After arriving in Motueka, we immediately booked a tour to the Abel Tasman National Park for the following day. The national park was one of the sights on the top of our list to see in New Zealand, but since you are not allowed to drive into the park, we weren’t sure if and how to experience it – sea kayaking and 3-4 days hiking is not really an option (for us at least) when travelling with an 8 months old baby. 

The next morning we drove to Kaiteriteri where we boarded a water taxi. On that we cruised through the national park and saw lots of beautiful bays and beaches. We also sailed by Adele Island where we saw some seals sunbathing on the rooks. 

We got off at Anchorage, an absolutely stunning beach! It was still low tide so we could walk around and see some cool caves at the end of the beach. 

We put Mai in the carrier and did a hike up to the Cleopatra Pools. It was roughly 6 km and one hour to the pools on a well marked path that was shaded but with beautiful views. Unfortunately, to reach the actual pools we had to cross the little river and walk on the wet stones.  With Mai fast asleep in the carrier, I did not want to risk slipping on those rocks, so I waited while Martin went over for a quick look at the pools. 

We hiked the same way back to the beach and spent a few hours relaxing and having lunch before taking the water taxi back to Kaiteriteri. 

From there we drove to Nelson. The weather was great and we got a nice campspot with some grass, so we spent the rest of the day playing on a blanket with Mai. 

The next day we spent in Nelson, just walking around soaking up the atmosphere of the city, drinking a coffee while Mai took a long nap in the stroller. We had a nice lunch outside in one of the pubs and spent the afternoon back at the campsite, enjoying the sun and again playing outside.