Barefoot and Seasick

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It started on the ferry boat from Wellington on the North Island and ended five days later. After scaring a large group of kiwi yogis with my American teaching, we went South in high seas. Wine tasting in Marlbourough only numbed it and Dramamine made it worse. But the one thing that did work...bourbon, sun and four days kayking and hiking in the Abel Tasman National Park. Whatever means of transportation you can find, there is always a way to wade, hike or paddle through the densly thick forest or secluded sandy coves of the South Island.
We hired a kayak and paddled through tidal lagoons, navigating around small islands, and at one point becoming a playmate to a few friendly seals. On the second day, we noticed two dark fronts converging over the ocean. We paddled harder. It started to rain. Our remote campsite was still a few hours away. Still we paddled harder. It started to hail (somwhere). We tried to rig a motor to the back of the kayak. The skys opened up and we spent the next eight hours, sipping bourbon in our tent and sadly watching the crystal clear ocean turn into a sandy mess. But my seasickness it was gone.

And the next day, so was the rain. We found our own beach serendipitously created by low tide and felt more relaxed than if the rain had never come.
We arranged with our kayak company to pick up our boat and drop off our packs about 15km up the coast. Like a stowaway, we pulled up on shore with our lone packs waiting like a fish out of water. Under the full moon, we found our way to the backcountry hut, which hugged a tidal lagoon, that when the tide was in, would create a sea lake the width of the Willamette River. We took a cold outdoor shower, and slept soundly. Shannon, the water taxi operator, picked us up on the motor boat to take us back to Kiteriteri. On the horizon...another dark looming front encroaching.

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Comments

[Macias]

TPS reports
Franson, I am sitting in my cubicle reading your blog after spending the last 4 hours in meetings and eating a boxed lunch. Sounds like you guys are having a blast, I am so jealous! I miss you, keep the updates coming. It's nice to get a little snapshot into paradise during the workday.

[Grad Student in New York]

20 page papers
Keep on keepin' on, having fun that is! All of us readers seem to be enjoying your global explorations as a way to supplement our lives. In between lengthy research papers and struggling to master APA style writing and citations, I can catch up on the travels and tribulations, and the pictures! Mark, you keep missing several spots shaving. Damn those catapillers grow big out there! Sincerely, Grad Student in New York (procrastinating by reading your emails)