The next morning, after a huge sleep and a long and lovely FaceTime call with a dear one in London, I crawled out of bed to face the rainy day. And a rainy 267km drive that would cut across the northwest corner of the South Island to Motueka. The drive took me along the the Buller River through the Buller Gorge. The landscape changed and became more rolling and less alpine. I had chosen the north coast town of Motueka as my next stop as I had hoped I might spend the following day at Abel Tasman National Park. I had heard wonderful things about it. But it really didn’t look like the weather was going to play ball.
After a sustenance stop in a small town called, Murchison, and a wet, windy, and very lonely, hill walk at Tapawera to Hope Saddle, I arrived in Motueka. And headed straight for the beach. I hadn’t organised accommodation having adopted this rule since leaving Wanaka. It was quiet enough everywhere to be able to find somewhere to stay on arrival. And this way I got to see exactly where I’d like to be. The town of Motueka was actually quite bustling, but there’s perhaps something about my photographs that paints a different picture.
I decided to spend two nights in Motueka. Although I was advised against taking one of the coastal boat trips in order to hike back through Abel Tasman. But I hadn’t come this far not to explore the northwest coast at all.
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