Kayaking Abel Tasman

We must have really good karma....another spectacular day in winter. We thought our best kayaking opportunities would be on the north island where it is supposed to be warmer. To our surprise, the weather has been glorious here so far, and quite warm considering the proximity to the south pole! It's by no means bikini weather, we're talking long johns under the wetsuit and windbreaker with gloves, but it's warm enough to stay on the water for a while.



Near Marahau. You can see the Marlborough Sound area in the distance.


Our boat captain picked us up at the coffee shop and took us down to the boat launch, where we greeted the rest of the group. The kayaks were loaded on the water taxi, and after picking out our booties, we were off...sort of. A really interesting thing about New Zealand is that they use tractors to put boats in the water...which acutally works really well here considering the dramatic tidal fluxes. We sat in the boat and trailer while the tractor towed us out to the water and finally launched us out to sea.


The water was spectacular. Don't let the pretty green color fool you though...it's freezing cold!


We headed towards one of the famous golden beaches of Abel Tasman and got into our kayaks.


After paddling lessons, the group headed out to Seal Island, a rocky isle favored by NZ seals.


Beautiful vegetation clings to the island above....


And seals basque on the rocks below.




This guy swam and frolicked right next to our kayak!


Our fearless guide and fellow kayakers.


We paddled around the whole island



Lots of amazing rocks...huge slabs!


Then we paddled down to the next cove. It sure felt like we went a long way in two hours!


We got to the beautiful beach where we got a picnic lunch. The sand is like sugar here.


This guy wanted lunch, but was denied!


Our water taxi picked us up to take us back to town.


Since it was such a nice day, we too the 'scenic route' back.





Ahhh...what a great morning! We're all fired up to get kayaks now!