The previous night's campsite at Waipiro Bay.
I had been awake since about 4:00am unable to get back to sleep but happily lay there listening to the patter of rain on the tent that the forecast south-easterly winds had brought with it. I did not want to pack my tent away wet and after yesterday‘s effort felt no reason to rush.
Maybe the cows kept me awake?
When the rain did finally stop I decided to push on to the next bay that was only 16km away. A distance of this measure now seemed like a stroll in the park even if I did have to push directly into the wind and chop. I chose not to wear my cap. It would only catch the wind and it was cloudy anyway.
6km to reach the headland from my site.
By 9:50am I was away. It was not a wave that woke me from my slumber this morning but a blue bottle across my head and right side of the face. I had not noticed them before and had not seen any on my trip but today they were abundant. I carefully removed it from my face, head, arm and paddle, thankful that I did not react to them like some people… although there was a time when I once would have said that about sandflies too.
Still nowhere to land.
I paddled for nearly 3 hours to cover the short distance to Tokamaru Bay and the Te Puka Tavern. The township had been a thriving port serving a busy meat processing factory until its closure in 1952. I am at the Te Puka Tavern, sitting on my own at a large table, in a room\whose walls are covered by dozens of old black and white photographs going back a century when horse, cart and sail were all common forms of transport. Tomorrow I will take up my paddle again.
The Te Puka Tavern with kayak parked out front.
