Today marked the start of our last adventure in New Zealand. We were due to arrive in Marahau around 8:30ish to meet our aquataxi for the first part of our journey. We loaded onto large speed boats being towed by tractors. It was truly a sight! I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get a shot of the tractors. The water levels for the changing of the tides are so significant that these boats can end up so far away from shore that they need the tractors to drive across the sand to retrieve the boats. It's truly a comical sight.
Once we and our boat made it into the water, we settled in for a 20 minute boat ride along the coastline before being deposited in the Tonga Marine Reserve. When we arrived on shore, there were a multitude of sea kayaks laid out along the shore line. We were greeted by ... no one. We wandered around the area for a bit of time, watching as our fellow travelers received instructions for maneuvering their boats. I just sat there, wondering if we had been forgotten.
Eventually an exceptionally tall woman arrived, looking a bit disheveled. This was Emily, our guide. The whole comical routine continued as Emily got us all outfitted for our sea kayaks. Emily was a delightful Swede who kept us on our toes the whole day with her dry sense of humor and her love of feeding us information about our surroundings that lacked any bit of truth. After we took her word for everything thing she told us, she would quickly laugh and then inform us that there was no such thing as a flying penguin. Oh.
Our first stop was Tonga Island in the middle of the bay. This cool outcropping was home to many seals and "flying penguins." The baby seals were by far, the cutest little things in the world. The first part of our trip was spent learning to maneuver the boat. Not a big deal for the front person who is simply responsible for propulsion. However the back person must be a master multi-tasker, both paddling with the arms and steering with the pedals inside the boat! Dave, luckily was quite talented at getting us where we needed to go.
We hugged the shoreline of the Able Tasman National Forest until lunch time. We had to wait for enough time to pass so the tide would go out to produce a beach for our group to picnic on. Once we parked our kayaks on shore, Emily pulled a football out of her boat and tossed it. My jaw dropped when I saw how far this chick could chuck a ball. Seriously. She ended up tossing the ball between the three guys in our group and she could send that ball twice as far as any of our boys. Amazing. I'm not kidding. Emily is he-woman.
After a lazy lunch in the aptly named Mosquito Bay, we spent some time exploring the area by foot. We were very happy to be dining in Mosquito Bay as opposed to Sandfly Bay, just around the corner. After my experiences with sandflys, I have come to love and cherish the mosquito. Those little creatures don't pack nearly the punch as the sandflys.
The cool thing about this area is the way the sea has carved out the shape of the land. The rock is mostly granite. The salt in the water makes the granite rust. And as the rusty rock breaks down, it all settles creating beautiful golden beaches. At least that's what Emily told us ... and as I've explained earlier, Emily is prone to a little fib here and there at the expense of her naive clients.
The first half of the afternoon we continued our sea kayaking journey to Anchorage Bay. Dave decided that I needed to have a go at steering the boat. After a bit of floundering at the expense of my brother-in-law (flipping the rutter out of the water does present a rather difficult steering situation), I soon had the hang of directing the boat. But Dave did not take to being chauffered very well. First of all, HE'S the one who decided I was driving. And then he put a lot of his energy into questioning every turn I made. I pointed out that he could simply tell me what he DOES want me to do instead of spending so much effort telling me what he DOESN'T want me to do. Or better yet, just do it himself. Let's just say that I was ready to get out of the boat when we arrived at Anchorage Bay.
This is where we said good-bye to Emily (if that really was her name ;-). We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking. Imagine that ... us ... hiking. I had done so much hiking by this point that my poor little sandals started falling apart, which was kind of a problem considering we had another 6 mile hike to complete the next day. Yikes!
Following our hike, we were picked up by a small motor boat to be taken to our accommodations for the evening ... a rather over-sized houseboat. We had reserved private quarters for our group. The majority of the folks joining us for the evening were backpackers who were delegated to bunks in the bowels of the boat. We spent the rest of the late afternoon partaking of the well-stocked bar, jumping off the top of the boat, showering, getting acquainted with our fellow aquapackers and eating an eagerly awaited, delicious dinner.
After the majority of the people on board had tucked themselves in for the evening, I found myself in the middle of a conversation with a German student (Max) and one of the girls (Becky) working on the boat. I quickly surmised that Max had his eye on Becky. I hadn't intended to insert myself in this potential soiree, however I just couldn't find a good place in the conversation to dismiss myself. And then Becky, asked me about my experience with child birth and the ensuing effects it leaves on one's body. Okay ... Becky's not interested in Max, at all, 'cause there's no better way of turning a guy off than pointing out all the dire ramifications of unprotected sex. Okay ... so I laid it all out on the table for her. Max brushed his teeth and went to bed. Opps.
I did eventually manage to get to bed an hour later.
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