Round the World with Ann and Katie

Sea kayaking at Abel Tasman

We travelled up to Franz Joseph through wonderful scenery. New Zealand coaches are rather odd in that they seem to try to be a tour bus as well. There are numerous stops and some of the drivers give a running commentary. We had one who talked non-stop for about 4 hours! Anyway after taking all day to do a journey that might have taken about 4 hours in a car (but who is in a hurry anyway?) we arrived in Franz Joseph. Its one claim to fame is the glacier and nearly everyone either has a helicopter flight over the glacier (at vast expense) or a guided glacier walk. Having just had our glacier experience on Mt Aspiring we opted for a walk up a hill called Alex Knob at the side of the glacier (thanks for tip, Anna). At about half way up we could see out over the glacier but then the clouds came down and it turned into quite a Scottish experience i.e. walking through clouds and drizzle. All the helicopter flights were cancelled. When we got back to the hostel one of our room mates had just landed on the glacier when she was whisked off it again due to the bad weather. We completed our walk which was quite pleasant even though it rained a bit and then went to see a film of the glacier filmed from a helicopter.
The next day we had a very long coach trip up to Nelson – almost 11 hours! During the morning I think the coach was stationary for longer than it was in motion. One place that was worth a stop though was Pancake Rocks – strange layered rock formations on the coast with blowholes. Again the scenery was magnificent but we were glad to arrive in Nelson. As we were so late arriving we treated ourselves to fish and chips or as they say here fush n’ chups. Very early the next morning we caught another bus out to the Abel Tasman National Park – we managed to get there without any “refreshment breaks” but then it only took about an hour!
We presented ourselves at the Sea Kayaking Company offices and were duly kitted out with buoyancy aids, spray decks, dry bags etc before setting off with our kayaks for the beach. Our guide, Brad, seemed to have kayaked everywhere in the world. We loaded the kayaks with tents, sleeping bags, food etc etc and then paddled off up the coast. My previous experience of sea kayaking had been in the North Sea in November so this was a real treat – blue sky, blue sea, sun – brilliant. The sea was very calm to start with and we paddled until lunchtime when we pulled up on a lovely beach. There are dozens of beautiful sandy beaches some of which you can only reach from the sea. The food on the trip was really nice, much better than your averaage camping food. And we had real coffee! After lunch we paddled up the Mad Mile where the sea was a bit rougher and there were quite a lot of rocks to avoid. The wind had got up by this stage so the waves were getting bigger all the time. We reached our first campsite at Anchorage and after putting up the tents we went for a walk. The Abel Tasman coastal track runs all along the coast we were paddling up so there were opportunities to explore a bit in the evenings. After a huge dinner which included a pavlova with fruit on top we haad a walk aalong the beach before turning in.
The following morning the wind was really strong aand there were big waves out to sea. The bay itself was quite calm but once we rounded the headland it got quite exciting riding the big waves. We made good time however and landed at a small beach for coffee and cakes. The plan had been to go to Bark Bay aand set up camp and then explore further north in the kayaks in the afternoon. But the waves were so big we walked up to Bark Bay to have a look and see if it would be possible to land there. Brad decided that it was just about on so we returned to the kayaks and paddled round to Bark Bay where we surfed in to the beach – really exciting. After lunch we went out for another paddle but the waves were so big Brad decided we should go back after about an hour.
The next day the wind had dropped a lot and we paddled all the way back down to where we had started from a couple of days previously. On the way we saw sea lions and dolphins. After lunch the water was dead calm again and it seemed a bit dull after the waves of yesterday.
Back ata base we were able to have a shower and change before catching the bus back to Nelson.

Tags: Travel, Tag Index

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