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Published: January 20th 2007
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Our final point of call for the day was the tiny village of Marahou. We have booked ourselves onto a seals and lagoons kayaking day trip tomorrow - and the company we are with has a camp site and hostel to stay at. Should hopefully make it a bit easier tomorrow as we need to meet them at 8am! The weather does seem warmer here and we have got out the shorts and T-shirts for the first time since arriving in NZ!
Had a wander along the beachfront and watched rush hour as all the water taxis return for the day from the national park. It all seems really well set up - the boats need to be towed onto the land with their cargo of walkers, kayayers and tourists with a load of double kayaks strapped across the back of the boat. It looks a bit wobbly but seems to work well. The boats are met by a tractor and trailer at the waters edge and then towed back up the beach. The punters do not even need to get their feet wet - very civilised!
The tide here is really quick (difference between low and high tide
is quite big at 6m) we we had to dash back on the beach to the road to avoid being caught on a sand bank.
We've cooked ourselves for a while so decided a treat was in store. The venue of choice was a beachfront restaurant called 'hooked on Marahou'. Normally need reservations here but we banging on the door at 6pm so managed to get our selves a table, probably the best in the place with a great view of the beach. The food was amazing, the service friendly and down to earth. Both overindulged with a bottle of Stonleighs Pinot Grit (grape variety of the moment) and some great local beers - Sassy Red- which are brewed in Nelson.
We finished off the wine back at the campsite where Paul whupped Beck at Rummy, before retiring to the tent for a good nights sleep before the adventures of tomorrow.
Today is the sea kayaking day on the national park. Met up with the rest of the group at 8:15 to get spray skirts, boyancy aids and splash jackets. Not as much kit or as good quality as the milford day, but hopefully the conditions will
not be as extreme! The brouchures make the Able Tasmin National park look really tropical with green sparkling water, hot looking sunshine and people in swimming costumes. This morning however its drizzly and cold. Boo!
The bus took us down to the quay where the double kayaks are loaded onto the boat before we were also loaded on for the 1/2 trip up to One Tahui Beach. We passed some seals frolicking along the way and also managed to catch a glimpse of a couple of penguins swimming along the way. At the beach all the kayaks and people were unloaded before the taxi departed. It would be back for us later in the day at a bay to the south called Anchorage. After some instruction we loaded the boats up and were handed out a muffin by the instructor - nice!
We all got in the boats and made from the beach initially heading up the coast. We passed quite a few seals lounging on the rocks or rolling in the waves - they did not seem to care that we were there - shame the one on the beach in our earlier encounter was not so
Water Taxi
where's Wally?. bothered! We headed up to Shag Harbour and a small amazing lagoon that empties at low tide - was a really cool place to be able to explore. Then all headed down to Tonga island a local marine reserve. You cannot go within 20m of the shore - but it was good to see - there was colony of seals there and it was great to have done it under our own power. The next stop was for lunch at mosquito bay which was also included in the tour. Everyone was glad to be fed by the guide and we had some excellent sarnies and a hot drink with a tim-tam. Very nice - could get used to this treatment!
By the time we came to set off the tide had gone down a fair way and we had to drag the boats down the beach to the water - these things are pretty heavy and need a good few people to manhandle them. Finally managed to get everyone sorted and back afloat before heading down the coast to Anchorage. Unfortunately we caught a squall on the way back and all got totally soaked - but at least it
was fresh water! Headed past Torrent bay and then finally arrived at Anchorage the end of the paddle. There are quite a few houses in the bay, but there are no roads - the only way is by boat - very bling!
The water taxi was a bit late so Paul and another mad fella went for a quick swim, but it was too cold to stay in for long. Luckily the taxi turned up before too long. The stuff was loaded up and we made the return trip to Marahou. After a quick shower and a cuppa we headed into Motueka, the local town to do some internet stuff and buy some beers. We are trying to find some suitable I.e. Cheap accomodation on the cooks over xmas as the fiji plans have fallen through.
Finished the day with a great Thai Green curry back at the campsite. Managed to get the other guests caughing again with the spices so it must have been a good one!
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