Kayaking in Kaiteriteri

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On to the Abel Tasman National Park then. Reading from the guide book this was one of the key areas we wanted to see when we planned our trip; deserted beaches, lovely walks, turquoise waters...and we were not disappointed. It may have been a slight detour on the way to the wineries of Marlborough but well worth it. Possibly the best couple of days of the holiday (so far).

Kaiteriteri is the southern most point of the national park and our campsite here is probably the busiest we have been in but still v quiet. It is also directly opposite the beach. And what a beach it is. Voted in the top five in the world apparently and it is easy to see why (in our own poll we agreed it is the second best beach we've been to after West Bay beach in Roatan, Honduras). As soon as we rounded the corner into the bay we knew Kaiteriteri was special. It was high tide and the flat shallow river estuary spread out to the left, then further round there was a blue lagoon joined to the main sea by a fast running creek, finally the golden sands next to the crystal waters...

We couldn't understand why there were a crowd of teenagers gathered on the bridge on the way into the village, so we went up to investigate- it turned out they were jumping off it into the deep and fast running water below, where they were then carried along towards the beach. This looked like a lot of fun but when we went back in our swimmies to have a go a couple of hours later the previously deep water was knee high!!

We decided to spend the day lazing on the beach (and getting a little sunburned) with a swim in the sea to cool our countless mozzie bites received over the last few days (Even Daz who is usually avoided by the little suckers has over ten bites on his legs and arms). We watched the world go by all afternoon only interrupted by a cool beer at the Beached Whale restaurant / bar (although Daz had to stop Loz walking out of the pub with the glass as she was so used to having to wash up her crockery she had forgotten that in a pub they do that for you).We then returned to the Beached Whale for a smart little meal in the evening. Daz had the porterhouse steak and Loz had the fish of the day (both beautiful) although we had to ask twice when we were told that Turkey was the fish of the day. Turkey? Since when was that a fish? Turned out it was Turnakay or something like that...you live and learn.

The next day was perhaps the best of the holiday. Definitely the best activity anyway. Picture this. Paddling along the crystal blue waters, sun in the sky, not a breeze in the air, popping onto secluded, sandy bays as and when it pleases you with your own personal kayaking instructor (and photographer) making you a steaming hot latte on the shore when you want. Bliss. We got more than a little lucky with the weather (as we had with Milford, we may be blessed) and also with the fact we were the only two booked onto the kayaking trip, but the rest was just the idyllic Abel Tasman coast. Worth the air fare on its own.

And that wasn't the end of the day either. At midday we picked up the water taxi to cruise north up the National Park. Great (and only) way to see the bays further north and a good way to drop onto the Abel Tasman track. The whole track takes three days but our tight schedule would never fit that in. Our tour with the Sea Shuttle instead gave us three and a quarter hours to walk an 8km section. We did it in one and a half hours marvelling at the views and thankful for the bits of forest for shade and ended up running through the shallow waters of Torrent Bay to catch the 3.30 taxi home. Best day, full stop. Finished up with BBQ lamb burgers, mango and a lovely pinot noir. Slight panic that the fridge was warm until we finally realised our power hook up had come loose, phew! Wineries of Marlborough here we come...

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Comments

[Miranda]

Guys it looks amazing and u look like having times of your lives!