Abel Tasman National Park
Interesting facts
- In December 1642 Māori of Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri rammed a Dutch boat in Golden Bay, killing four of Tasman's sailors, and he named it Murderers Bay.
- In 2016 nearly 40,000 people pledged about NZ$2.28 million to buy Awaroa beach, a campaign begun by two brothers-in-law over Christmas Day banter.
- Māori have lived on this coast for around 700 years; Waitaha and Rapuwai preceded Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, who were here when the Dutch arrived.
- The golden sand comes from weathered Cretaceous granite, whose coarse grains settle fast and help keep the water strikingly clear.
- Split Apple Rock, a granite boulder just off the park's southern coast, was cleaved in two along a natural joint in the stone.
- Project Janszoon, launched in 2012 and named after Tasman's patronymic, aims to restore the park's ecology by 2042, the 400th anniversary of his visit.
- In 2008 the park grew by about 7.9 square kilometres, including Hadfields Clearing.
- The Tata Islands in Golden Bay also belong to the park, alongside the better-known islands of Tasman Bay.
Why it is worth it
Abel Tasman National Park is New Zealand's smallest national park, about 237 square kilometres of hills between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay at the top of the South Island, and one of the most visited. Its beauty is coastal: sandy beaches, headlands and estuaries backed by forested hills. Offshore lie Tonga Island, Adele Island and Fisherman Island, and the Tonga Island Marine Reserve protects part of the sea beside the park.
The park was opened on 18 December 1942, three hundred years after the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman became the first European to reach New Zealand, when he anchored in Golden Bay in 1642. Much of the credit belongs to the ornithologist Pérrine Moncrieff, who campaigned for the reserve and served on its board for three decades. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was made its patron. It has grown since then, most memorably in 2016, when New Zealanders crowdfunded the purchase of a beach at Awaroa Inlet and added it to the park.
Long before Tasman, Māori lived here, fishing, gathering food from the estuaries and growing kūmara, and the park holds many sites of their seasonal and permanent settlement. European settlers burned and cleared much of the forest for farming, only to find the soil too poor, and the park is still recovering from that history. Rātā, mataī, miro and hīnau survive in the valleys, and the islands, free of introduced predators, are a refuge for birds. Among the seventy-plus species recorded are shags, penguins, terns and herons.
The Abel Tasman Coast Track, about 60 km along the shore, is one of the Department of Conservation's Great Walks. Many visitors combine it with sea kayaking or camping, and water taxis serve the coast. The Inland Track is quieter, and short walks such as the one to Wainui Falls suit a shorter stay.
Getting there
The main southern entrance is at the small settlement of Mārahau, with water taxis also leaving from Kaiteriteri. The nearest large town is Motueka, about 20 km south; Richmond is about 51 km from the centre of the park. Nelson Airport (NSN) is about 49 km away.
Plan your visit
We have no confirmed visit data yet. Once it is confirmed, this block also carries the date it was checked.
Nearby places
- Te Waikoropupū Springs 18.0 km · karst-spring
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Abel Tasman National Park is a national park at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. It covers 237.1 km2 (91.5 sq mi) of land between Golden Bay / Mohua and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, making it the smallest of New Zealand's national parks. Despite this, the park is one of the most visited, partially due to the popularity of the Abel Tasman Coast Track which spans 60 km (37 mi) along the eastern and northern coastal areas of the park.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
-40.90003, 172.97150per Wikidata