunately, many of the higher level long distance paths were snow bound. We had heard about The Abel Tasman National Park trails and decided that these would be ideal as they were low level and at the northern tip of South Island, near Nelson, where the climate would be slightly milder.

The Park is the smallest National Park in New Zealand, and was opened in 1942 after a great deal of campaigning by Perrine Moncrieff, who was concerned at the prospect of logging along this beautiful piece of coastline. There are two main tracks in the park, the 51km Coastal track, which passes through a picturesque landscape of coastal forest and sandy beaches, and the Inland track which climbs from sea level at Marahau or Wainui to the roof of the park... Evan's Ridge, with fine views out over the sea and leads to stretches of open moorland walking around Moa Park.

Andrew and I decided that we would take six days to walk both tracks.... going out to Whariwharangi from Marahau via the Coastal Track and returning via the Inland Route.

The pages that follow are my diary entries for those six days and the photographs that we took.