Sea Kayaking Abel Tasman NP

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One of the things I definitely wanted to do in New Zealand was to go sea kayaking at Abel Tasman NP. I booked on with a guided tour (food, tents, kayaks, and a guide all provided). An early morning bus made the rounds of Nelson, picking up other kayakers heading to the park. Once at Marahau, I met my fellow travelers (a retired couple from the UK, a retired lady from Japan, a lawyer from the Netherlands, a girl from Germany, and another girl from Winnipeg) and our guide. After gearing up and getting some basic instructions, we loaded the kayaks on the trailer and heading down to the launch. The launch was kind of fun. A water taxi sitting offshore worked it's way onto a trailer in the bay and a tractor pulled it up a ramp onto the shore. The kayaks and all our gear was then loaded onto the water taxi, we jumped in, and the tractor backed us all back into the water. Once we were in deep enough, off we went to the northern end of the park.

The entire trip involved three days of kayaking, putting in at deserted beaches for lunch and/or a swim, and sleeping at campsites just a stones throw away from the beach. Let me say this...WOW!

As an added bonus on the first day, we hit Shag Harbour (shags are cormorants...get your minds out of the gutter) at high tide. At the back of Shag Harbour is a tidal river, so we were able to go back and see all the nooks and crannies (and a small sting ray sunning itself in the shallows). Very cool. Later at the campsite I made quite the impression on our guide. He had placed some beer and wine in the "fridge" - a small pool at the base of a waterfall. When we went to collect it later that evening, I jumped into the fridge to cool off. Yes. It was cold (but not as cold as some of the mountain streams). Apparently, he's never seen anyone do that before. Crazy Canuck. Later that night we crawled into a small cave to see the glow worms. Very cool. After that we found a large crab and some sea stars in the tidal pools along the rocks.

The morning of the second day there was a problem. Marliese, my kayaking partner had her camera fail. There was moisture in some of the comparts. This was a new, expensive, underwater camera that worked the day before. Not good. That aside, the day brought us more very cool places to explore. Another fun bit was seeing a shag perched on a branch in the middle of a small bay. We slid past it for a closer view, and as we were going by it spread it's wings and posed, and posed, and posed (all the while I was taking pictures and yelling "work it baby, work it").

On our final day we put in at a small island for a steep climb and an amazing view along the coast. Lunch was on another stretch of deserted beach and perfect swimming conditions. Later, we slid along the coast in shallow waters known for stingrays. We found several, but they were hard to see as they tended to move away as we approached. Still, very cool.

Too soon, the trip was over. Kayaks and gear were loaded onto a trailer and we headed back to the base. A fantastic time. Definitely a highlight.

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Photos

Awaroa
Starting the journey south

Awaroa
Starting the journey south

Awaroa
Starting the journey south

Awaroa
Starting the journey south

Onetahuti Beach
Camping here for the night. It's a rough life.