Sea Kayaking

It was my idea.   Brian would never have gone for such a thing left to himself.   But I researched it and organised the booking.   A day long trip kayaking on the sea in the Abel Tasman reserve.   We were both nervous.   I had dreams last night in which we were left behind.   When it came down to it and we had had our safety talk and what to do if you tipped upside down, I was wondering if it was too late to pull out.   It cost a lot of money, however, so I didn’t say anything.

We were fetched from the holiday park at 8am with a bunch of young people.   We met a different group when we got to the base – a couple from Austria and a couple from Finland plus our guide, Dave.   All in their twenties or at the very oldest, early thirties.

We launched from the beach and then into the sea we went.   The sea was a beautiful turquoise colour.   Well, we didn’t quite keep up with the young people but we weren’t that far behind.

 

When Dave wanted to talk to us or we would stop for biscuits or something, we “rafted up” – holding on to each other’s boats.   We passed a number of beautiful coves, all with their stretch of golden beach.   This time it was really golden, not beige or clay colour.

We were very glad when Dave announced we were stopping at one of these for lunch.

Dave spread out a sail and cooked stir fry on a little suitcase stove.   We used wraps as plates and filled them with the stir fried meat and salad.  

 

It really was a beautiful beach (Observation Beach).

We were also blessed with a stunning day.

After about an hour’s break we made for Adele Island where we saw some New Zealand Fur Seals (didn’t manage to get a clear photo though.)

On the way back we were travelling with the wind, so progress was faster.   We stopped at another beach for afternoon tea and short rest (and visit to the long drop).   There the only incident happened.   In a sea full of dangers, (we saw jelly fish and sting rays besides the usual dangers of drowning, crashing your boat into rocks, attacks by seals or breeding Cormorants) I got stung by a bee.

 

As we entered the biggest open stretch of sea, we rafted up and tied the sail to my paddle and Peter’s paddle while Brian and Sofie held the front corners and the wind filled it like a spinnaker and we sailed back to within about 30m of our landing site.

We had survived and coped quite well although I won’t pretend that we don’t have sore arm muscles.

Bye bye Abel Tasman