WILD ABOUT NEW ZEALAND - ABEL TASMAN & NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK EPISODE GUIDE TO 10/9/13 Episode Two: Abel Tasman – Nelson Lakes National Park, Wild About New Zealand Series. Aired: Tuesday, September 10th, 8.30 on TV ONE By Gus Roxburgh The Wild About New Zealand Episode guides provide a simple overview for viewers on planning a trip to the National Park featured in the TV series. What can you visit? What is easily accessible? What needs more planning and preparation? Plus top tips on things to do in and around the National Parks. The guides are written by series presenter, Gus Roxburgh who spent 18 months on adventures – both big and small, in all our National Parks featured in the series. The information is designed to get New Zealanders to move from the inspiration of the TV series to action - and head out to explore our world renowned National Parks. Gus is presenter of the TV series, Wild About New Zealand, and principal author of the book of the series being published by Random House in October 2013 Content developed with Nelson and Tasman Regional Tourism Office, Department of Conservation and Jasons Travel Media. For more information on the Abel Tasman National Park please visit: Wild About New Zealand Travel Information Web Site: www.wildaboutnewzealand.co.nz 1 | P a g e Wild About New Zealand Episode Guide WILD ABOUT NEW ZEALAND - ABEL TASMAN & NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK EPISODE GUIDE TO 10/9/13 Episode Guide Sections : i. Essential Travel Information incl. Why You Should Visit, What is So Special, Getting There & 5 Top Things to Do ii. Expanded Itineraries incl. Gus’ Picks for 1, 2 and 4 Day Trips to Abel Tasman and Nelson Lakes National Park ABEL TASMAN AND NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK Abel Tasman National Park by Robert Zw (Flickr) ESSENTIAL ABEL TASMAN & NELSON LAKES TRAVEL INFORMATION Why You Should Visit and What is So Special Getting There Gus’ Top 5 Things to Do in Abel Tasman and Nelson Lakes AS SEEN ON TELEVISION – WILD ABOUT NEW ZEALAND. Areas of Abel Tasman and Nelson Lakes seen in the September 10th episode of Wild About New Zealand that can easily be visited (for marked locations you may need specialist equipment and experience and/or travel with an specialist guide): Abel Tasman National Park including: Marahau The Abel Tasman National Park Coast Track Sea Kayaking or boating in the National Park Visiting the Bays within the National Park accessible by track and boat including Bark Bay & Torrent Bay The Abel Tasman Great Walk – Dept of Conservation Track and Hut (3-4 days). 2 | P a g e Wild About New Zealand Episode Guide WILD ABOUT NEW ZEALAND - ABEL TASMAN & NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK EPISODE GUIDE TO 10/9/13 Adele Island Nature Reserve Tonga Island Marine Reserve (Seal Colony) Harwoods Hole Cave* Abel Tasman Streams & Canyons including Torrent Canyon and Cleopatra’s Pool* Nelson Lakes National Park including: Lake Rotorua Lake Rotoiti Blue Lake - Rotomairewhenua (the “clearest water in the world”) St Arnaud Range Mount Roberts Nelson Lakes National Park tracks including Mt Roberts, Travers – Sabine Saddles and Lake Angelus circuit walks (1-4 days). WHY YOU SHOULD VISIT ABEL TASMAN AND NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK By Gus Roxburgh These two parks lie just an hours drive from each other but couldn’t be more different. Nelson Lakes is arguably our least-known park. It’s rugged mountains mark the northern end of the Southern Alps and below the tussock-clad peaks, the storybook beech forests and glacier-carved lakes make Nelson Lakes a hidden gem tucked just one easy hour’s drive from Nelson or Blenheim. There are lots of adventure opportunities, particularly for those who prefer a little more solitude in this perfectly tranquil wilderness. Meanwhile Abel Tasman is the better-known, sun-kissed flirt of our national parks. Less than an hour’s drive from Nelson in the western crook of Tasman Bay, the gateway to the Park is the mellow beach town of Marahau and it stretches around Separation Point to the eastern reaches of Golden Bay. It may be our smallest National Park but it is famed for its granite cliffs and golden sand beaches which in combination with the green native bush that comes down to the blue waters that lap those beaches makes for a unique combination of colours that rivals anything tropical destinations like Tahiti can produce. Add its mild climate and a myriad of untouched coastal hideaways to explore at any time of year and the myriad adventure options in Abel Tasman and there is quite literally something for everyone in Abel Tasman. Put the two Parks together and you have the perfect getaway, from the mountains to the sea. WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT ABEL TASMAN AND NELSON NALES NATIONAL PARK Growing up in Nelson I thought I had Nelson Lakes and Abel Tasman all figured out. Over the years I’ve kayaked, sailed and tramped all over these Parks. I’d even descended into Abel Tasman’s somewhat terrifying Harwoods Hole and even flown over the Parks in everything from microlights to helicopters to gliders. But nature has a way of surprising you and just when you think you know a place, the best places always have something more just waiting to be discovered. Venturing inland from Torrent Bay on the Wild About New Zealand shoot with Toine Houtenbos of the recently opened Abel Tasman Canyons was such a moment. Hiking up the Torrent River laden with a small mountain of camera gear, wetsuits, harnesses and carabineers seems a counter- 3 | P a g e Wild About New Zealand Episode Guide WILD ABOUT NEW ZEALAND - ABEL TASMAN & NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK EPISODE GUIDE TO 10/9/13 intuitive thing to do, especially on a warm early summer day when the water looks so inviting. But good things come to those who put a little effort in and after a hard hour’s uphill hike; we’re ready to descend back down the river, canyoneering style. Canyoneering has its roots in Europe where climbers realized they could use the same technical skills they had developed to get up steep cliff faces to get down steep water courses. And when they did they discovered these often hidden canyons concealed a magical water world of waterfalls, rockslides and verdant greenery. And Torrent Canyon is no different for hidden in the otherwise- inaccessible depths of the canyon is a veritable neverland of natural rock slides, abseils and zip lines and vertigo-inducing leaps into crystal clear pools, ending in the enticingly named Cleopatra’s Pool. It’s a day out like no other and a totally unique take on the Abel Tasman. But for those less-inclined to hurl themselves off 8 meter high waterfalls, options abound. Like most of our parks, the options for trampers are plentiful but more than anything Abel Tasman is about the water. This is a place for the time-honoured tradition of ‘mucking about in boats’ – be they sea kayaks, water taxis or charter yachts, there’s something for anyone with a taste for the briny here. And if kicking back on a beach with a book is more your style you won’t be disappointed either! Similarly Nelson Lakes has secrets waiting to be discovered. Several days walk high on the Travers- Sabine circuit in the mountains of Nelson Lakes due south of Rotoroa lies the Blue Lake, officially measured as the clearest fresh water in the world. Just a hundred meters or so across this cerulean gem of a lake is so clear that from one shore you can almost see the rocks under the surface at the other end of the lake. In fact NIWA have measured the lakes water to have an extreme visual clarity of 80 meters – the same theoretical visibility of distilled water! The water filters down slowly from the larger Lake Constance which sits roughly 200 meters above Blue Lake, filtering down an enormous natural dam created by an ancient earthquake, and out here there is nothing to pollute its pristine alpine purity. No wonder the lake, known as Rotomairewhenua to Maori, is considered sacred. Visiting this unique lake in the course of filming Wild About NZ was one of the highlights of the shoot. In fact there’s something that feels sacred about the whole Park. The beech forests here are like salve for the soul. Walking in these forests it’s hard not to feel the work of some higher power. They’re natural perfection almost as if they’ve been laid out like an enormous Zen garden and for my money they are our natural equivalent of the great cathedrals of Europe. Perhaps less a place for adrenaline-filled action, Nelson Lakes is the perfect place for reflection and contemplation. And while more active pursuits like skiing are on offer here, to me this is a place to walk and ponder and the variety of walks here is endless – from excellent half hour interpretive walks from the road heads at Rotoiti and Rotoroa, to longer options like the Travers-Sabine or the Lake Angelus circuit. TOP FIVE – Gus’ Top Five Things to do in Abel Tasman National Park 1. The 3-5 day easy trail of Abel Tasman Coast Track. 2. Winter mountain biking over the Gibbs Hill Track 3. Rent a kayak and see the park as Abel Tasman saw it, from the sea. 4. Go canyoning on the Torrent River down to Cleopatra’s Pool. 5. Trek up to the skyline through beech forest on the 3-5 day Inland Track 4 | P a g e Wild About New Zealand Episode Guide WILD ABOUT NEW ZEALAND - ABEL TASMAN & NELSON LAKES NATIONAL PARK EPISODE GUIDE TO 10/9/13 TOP FIVE – Gus’ Top Five Things to do in Nelson Lakes National Park 1.