Abel Tasman Guided Tours?

Hello,

My husband and I, as well as his parents are going to New Zealand in
Mid-November for three weeks (not soon enough).

Right now I am trying to plan out the Abel Tasman portion of our trip
and am having difficulty trying to find the right fit for us.

We would LOVE to hike and kayak the park. To save money (we are
already spending a small fortune on the Routeburn Track) we are
interested in a camping outting. I can only seem to find Abel Tasman
Kayaks and Kaiteriteri Kayaks as options, and they don't really do
much hiking.

I am leaning towards the three day tours, although if you can convince
me that a 5 day would be WELL worth it, it isn't out of the question.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Other questions:

My mother in-law is concerned about the camping for weather purposes.
I told her that the area is going to be the best weather we get on the
south island. If it does rain, are we talking about small showers or
days on end with no sun?

Do either one of these companies (or others that you know of) keep
away from crowds on the tours? Or should we come to terms with the
fact that there will be a lot of people around (we should be at Abel
Tasman the last week/weekend of November).

That is about it for now.

Thank you!

Three days is enough for a fit person to do the entire coastal route. You
could easily use the extra 2 days to take a more liesurely trip or stop in
one spot for a day. You will need to book in advance to ensure a place on
the most popular track in NZ. Google the Nelson tourism sites to find a
tour company, but you shouldn't need one if you've done the Routeburn on
your own. It can be wet in November but climate is more erratic everywhere
these days. I live in Nelson partially because of the weather.

Mike

In article <ja5d43p0q0h2bd5cd3o2hv2blje8hq17qg@>,
texan....usenet@texas...removethisbit...usacom.. wrote:

> On 11 May 2007 09:55:13 -0700, vaughand@ wrote:
>
> >Hello,
> >
> >My husband and I, as well as his parents are going to New Zealand in
> >Mid-November for three weeks (not soon enough).
> >
> >Right now I am trying to plan out the Abel Tasman portion of our trip
> >and am having difficulty trying to find the right fit for us.
> >
> >We would LOVE to hike and kayak the park. To save money (we are
> >already spending a small fortune on the Routeburn Track) we are
> >interested in a camping outting. I can only seem to find Abel Tasman
> >Kayaks and Kaiteriteri Kayaks as options, and they don't really do
> >much hiking.
> >
> >I am leaning towards the three day tours, although if you can convince
> >me that a 5 day would be WELL worth it, it isn't out of the question.
> >
> >Does anyone have any suggestions?
> >
> >Other questions:
> >
> >My mother in-law is concerned about the camping for weather purposes.
> >I told her that the area is going to be the best weather we get on the
> >south island. If it does rain, are we talking about small showers or
> >days on end with no sun?
> >
> >Do either one of these companies (or others that you know of) keep
> >away from crowds on the tours? Or should we come to terms with the
> >fact that there will be a lot of people around (we should be at Abel
> >Tasman the last week/weekend of November).
> >
> >That is about it for now.
> >
> >Thank you!
>
> You might want to repost this to nz.general.
>
> Cath

**snip** I can only seem to find Abel Tasman
> Kayaks and Kaiteriteri Kayaks as options, and they don't really do
> much hiking.

Kaiteriteri Kayaks have strong relationships with other companies in
the region - they all work closely together.

In fact, if memory serves me correctly, I think they are part of a
larger company.

Hope it helps.

Dave