We were scheduled to wake up in a tent on Christmas morning on the epic Abel Tasman Coastal Walk - considered one of the nine 'Great Walks' throughout the country. The plan was a combination of hiking and aqua taxis to move throughout the park.
Plans change.
A couple weeks ago, I was doing some camping menu planning when I discovered I had made a boo boo. I had booked campsite dates for November instead of December! Abel Tasman is a particularly popular destination for Kiwi's at Christmas, so there was no hope to re-book campsites. No hotels or AirBnBs to be found near the park entrance...with the exception of one.
I suspect I got lucky and happened to search right after a cancellation. Found this spot and grabbed it! Christmas is saved. In NZ, a "bach" is the name for a small, typically modest holiday home.
As it turns out, now that we've arrived, there is a decent amount of rain in the forecast this week, so in the end it worked out well to be in a proper house. We're switching up our visits to Abel Tasman with a planned combination of aqua taxis into the park that will allow us to hike part of the trail. Also working on a day long boat trip with coastal kayaks, snorkeling, beach stops and hiking throughout the days - weather permitting.
Glow Worms
Seeing glow worms is a famous thing to do while in NZ. The most common way to visit is in various parts of the countries where they live in underground caves. Turns out, the 300 acre farm we're staying on has their own resident glow worms.
You can't see them until dark of course, so at 10:00pm Sadie and I (Paige & Sarah stayed in) trekked a few minutes up the river on the property in the dark and were treated to a glow worm show. Ashley, the son of the farmers who own the property, guided us to the glow worms.
Before heading out, we watched a couple videos on YouTube to understand what Glow Worms are. They're basically a gnat that creates mucous webs to catch moths and insects for dinner. At night, they glow to attract moths toward their trap.
Sadie said it was a bit like seeing New York City lights. It was really a cool site.
Here's a picture I took with my phone (which does not capture what it looked like), so the second picture is one I took off the internet for a better sense.
Here's to a memorable Christmas exploring Abel Tasman. Fingers crossed on some proper Summer weather!
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