Sea Legs

Have you ever had that rocking feeling? That feeling that you are still swaying with the rise and fall of a boat on a swell?
Well, I had that feeling, laying in my sleeping bag after kayaking.

Liz, Robbie and I rented kayaks in Abel Tasman National Park, the smallest National Park in New Zealand. We all paddle at home (granted more canoeing than kayaking) and felt prepared and confident to head out on our own.

They call this process 'Freedom hires' which sounds way more exotic than 'renting a boat'.

Once they checked out our skills on and off the water, we were 'free' to explore. (After booking campsites, getting maps, current weather forcasts and tide timetables of course!)

With my pump stashed in it's waterproof bag and clipped onto by PFD, insulin stored right at the bottom of the kayak where it would be submerged and cool, and supplies waterproofed in plastic bags, we headed out.

The next four days were spent paddling up and down the coast, spying on rays sunning in the shallows, exploring lagoons where seals leave their pups unattended while they go about daily seal duties...a form of seal 'daycare' I guess, hiking parts of the Abel Tasman track, and learning to live by the rhythm of the tides.

The tide in Abel Tasman rises and falls by 5 meters each day...what that means is a REALLY far way to drag a loaded kayak through the sand when you arrive at your camp site at 'low' tide...not that I would know.

Okay fine...we timed it wrong every day.
But there were just too many good things to explore to arrive at your campsite at noon!

We were graced with beatiful weather and calm waters the first two days, however on our last night in the park the winds started to pick up from the South East. The last land those winds would have touched would have been South America...and maybe a few Pacific Islands along the way, but not much more. Translated...rather large swells cruising towards the coast. The kayaks were super stable and there was no real danger, however, I was glad that I had kayaking experience under my belt!
The only awkward part, beside the roller coaster stomach effect, was landing on the beach in crashing waves. But this just turned out to be an artful dance - trying to undo your sprayskirt (which attaches you to the boat), CRASH, standing up in a moving boat, CRASH, lifting the rudder, CRASH, throwing your paddle to shore, CRASH, keeping the boat straight in the waves, CRASH, trying to jump out on shore, CRASH, trying to drag the boat up on shore, CRASH, CRASH.
The result was three bedraggled, wet, salty but very happy paddlers.

(Robbie before the swells!)