Two day hike in Abel Tasman - a granite area dotted with coves and beaches. Arrived on a water taxi at Tonga Beach. Was greeted by this shag and his funny floppy feet.
Hiked along the beach off the trail and scrambled across some boulders to find the Tonga arch. Tunnels through the granite have been formed by the constant tidal activity. I came across this shroom along the trail. All the rain from the prior month was allowing some rare wonders to spring up. Kind of reminded me of a Smurf house.
I stayed at the Dept of Conservation hut at Anchorage bay for the night. This was the view. In the morning I headed up to Cleopatra's pool for a fresh water swim and bumped into a couple who had kayaked inland up the Torrent river at high tide. The water was cold, but the sun was warm!
I came across another couple shrooms of a different nature on the way back down to Torrent bay. Such a bright blue! Here is a view of the bay full of water at high tide...
...while here is a close up of Torrent Bay at low tide when I crossed with all the patterns of shells. Quite the difference. After returning back to civilization in the artsy town of Nelson, I snapped this shot at Tahunanui Beach. The beach has these strange little grooves and as high tide came in, the water slowly filled in the grooves following a meandering path through them.
