Kayaking the Abel Tasman Coastline

Kayaking the Abel Tasman coastline was a feast for the senses. There was beauty everywhere we looked and at some points it just didn't even seem real to us.

We got to the kayak shop at 8:30 in the morning and had to switch from our bike panniers to the kayak's vestibules. It was a feat in to be seen for sure. We did have a couple of dry bags with us, but the good old black garbage bag really came in handy for us as we unloaded then re-loaded our gear into our kayak. Within a couple of days we had the packing of that kayak down to a science!

The kayak shop gave everyone a lesson before heading out. Most of the tourists were there for a day trip with the guide, Dad and I were the only ones who were heading out on our own for three days. The instructor, Steve, was a comedian and had all of us in stitches while we practiced our strokes, etc.

One we were out on the water, we left the group and paddled down the coast first to check out Split Apple Rock. It was a good paddle and gave us a chance to get our strokes synchronized and get a feel for everything. Then we turned around and headed up the coast for a few hours of kayaking. We hugged the coastline mostly and it was one beautiful cove with a white sand beach after another. The water was incredibly clear and a brilliant turquoise color. We saw some amazing rock formations as well and paddled into a couple of different caves. Wait until you see the pictures. Whenever we felt like stretching our legs, we would beach our kayak and then explore the beach or take a hike up into the sub-tropical forest. I love all of the tree ferns over here. The beaches are covered with shells, so beach combing was extra fun! At times, we felt the scenery almost seemed 'too perfect', like it could be the set of a Disney film or something. Maybe the movie Swiss Family Robinson? :)

Our first campsite was our favorite. There were maybe 5 tents there total. We set up camp, then went for a hike to get an aerial view from up on top of the hill. We enjoyed meeting some of the other hikers who were also staying in the campsite. (we ran into one of the German couples and had dinner with them the night that we came back from our kayak trip)

The second day was more glorious paddling. We really enjoyed checking out all of the different beaches, looking at the birds, fur seals, the plants hanging over the water, the rock formations, the color of the water. It was all magical. Our second campsite was nice as well. It did have a few more people than the last one, but we enjoyed meeting a group of Kiwis and ended up staying up quite late chatting with them. They had us convinced we should be living over here. :) We had an owl hooting during the night along with a possum outside of our tent that started screaming at about 2am. Now that was freaky. But it turned out to be a good thing cause it got me out of my tent to investigate and once out I was able to see the amazing, brilliant, deep orange moon coming up over the water on the horizon, next to a large rock formation. A sight I will always remember. The constellations down here are completely different. Fun to explore and learn new things...

The third day we packed (fast and easy on our last day... we had it down!) and headed back down the coast. We checked out an island that had some cute fur seals. They are so playful and fun to watch in the water.

We made it back to the town at around 2:30pm, went back to the shop, re-packed out gear for biking and then headed to a cafe to wait for our bus back to the town where we are staying. It wasn't until our lattes arrived that the rain started to fall. Couldn't have been better timing. The weather has really been cooperating with us on this trip. Sweet!

Hope to post some pics soon!