KAYAKING ADVENTURE/TASMAN BAY

Remember when I said 'I think I want to go Kayaking'????  I can now say that I don't ever need to do this again.  First of all, I don't swim.  I can't swim.  I don't even like being in water all that much.  There was a picture in my Eyewitness travel book of New Zealand that showed some people kayaking on Tasman Bay and it looked glorious.  Sometimes I get a picture in my mind of what I think will be a wonderful experience, but the reality is totally different.  This was one of those.  I shouldn't say it was all bad or anything but it had it's moments.
The first was when I actually realized I was heading into the water in the kayak and I got this sudden panic that I really didn't think I wanted to do it.  But that would have left Brian without a partner and I just had to buck up. So I did.
Our guide gave us brief instructions and some of the things that were mentioned were 'if you capsize', and other words like 'jellyfish', and 'how to get back in the boat'.  How to get back into the boat was a bit tricky because you have to wear this skirt over your whole body which attaches to where you are sitting and keeps the water off you, but they sort of glue you to the boat as well. I just couldn't see how I could get OUT of the boat if it went over.  I would be doing some kind of crazy roll around thing.  However, once we got going it wasn't too bad and I started to feel somewhat relaxed in between the sessions of panic.  We rowed for about an hour and a half (seemed like longer) and then pulled up on a beach and had lunch with the 'bees'.  I didn't know how I was going to make it back because I could hardly walk and my back felt like someone punched me in the kidneys. You also have to put your feet in these stirrup things and your thighs are gripping the sides of the boat, so it gets a bit uncomfortable after awhile.  (JUST A BIT)  The pictures are pretty good so you can see I look like I am having a fairly good time.   I have to admit there were exhilarating moments. 

Just to catch up, we had to drive to Tasman Bay for this adventure which took about an hour from where we were staying at Backpackers in Nelson.  We then boarded a jet boat and went about an hour up the coast where everyone split into groups for whatever it was they were doing.  We had a lovely guide by the name of 'Sophie' - a tiny but all muscle little girl who managed to keep (us) all calm and give great guidance.  On our way back, she pulled all of our kayaks together and we used a tent tarp tied to the boats in front and pulled over the oars on each boat on the ends at the back and we 'sailed' home.  I really liked that part.  It was very comforting to all be together as a group and gave us all a rest from rowing, because the winds were fairly strong.  So now you know what you can do if you have a tent tarp and a kayak.  There was talk of 'baby seals' on one of the little islands in the water but I think that was a ploy to get us out there.  I never saw any baby seals, that apparently come right up to your boat and are really cute.

Some of the group went on an hour walk after this adventure, but I decided to take the early boat back to the park and have a beer at the pizza place.  It was super hot and sunny and windy.  The beer helped my pain tremendously.

Please view this never to be repeated adventure.



Granny and Grandpa go Kayaking in Tasman Bay

 

 

 



 

Some of us were having fun...

 

 

I'd rather be sailing.......

 

 

We made it!

 

 

Where all the cute baby seals were supposed to be

 

 

Coast line Tasman Bay