Abel Tasman National Park

It's a 45 minute drive to Motueka from Nelson, so we had to get an early start in order to check in for our sea kayak trip by 8:00. We ate our breakfast of Fruity-Bix, which is a much better cereal than Wheat-Bix. Amy insisted we get them so she could reminisce back on her Australia days; now I am hooked on them.

We found The Sea Kayak Co. without any problems. Amy turned out to be an excellent navigator. It was a little hectic trying to organize all our gear, especially since we decided to buy the cheap garbage bags to keep our stuff dry. They turned out to have white writing on them that flaked off the bag and onto everything else. No matter how thoroughly we cleaned, bits of white flakes would turn up everywhere for the duration of the holiday!

Our group of eight were taken by van to the starting point of Marahou. Here we were given our mini-course on kayaking safely. The most important tip we learned was how to minimize soreness when paddling. Amy and I were given the biggest kayak-so we could fit all our stuff into it. For awhile we marvelled at how little other people had brought until we realized we were the only ones from our group staying longer than the day trip. That made us feel better about our packing skills! Since Amy took a sea kayak class while in Australia, she got to be the one in the back with the job of steering with the foot peddles. I very happily let her take on that responsibility. Later on the trip when the waves were not so calm and looked much bigger than I expected, I was comforted with the fact that the more experienced kayaker was in charge!

We set off at about 10:00 with Rowey, our guide (what an appropriate name for a kayak guide. I never got around to asking if that was his real name.) and six other tourist. Four were from Holland and two from Switzerland. The day was grey and drab due to a thick blanket of clouds that didn't look like it was going to move, but by about midday, the sunshine hit us and everything was transformed. The water turned a brilliant blue-green color and the sky was a clear blue with not a cloud in sight. It was absolutely stunning. At one point we saw a huge stingray glide under our boat. While we were paddling, Rowey regaled us with stories of the ancient Moari and early European explorers, the most notable one being Abel Tasman. For lunch we pulled up onto a beach for some sandwiches, pavlolva and of course tea. Even though the water looked like it should be warm, it was chilling. I never once got any deeper than up to my knees in the water. Amy was more adventurous than me and decided to go for a swim. She got more than she bargained for when one of the Holland boys joined her only in his knickers-speedo style!

We said good-bye to Rowey, Speedo-Man and the rest of the group after lunch, and set off on our own to find our designated beach where we were going to spend the next two nights. It was probably another hour of paddling before we found Medlands Beach, a small secluded bay where we set up camp. After pitching our tent, we laid on the beach and took a little snooze. I learned that my 'no sunburn after 3:30 rule' does not apply here. Amy and I both got a little browner after our nap in the sun and it was 5:30 in the evening! Considering it didn't get fully dark until about 10:30 at night, I guess my new sunburn cut-off time is now 6. When the sun finally did go down, we watched the moon come up and make a moon path over the water.