Seals, Dolphins and Sea Kayaks

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We arrived in Picton and got to our caravan park about 10.30pm, stupidly we had not had dinner (or not, considering the crossing was rough and loads of people were sick!). After we checked in we asked where we could get something to eat, remember this is 10.30 on Saturday night! To which the reply was ‘ Ooh nothing open in Picton at this time of night, just a 24 hr garage!’ Sven went to get us something and we ended up with the great New Zealand delicacy, a steak and cheese pie!! Yes, I did say steak and cheese, grim, but they are everywhere, the equivalent of the British meat and potato.
After a night in Picton, where the ferry docks we set off for Abel Tasman. It was a nice scenic drive although the weather still not great.
The Abel Tasman is a National Park in the North West corner of the South Island famed for it’s golden beaches and green - turquoise waters. We arrived and drove across some mud flats before reaching the beach side village of Kaiteriteri. All of a sudden we turned a corner and there it was, bright golden sands, green water and rocky islands, amazing! We booked a 2 day kayak trip and hoped the weather would be good for the next few days.
The morning of the trip we woke up to a blue sky and not a cloud in sight, we were so excited (and relieved, not much fun kayaking in the rain). After checking in and waiting a while we were taken by water taxi to a beach further up the coast to meet our guide, Bernhard. The scenery was amazing and the beach was a lovely golden one with just a handful of people on it.
The next two days were amazing. We were blessed with clear blue skies and sunshine, calm seas and great company ( six of us on the whole two days, Christine and Laurent from Switzerland, Julie and Dane from San Francisico and us). Bernhard, our guide was brilliant, really friendly and he was an Ozzie which as you can imagine went down a treat with us. The scenery was out of this world and we had some unbelievable encounters with the wildlife.
The first day at lunch we sat on a little beach and Bernhard got out his cooking gear and asked us all what type of coffee we wanted. Assuming he was joking we all laughed and said latte, cappuccino, hot chocolate and were absolutely amazed when he produced a cafetiere, boiled milk and made them right there on the beach! The best coffee I have ever had, way better than starbucks and much nicer scenery! I know Dane was blown away by this as well! Cool!
We were also joined by a seal which was on the beach about 20 metres away, absolutely amazing to be so close to a wild animal (well spotted by Julie). We also saw a few on the water, playing, very cute but very smelly!
We camped out in a campsite at Bark Beach and had a great evening, a Thai curry, beer and wine then followed by chocolate fondue! All cooked by our gourmet guide Bernhard.
Next morning we were joined by dolphins in at the beach, they came right up to the beach. We then went out on our kayaks and there were other boats and kayakers out with them. We were so lucky when after a while the dolphins turned and headed straight for us. They were so close we could have reached into the water and touched them, and they did jumps and everything right in front of us. Just awesome!! (Down under is rubbing off on me, sorry! but it really was)
The rest of the day was pretty tiring, thankfully Sven is a great kayaker (and didn’t get too annoyed when I took frequent rests!). We did stop off at a few nice beaches including a small one on Fisherman’s Island where another trip came in with their Maori guide Harold and we played a traditional Maori stick game. Fun but quite hard, you have to really concentrate!
We had a really brilliant time, met some great people and were very lucky to have such a great guide (and great weather) - awesome!!!

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Photos

Us in a Kayak
Her normal rowing technique!

The Beach
Anyone for a Swim?