12km  Day : 789km  Total
4 February 2015

Last night I had a mouse rummaging around in my backpack.  I keep the pack (and a few items including my food bag) in the tent vestibule, which is under the rain fly but outside the netting.  I wasn’t worried about the pack,  and I had little food left since this is the last day of this section hike.  It was just an annoyance that he was keeping me awake.  I couldn’t be bothered to get out of my sleeping bag so I just pushed everything out of the vestibule so it wasn’t sitting right by my head.  Now he could rummage all he wanted to and not keep me awake, or so I thought.

I woke up at 1:30 hearing scratching at the side of my tent.  Now he was starting to piss me off.  I hit the side of the tent to get rid of him.  I certainly didn’t want him scratching or chewing a hole through it.  I didn’t hear him again for the rest of the night and luckily no holes in the tent.  Not even any holes in the food bag, which I half expected to see.

It was just a 3 hour walk this morning to the trail head at Marahau.  For the last hour there was a steady stream of hikers coming from the other direction, most of which were senior citizens carrying day packs. 

Abel Tasman is set up to be accessible to anyone.  With smooth tracks and closely spaced huts and campsites.  Much easier walking than even the Queen Charlotte track.  But in my opinion the Queen Charlotte has better views. And of course neither of them are comparable to the Richmond track in views (or difficulty).  But having said all that, Abel Tasman is a nice walk with great views and a good choice for someone who is a casual day hiker on holiday. But I’m looking forward to getting back to Te Araroa.