Paddling around
Trip Start
Aug 17, 2003
1
41
76
Trip End
Jun 04, 2004
Abel Tasman National Park,
New Zealand
Friday, February 6, 2004
There were 5 of us on the trip which meant that I was sharing a double kayak with the guide - always nice to have a pro on board! After we'd got everything packed into the kayaks (it's amazing how much stuff fits in there), we set off north into the National Park to explore.
The first day was pretty overcast and the wind really built up in the afternoon, so we hugged the coastline a lot of the time, watching the birds flying around the coastline, and being deafened by the sound of the cicadas in the trees
Abel Tasman coastline
. It really was very very pretty. No photos I'm afraid from the first day though as the sea was a bit choppy, and I didn't really want the camera to get hit by water!!I was quite concerned that by the time we had a quick morning coffee stop (after about an hour) my arms were starting to hurt already - not a good sign for a 2 day trip. But after some expert tuition on using my whole body to power the boat forward, that soon stopped, and I was able to keep going. I did suggest that I should probably rest my arms and be pushed along by the guide in the kayak with me, but she didn't seem very convinced about the extent of my injury.... shame....
Our evening stop at Anchorage came after what is known as the mad mile - paddling around a headland which is notoriously blowy and choppy. And we were doing it into a headwind. Not much fun at all. I swear we were going backwards sometimes!!! I was so relieved when we turned into the final bay at Anchorage and could rest our arms for the evening!
And it was our overnight stop where we really saw the value of all the space in the kayaks - the campsite is also a key overnight stop for people walking the coastal track, but obviously they only have with them whatever they can carry
Paddling pros!
. When our big cooking stove, tarpaulin shelter, and 2 course meal came out of the kayaks, there were quite a few jealous looks from campers sheltering in their tiny tents and cooking dried tomato soup over a propane burner.... hee hee! Definitely sticking to kayaking rather than walking in future!!!The second day was just fantastic because we woke up to perfect blue sky and a much stiller sea, and it made such a difference. I'm so glad I took the 2 day trip because the weather was so great the second day, and also because we got so much further up the coast, the coastline was great.
First stop was a turn off into sandfly bay lagoon (actually an estuary, but lagoon sounds nicer....!), where a river runs into the sea, but at high tide, you can paddle right up into it. It was really pretty, and there were so many plants, including lots of palms and tree ferns native to NZ. You could also see where the freshwater of the river and the salt water from the sea mixed - when you swirled a paddle around, it looked kind of syrupy. Very cool.
Further up the coast were some amazing shapes in the coastline, caused by the erosion of the sea
Paradise!
. Unlike the kayaking in the Coromandel, where the rocks were all very jagged, these were all incredibly smooth. I was surprised to be told that the rock was all granite, which I didn't realise could be eroded so much. We paddled right in amongst the rocks, which was fantastic, as we could really see the erosion clearly. Very cool.After lunch, we crossed the Mosquito Bay (not some of my favourite names, these ones) to Tonga Island, a fur seal breeding colony. Luckily there were fewer of them than at Cape Cross in Namibia, so they didn't smell so bad!!! It was quite cool watching them, especially as there were quite a few pups, so we watched them splashing around in the water learning to swim.
And then it was back across to the beach for our water taxi back home. I didn't really realise until we were in the water taxi back quite how far we'd come - I was quite impressed with myself!!
