We arrived in Marahau to a pretty nasty wind-chopped sea. Worse still, the wind would be a headwind. My enthusiasm waned as I watched a double kayak paddle heroically into the wind...making disturbingly slow progress along the shore. Fortunately, Sara's enthusiasm was high so off we went to give it a go. It was still early in the day and if we were desperate we could camp before our destination or turn back. The tide was reasonably far out at the time, which unfortunately meant hauling the kayak several hundred meters across the sand flats to the shore. Eventually we were on the water and making slow but deliberate progress. Sara was getting slammed by wind spray peeling off the bow and her eyes were burning from the salt water. I offered her my swim goggles which greatly improved her comfort, but decreased her vision.
We paddled for what seemed like ages across Sandy Bay aiming for the first headland at the start of the Abel Tasman coast. We stopped for a rest at the south side of Apple Tree Beach- I was so over paddling in the wind that I actually preferred to drag the kayak in the water along the beach to the north end to help us gain several hundred meters of ground. A friend of a friend struck up a conversation as he recognized our kayak and we had a good chat before we headed on. This next stretch through the Astrolabe Roadstead was considerably more sheltered so we made better time and gained some confidence. We had a nice rest and a swim at beautiful Watering Cove (above) , one of the last beaches before we entered exposed waters again.
We had only a kilometer and a half to go so we both powered on through. My rhythm was often dictated by Sara's (since she was in the front) but I found I could take slightly deeper strokes as needed to gain speed or change direction. We stopped twice for a minute's rest in the slightly calmer water in the lee of slight headlands, and then at last turned into the gracefully arcing bay of Te Pukatea where we would be camping for the night. The beach here was littered with thousands of little blue jellyfish in a neat line along the beach where the waves lapped against the sand. We enjoyed another swim in the beautiful waters before setting up camp. Despite not being the first to arrive, we definitely had the best camp- ocean front view, picnic table, clothesline, hummock. After dinner we went for a short walk to Pitt Head where we scouted the coast we would paddle tomorrow. The wind calmed and it turned it a beautiful night. We feel asleep to the sound of waves meters away.
Since we only had 6 km to go on day 2 to reach our next camp (and since we wouldn't be canyoning), I was feeling pretty relaxed and not terribly excited. Nevertheless we got a relatively early to to enjoy the most of the calm sea conditions before the 10 am wind kicked up. We headed across the wide mouth of Torrent Bay and Boundary Bay (where the beaches were studded with holiday homes) so that we could enjoy some of the more remote and picturesque beaches of the trip. A small beach near North Head was particularly beautiful so we stayed and enjoyed it for some time. We then went around the corner and explored up the inlet at Frenchmans Bay. The beach at Sandfly Bay did not look particularly exciting so we paddled on across Bark Bay to have an early lunch and put-in at Mosquito Cove where we would camp the night. We then set up camp, ditched our stuff, and went for an explore north along the coast. We paddled through the maze of rock shoals protecting Mosquito Cove to the north and headed on past the appropriately named Foul Point. We found a nice secluded beachlet a bit further on that we shared with an unconcerned seal. The problem was the sun beat a little too hard in the bowl-like depression so we huddled close in the small patch of shade. Later a seal frolicked in the water and didn't seem to mind us joining it.
We noticed the wind swell whipping past the point seemed to be getting much worse so we decided to saddle up and head back to Mosquito Cove while we still could. This time we had to paddle obliquely into a headwind and the biggest rolling swell of the trip. Steadily we made progress. The tide was higher which made traversing the rocky shoals considering more difficult. With caution we found a way through and regained the sheltered comfort of Mosquito Cove.While the tide was still somewhat low, we walked up the drained estuary and bathed in the refreshing freshwater of the creek that feeds it.
Mosquito Bay is quite a pretty spot that changes drastically with the tides. At low tide the granite hill which divides the bay is connected to land by beach sand (a tombolo), while at high tide water floods the beach and estuary and the granite hill becomes an island. It was yet another beautiful night.
We awoke to a sunny and warm Christmas morning. The sea was the calmest we had seen it in the last several days which was comforting as we had about 15 km to paddle to return to Marahau. Since we had already explored much of the coast between Mosquito Cove and Te Pukatea, we paddled on at speed to have more time to check the beaches and coast we grunted past on the first day. Conditions were great and amazingly we covered the 4.5km between the two campsites in under an hour! We stopped in for a sunbath at an indented little beach near Te Karetu Point. We found a neat little arch near Watering Cove, then onward to Observation Beach, Cyathea Cove, Akersten Bay and Stilwell Bay. We explored a few more arches and sea caves- despite the occasional holiday home cluttering the view, this was definitely one of the nicer bits of coast. We were fortunate that since it was Christmas there were few people around and no water taxis or kayak tours running. It was amazing to have such nice conditions, peace and quiet right in the middle of the high season.
We had a final swim at Coquille Bay before paddling on to Marahau. En route a little blue penguin popped out of the water so we followed him until he dove under- the obvious sign that he had had enough attention for the day. The tide was higher this time which made landing and unloading the kayak considerably easier. If I was doing the trip again (and not canyoning) I would plan to kayak as far as Awaroa Bay to take in more of the more remoter and seldom visited beaches. All in all it was a great trip. Thanks to Richard for the use of the kayak.
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