Trail Run: Abel Tasman National Park - Mārahau to Falls River Suspension Bridge

At 22,530 hectares Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest national park, located at the north end of New Zealand’s South Island.
It’s known for the Abel Tasman Coast Track, a long trail winding over beaches and across ridges between Marahau in the south and Wainui in the north. The headland at Separation Point is home to New Zealand fur seal colonies. Little blue penguins, bottlenose dolphins and seals inhabit the Tonga Island Marine Reserve.

For at least 500 years Maori lived along the Abel Tasman coast, gathering food from the sea, estuaries and forests, and growing kumera on suitable sites. Most occupation was seasonal but some sites in Awaroa estuary were permanent.
The Ngati Tumatakokiri people were resident when, on 18 December 1642, the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman anchored his two ships near Wainui in Mohua (Golden Bay), the first European to visit Aotearoa - New Zealand.

The park’s bedrock is made up of Separation Point Granite. Its physical and chemical qualities determine the nature of the forest cover and details, such as the colour of beaches and stream beds. Black beech is the natural cover of the dry ridges and headlands close to the sea, with hard beech further inland where more moisture is available. Kanuka occurs where there have been windfalls or a history of fires. Manuka occurs where repeated burning has degraded the soil.

Run on Saturday 17 August 2024