Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Abel Tasman, Kahurangi & Nelson Lakes Tramps
1
Abel Tasman Coast Track (
Click here
)
2
Heaphy Track (North,
Click here
)
3
Heaphy Track (South,
Click here
)
4
Wangapeka Track (
Click here
)
5
Tableland Circuit (
Click here
)
6
Lake Angelus Track, Travers-Sabine Circuit & St Arnaud Range Track (
Click here
)
ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK
Basking in the sunshine at the top of the South Island, Abel Tasman National Park is
renowned for its golden beaches, sculpted granite cliffs and world-famous Abel Tasman
Coast Track.
The park is named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janzoon Tasman, who ventured this way
in 1642. Despite being NZ's smallest national park and with a high point of just 1156m, it
contains a wealth of fascinating natural features - far more than just the picture-postcard
arcs of golden sand greeting seas of shimmering blue. Numbering among its many other
landmarks are limpid lagoons, marble gorges and a spectacular system of karst caves in its
rugged interior.
Hugging the water's edge, the Abel Tasman Coast Track is by far the park's most popular
byway, although in high summer there seems as much traffic on the water as off it. Come
the Christmas school holidays an armada of NZ boaties make it one of the country's most
popular ocean playgrounds.
History
Maori have lived along the shores of the present Abel Tasman National Park for at least 500
years. They had abundant sources of food from both the sea and the forest, and seasonally
cultivated kumara (sweet potato).
Maori were in residence when, in 1642, Abel Tasman anchored his ships near Wainui. A
skirmish ensued, the upshot of which was the death of four of Tasman's crew without any of
the Europeans having ever set foot on land.
