Nebelhom's Miscellaneous: To Good Company! (18.3.2014)

Today was a fun day, another fun day, but different in some ways. We went outside our comfort zone a bit and the evening did not end with arriving at our abode for the day after the trip. But I'll get to that in a bit.

I told you yesterday that we were greatly looking forward to our all day Kayak trip to see the beaches of Abel Tasman National Park that you cannot access any other way than by boat. We made our way to the Kayak hire in Tata Beach just to be told that the winds outside are not very good for inexperienced Kayakers at the moment. While we were disappointed, I have to commend the person at the boat hire putting safety and experience before profit. In his words (I can't "write" this Kiwi accent, sorry): "I am sure it would be fine, but it would not be nice out there. I want you guys to have a good time out there, too, not just your money."

So, in agreement with him, we decided to call back at noon and until then go to the Wainui Falls, where there is supposed to be an awesome waterfall that you can get fairly close to. The trip was very cool in several ways. First off, the walk to the waterfall (about 30 minutes) was not your run-of-the-mill walk, but a little more challenging. You had to cross small waterstreams, walk over paths riddled with branches and dead wood, a rickety swingbridge or the path was just slightly steeper than you expected. In a word, it was more fun. One thing, that I always wanted to mention when I talked about the rainforest here, that I kept on forgetting is the noise. While we always see the thick greenery in a rainforest, I think the one thing that most people forget is how loud it is actually in such an environment. The combination of waterways, insects, birds and the wind going through the trees makes the background atmosphere almost deafening. It is special.

On the way to the waterfall, we met an older couple from just outside Birmingham that we had a good time chatting to while making our way to the main attraction. The fall itself was/is awesome. You could get quite close to it, and the spray from it is as refreshing as it can get. Before I came to NZ, I don't think I have seen a waterfall before, now this was my third and I decided, I love waterfalls. They have a rejuvenating quality about them. I just had to look at it and I could lose myself in the constant stream of litre upon litre of water falling down that rock cliff.

On our way back, by sheer coincidence we bumped into the American from Pupu Springs and after figuring out that our motels are right next to each other, we decided on meeting up later on tonight for a drink. As he was on the way to the waterfall while we were leaving, we said our "till laters" and were on our way. On the parking space of the walk, we then met some young German parents who we had a great little chat with and exchanged tips for our respective journeys. It was just...I don't know how to best describe it... pleasant. Good folk, seemed to have their head screwed on the right way :)

Noon having been reached by that time, we gave a quick call to the Kayaking hire and to our surprise (they did not sound optimistic in the morning), the wind has cleared up well enough and has remained stable for us to go out into the Golden Bay with a sea kayak.

We were given a brief safety training with some repetitions on how to get safely out of the kayak and what to do if it capsizes and then we were off. The water (again) glistened in the sun (what else would it do when the sun shines on it? ;) ) and we were paddling along Wainui Bay where the furthest north parts of Abel Tasman were situated. We even saw a sea lion dossing in the water. Literally just lying there playing around. So cool. There were several bird colonies on the islands in the bay that we looked at, but the personal highlight was going onto a deserted beach that can only be accessed via the sea. There was absolutely no one and we had the entire beach to ourselves. I never had that before. So tranquil and relaxed. Afterwards, we went all the way to Taupo Point on the other side of the Bay before we turned back. Kayaking is tiring no doubt about it, especially when you are fighting against the streams, but it is well worth it. We were in a double and at times we just stopped paddling to listen to the ambiente. It was almost eerily quiet at times. I know, I said it several times before, but I have to repeat myself, this was also a very special experience for us. I try to appreciate every moment on its own merit while I am here in NZ as I know it will be over quick enough.

At the end of our kayak trip, we went back to our little cabin and took care of some minor things while waiting for Marty (the American) to arrive. Once he did we just chatted and later went to a pub/restaurant in the neighbourhood for some food and more beer. Very cool person and easy to get on and chat with. He is a retired engineer who is in New Zealand for 6 months. To my surprise, he said that he will most likely stay the entire time in the South Island. He still has one month to go and he keeps on finding new little pockets that he likes to explore.

Unfortunately, like with the other American couple that we met in Dunédin, we enjoyed our talk so much that we entirely forget to take pictures. Your loss, I guess ;)

Tomorrow, we regrettably have to leave Pohara again to catch a ferry from Picton to Wellington to explore the North Island, but I am not too sad strangely, as I take away some fantastic memories from this place. Majorly among them were the cool people that we met today (and over the course of this journey so far and hopefully in the future). It just goes to show that there are good people everywhere to be found, which is why I would like to end this particularly post with a toast: To good company!