Adventure #4: Sea Kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park

Crystal clear waters, white sandy beaches, what more could one ask for? Oh yeah...for the sandflies to go away....
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After sailing quite fast through Wellington and Picton, Tal and I were hoping for a place we could rest for a little while in, and when we finally reached the Happy Apple in Motueka, we knew we had found a home at last.  The couple that own this place, seriously, are such fantastic people...they went out of their way to provide us with great inside information on the kayaking companies (there are tons in Able Tasman) and overall, were pretty much some of the sweetest people we met on our trip.  The whole establishment feels like a little oasis of comfort and home, and we decided to spend four whole days here.

see that small island? that's my island. that's right. It's MINE. I CLAIM IT. Someday, I will live there.
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Our first day was spent packing a lunch and catching a bus to Abel Tasman in the morning, and going on a short hike at the beginning of the coastal trail.  I suppose I should give you a little description of Abel Tasman itself...

Gorgeous. Breathtaking. Paradise.

Gorgeous.  Breathtaking.  Paradise.

Does that suffice?  Here are some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  The sand is nearly white, the water a crystalline aqua, and the local vegetation lush.  There are seals and kiwis, and even the occasional penguin. The only things that deters me from setting up a lifelong camp on these beaches are the sandflies and bees.

a quick photo opportunity grabbed after breakfast, just before heading out again.
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Our second day we spend almost entirely at the backpackers, enjoying some R&R after a long couple of weeks of nearly constant travel. Our third day, however, we set out bright and early for our kayaking trip.  The headquarters for the company we chose happens to be right next door to the hostel, so we head on over around 7am, and pack all of our gear into waterproof bags.  A shuttle brings us to Kaiteriteri Beach, (one of the most famous beaches in NZ, also quite well known worldwide) at which, Tal and I catch a water taxi (they should call it a speed boat taxi...) to an area far down the coastal track.  There we catch up with our guide and our kayaks, and after a few quick kayaking lessons, we get on our way.

Now, there are only five of us total on the trip.  Our guide, and two other kayaks-one with Tal and I in it, and the other with an older couple.  So the tour we're about to get is pretty personalized.  We stop for breakfast in a secluded little spot, where our guide mysteriously vanishes into the woods for a few minutes, and comes back with Kawa Kawa leaves.  She puts them into steaming cups of hot water, and brews a tea with them.  It has a very unique flavor, with the added benefit of caffeine.  We have a small breakfast, and after a short swim, we are underway again.

Kayaking is definitely something I would recommend to anyone I would meet.  However, I must caution you that if you do not have sufficient arm strength, sea kayaking for extended periods of time can be quite exhausting, and even quite painful come the evening.  When you're out on the ocean, fighting coastal currents and attempting not to get slammed into rocky outcroppings, you don't really have time to pause and rest your arms.  You just push on to stay with the group, even if your muscles are screaming and your arms feeling like they will soon detatch from your shoulder.  All in all, it's a fantastic experience, but I wouldn't necessarily advise it if you're not expecting a workout.

After about two hours of kayaking back towards our startpoint at Kaiteriteri beach, we ventured into an amazing lagoon the likes of which I have never seen, and could never see, but by kayak.  The river that lead into the lagoon was so shallow, it was doubtful anything but a kayak or a canoe would have been able to make it.  We heard and saw beautiful, exotic birds, and traveled as far inward as we could, so far that we had to backpaddle in order to return, because the water was so choked with reeds, we could not turn around right away.  The water was so breathtakingly clear...the whole area looked so beautiful, so unbelievable, so perfect, as if it had been invented on a movie set, rather than truly existing in real life.

We stopped for a longer break at lunchtime, and ate quite ravenously the sandwiches we had brought with us.  It's amazing how much eating becomes not so much tasting but the need to consume more energy when our bodies have been using up so much during the day.  Every bite feels like a magical restorative, generating more energy for the rest of the trip.

During the last leg of the trip, we pushed our energy to the limit, and as we approached Kaiteriteri, there was enough wind, that our guide informed us that with the sail she had packed in her kayak, our three kayaks could form a small trimeran and sail right onto the beach.  We were delighted, thinking this would be easier than paddling all the way in.  While, in truth, it may have been easier, it certainly wasn't easy.  The two of us in the front had to struggle to hold the bottom of the sail down, while the two in the back held the corners of the top of the sail, and our guide, in the middle, held the pole securely in her kayak.  We managed it well enough, but my arms were so sore by the end of the trip, I could barely move them.

When we finally got home, the tendons in my arms began swelling a bit, and soon I was in excrutiating pain.  I held my arms agains my body at a 90 degree angle at the elbow, and attempted as far as possible not to move them.  When I did move them, I felt the uncontrollable urge to cry, it hurt so much.  This had happened to me once before, while I worked sanding and scraping windows at a woodworking shop, so I knew it would go away by morning, but in the meantime, I had found my own personal hell.  I couldn't really pack my bag, and we were leaving on an extremely early bus that next morning, and I was afraid I wouldn't get any sleep that night.  Luckily, after packing what I could while gritting my teeth and baring the pain, I fell asleep reasonably quickly, due to overall exhaustion from the day.

The next day, we caught the bus, (luckily I had mostly recovered) and headed on towards Blenheim, which holds some of NZ's greatest wineries...