Photos for yesterday (ferry from Wellington to Picton, and then the drive to Kaiteriteri)
I really lucked out today. I thought for sure it would be chilly and/or rainy for my sea-kayaking and hiking trip today, but it was spectacular weather all day long. I barely needed my warm gear for just getting out in the morning, and spent the rest of the day in shorts and various lengths of t-shirt. The activities were really fun so I had a great day, but most of all and best of all, the scenery was just amazing over and over again.
I woke up really early so that I could find some kind of food. I'm in a very small "town" and nothing opens early, so I left extra extra time to backtrack to the nearby bigger small town to grab coffee and some food.
Here's the view from across the street from me before I head out:
Then I had time to drive even more twisty-turny, tight-turned roads (there is no way to describe the number of hairpin turns... 100kmph my butt!) over to Marahau, where the kayak trip leaves from. Marahau:
It was pretty amazing to see with the tide out and the sun coming up. The sand goes on forever, and you can see the tractors pulling the boats out to where the water is so they can launch.
I met up with my group, which included my guide, Josh, and a couple from Florida (though one's originally from Texas but is somehow a Yankees fan), and a couple from Portugal. With double kayaks, Josh and I were paired up and the others would hence be known as "Team Florida" and "Team Portugal" (or "Team Lisbon"). Josh, though he's lived here for quite a long time, is actually Dutch. So, once again, it was quite the international group!
We signed our papers, got a bit of an overview, and geared up for kayaking, which includes the "skirt" and life jacket. Then we loaded into the watertaxi boat while it was on the trailer, and a tractor pulled us out to the water's edge. We rode for probably 15 minutes or so to get to the launch site for our kayaking, Onetahuti (I think it means "good beach to run on" but in a more elegant way).
We got some safety lessons and air-practiced our rowing (and I apologized to Josh in advance for the likelihood of me splashing him), and then we got our gear loaded up. Meanwhile, the place is just spectacularly gorgeous, too!
Me, Flat Stanley, and Josh:
But soon we're in the kayaks and heading out to Tonga Island, which is where the seals hang out on the rocks. We saw a bunch of seals, tons of muscles stuck to rocks, some cool birds, and more gorgeous views. I have many photos with seals, but it may be like a Where's Waldo game for you!
Mussels:
After visiting the seals, we hit the hard part (wind and big waves... though the wind was behind us so that was good), and made our way over for a break at Mosquito Bay. Another gorgeous spot.
And then we got back in the kayaks to head to our lunch spot of Bark Bay. Yet another gorgeous spot and I didn't even realize until I looked at my photos that it was virtually empty when we got there, but had a ton of people on it when we finished our lunch.
We had some lovely time to hang out and eat, and then we got packed up and changed shoes for the hiking part. The hike was often through a temperate rainforest type of environment, and the forest was beautiful, but maybe more amazing was hugging the coastline, so that very often you'd turn and see the amazing green water and far off mountains and clouds through the beautiful trees.
There was also some really cool trees, and Josh did a great job of explaining the trees, their history with the Maori, and some of the ways they grow and medicinal uses. There's a bunch of trees that have one type of leaf when young, and then totally change when they get older. What an adaption! And then the ferns were so gorgeous. I think I love the explanation of the ferns growth, which is highly admired by the Maori, as the leaves conferring with each other, like the knights of the round table.
Can I also just mention that Josh did the entire 3-4 hours of hiking barefoot? I really could not do that. As you might see in some of the photos, he can also be a bit of a goofball. I did not quite realize this until I looked at my photos after getting home! Except for this one, where he got into this little hole and pretended he was a hobbit:
Anyway, we walked and looked and admired and walked some more. We saw some lovely bays from up high, including Sandfly Bay and Frenchman Bay (also called Romance Bay).
And we also came to the bridge over Falls River, which I loved. It was much smaller than the one in Indiana Jones!
And then we walked up and down some more before making our way to Torrent bay, where the water taxi picked us up and took us back to Marahau. It was really a wonderful day in so many ways. Josh was a great guide, the group, like most of the other tours I've been on, had some wonderful and interesting people that I had a great time with, and the views were just amazing everywhere you looked. And then the workout of kayaking and hiking was great fun, even if I think I'll be sore tomorrow! Ah well, at least I'll sleep well tonight!
Then I came back to my room, grabbed some food, and have been patiently waiting for my photos to upload ever since. Which reminds me, I did also get the photos up from yesterday, so they're all there.
Some of my favs from yesterday... I have a million shots of various hills coming out of the water that are views from the ferry. Like this:
And then here's the little sign in the (right-side) driver's dashboard. Stay left on the road!
It's the Dead Marsh from Lord of the Rings! Okay, not really, but it really did look like it:
This is the view near Nelson. Awesome:
And just one of the places that said "Lookout->":
So yeah, a big few days! And tomorrow I'll make the drive back to Picton, and get onboard a train that travels the northeast coast of the South Island down to Christchurch. Long travel day, but at least on the train I can kick back and just watch the world go by!
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