Up in the hills of Abel Tasman National Park the accommodation situation changes. Instead of the hordes down around the coast, paying $32 a night for a hut, or even $14 for a standard campsite, twice as much for non-residents, you pay $5 for a mattress, or camp outside for a big zero. That’s some incentive.
The huts themselves are entirely variable, from the newish and totally cosy Holyoake Clearing Shelter, the splendidly refurbished Castle Rocks Hut, the completely unreconditioned Awapoto Hut and the barren-ish Moa Park Shelter.
