Our time spent on the west coast of South Island was coming to an end, only a long stretch of road and a three hundred and fifty mile road trip stood between us and our next activity, sea kayaking in Abel Tasman.
We split the drive across two days with a night in Punakaiki, giving us time to enjoy the scenic drive north and stop off at a well known sight seeing spot along the way, Pancake Rocks.
“It has made me realise how spoilt we have become with amazing scenery.”
The first one hundred miles of the drive wasn’t the most scenic to be honest and we were somewhat perplexed as we had heard that the west coast route was stunning, breath taking and a must do whilst here on South Island.
It was only once we past the town of Greymouth that the scenery started to become spectacular. In writing this it has made me realise how spoilt we have become with amazing scenery, for the drive to Greymouth was infact lovely, just not as lovely as the rest of the drive that was to follow!
We arrived into Punakaiki following a winding road along the coast, with beautiful views of the mountains in the west coasts national park and glistening water stretching out across the Tasman Sea. Before heading to our backpackers we stopped to look at the Pancake Rocks. Limestone rock formations that look like stacks of pancakes!
“The mist blew across the surface of the ocean and over the road, adding a mystical feeling to the place.”
It was only a short twenty minute walk around a boardwalk but we got to see the crazy rock formations in all their glory. I can’t even begin to explain how and why the rocks are formed in this way, in fact the information we read whilst there said that they still aren’t one hundred percent sure of how the rock formations came about either. They did make for a memorable stop on our long drive up to Abel Tasman though.
We only stayed in Punakaiki for one night thankfully as our bed at the Te Nikau Resort was merely a mattress on the floor of a hot and sweaty attic room with barely any ventilation! We were happy to head off early the next morning and make the most of the early morning drive.
As we drove along the coast the mist blew across the surface of the ocean and over the road, adding a mystical feeling to the place. It didn’t take long for the sun to clear the mist away as we drove up through the national parks and four hours later we arrived at our backpackers in Motueka.
Our White Elephant Backpacker accommodation was ok, had it not been for the copious amount of flies I would have liked it much more. Rich took great delight in using the fly swatter in the kitchen, at least someone got some enjoyment out of the flies!
The following day we drove up to the Abel Tasman National Park. One of the smallest national parks in New Zealand but with a spectacular coastline that we were primed to see from our kayak.
We didn’t have the greatest of weather for our day kayaking but a cloudy sky might have been the best thing for us in hindsight as we spent a lot of time out on the water.
We met our guide, Jeremy, in Kaiteriteri and enjoyed a boat ride up to Bark Bay in the north of the park. There we met Holly and Stefan, another couple who were part of our small kayaking group for the day.
“We had an additional activity before our kayaking started, walking along a small section of one of the ‘Great Walks’ in New Zealand.”
Bark Bay in the Tonga Island Marine Reserve is one of many beaches along the Abel Tasman coastal track and our plan was to kayak south from there, past Pinnacle Island and Anchorage Bay, around the headland to Adele Island and weather permitting, sail the last leg of the journey back to Kaiteriteri.
Once we arrived at Bark Bay the kayaks were offloaded from the boat and Rich and I set about packing our belongings into the dry compartments. It turned out that Holly and Stefan weren’t actually in Bark Bay but were instead waiting for us at the next bay along! Therefore we had an additional activity before our kayaking started, walking along a small section of one of the ‘Great Walks’ in New Zealand, the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, to collect Holly and Stefan and bring them back to Bark Bay.
Once we had completed the safety briefing and were strapped into our kayaks by our skirts, we headed out to sea, tracking the coast. The Abel Tasman National Park stretches along thirty two miles of coastline, being the smallest of the national parks in New Zealand I found it amusing that the coastal track is longer than the length of the Isle of Man! That makes it not so small in my Manx eyes.
“Rich did seem to have difficulty talking to Jeremy at the same time as paddling.”
Even though the sun wasn’t blazing down on us, it wasn’t a cold day either and Rich and I enjoyed our first time in a double kayak. We’re both pretty headstrong people and don’t like being told what to do, so it was a test of our relationship to see if we could in fact survive a day in a kayak together.
As Jeremy had explained that the afternoons sailing activities would require the stronger person at the back of the kayak to hold up the sail, I took up the morning section in the back, with the responsibility of steering. I did a great job and as I could barely hear what Rich was saying at the front of the kayak we didn’t have any arguments at all!
Rich did seem to have difficulty talking to Jeremy at the same time as paddling, so I found myself paddling solo on a few occasions whilst Rich and Jeremy chatted away!
The coastline was stunning, with forest covered hills undulating along the skyline of the national park. We paddled past lots of seabirds, including shags standing proudly on the rocks. And we saw one huge stingray in the shallow waters which was fantastic!
We enjoyed a quick morning break of tea, coffee and cookies before paddling onward. The wind was supposed to pick up in the afternoon to allow us to sail back to Kaiteriteri, however with the forecast changing and no wind likely to appear, it seemed that sailing wasn’t going to be an option. Therefore Rich and I swapped positions in the boat to allow him to steer, I was on look out duty upfront (apparently).
I hadn’t realised that Rich had been giving me directions about steering around rocks in shallow water when I was in charge of the rudder and it wasn’t until we were beached up on a rock straight after lunch that anyone told me I should have been rock spotting and telling Rich where to steer clear of!
“There was certainly plenty of room for us to feel like we had our own little piece of the park to ourselves.”
For the rest of the afternoon Jeremy called us Titanic, amusing hey?! After getting over the fit of laughter I found myself in after being stuck on top of a rock, we paddled across to Adele Island in search of seals.
We saw one playing around in the water as well as a couple of tiny baby seals on the rocks. They were so tiny they were difficult to spot but I’m so glad we saw them, they were gorgeous!
As we continued on our journey we reduced the pace slightly and enjoyed listening to the waves lapping against the kayak. It was a peaceful place and as we had the ocean to glide through, there was certainly plenty of room for us to feel like we had our own little piece of the park to ourselves.
Taking our time and enjoying the beauty all around us, we paddled up to a beach for lunch. With little wind at all sailing wasn’t going to be an option so Jeremy told us straight, we could either do a two hour hard paddle back to Kaiteriteri or we could spend the afternoon on the beach and get the boat to pick us up from there.
With a frisbee to play with, stories to swap with our fellow travellers and a warm sun on our backs, we opted to enjoy the beach, we are on holiday after all!
If we learnt one thing that day, it was that we loved kayaking, even if we were stuck in a kayak together!
Lambs on the loose 