366 paces, almost impossible to see the kayak I'd already carried out there.
...unless I use the zoom.
Day 114, Mar 21 2010
I’d have slept better but for the well-past middle-age Poms who were my tent neighbours. He, extremely unfit looking but wearing a Manchester United tracksuit, and she, a bottle-dyed red head who was thinning alarmingly on top, grunted and groaned their way through the night on what I must presume was one of those large blow up Coleman camping mattresses going by the sounds that it was contributing. Awful!
Having just commenced my journey.
My test continued because upon rising the tide was even further out than it had been yesterday. The difference today was that I was prepared for it. I did however wonder if this inland sea drained completely at low? Low in fact was at 8:00am so I had a couple of hours to prepare during which time I presumed there would be enough water to begin. As it was I had to carry the kayak 366 paces (yes, I counted), out to a spot I hoped would have water some time after the tide had reversed its run. This of course meant that once I started, I would once again be paddling against it.
I never strayed from the shore.
By the time I was ready to commence it was nearing 10:00am and the water was in fact lapping the hull. Fortunately too, by remaining within a few feet of the shore on my way out towards the harbour mouth, I avoided the worst of the incoming tidal flow. Approaching the sea the fishermen working the bar were good enough to wave me under their lines whilst I continued to hug the shore. So far, so good! I’d expected the worst but had encountered no real problems. It had taken fifty minutes to get to this point.
They kindly lifted their rods, allowing me to sneak under their lines and stay close to the shore away from the fierce current.
...in fact so close that I was almost on the beach!
From there it was an uneventful paddle for the next two hours as I targeted firstly Taranaki Point (1:00pm), and then Papanui Point (2:25pm). There had been very little wind and not much chop or swell, whilst the sun only made irregular appearances. The beach surrounding Kawhia’s harbour entrance had given way to steep cliffs and repeated headlands which became more and more impressive as I began to head east towards Raglan from Papanui Point.
Hard to see but a waterfall here.
The sun’s appearances were becoming more frequent and the coastline ever more striking. My only complaint was the ongoing discomfort being experienced by my seating arrangement… something that I have resolved to address or risk it destroying my mental state.
Spectacular cliffs.
I was soon paddling through waters made ‘famous’ by the iconic 1966 surf movie Endless Summer. On its day there is reputedly a long peeling left-hand wave that can stretch for as far as six hundred metres. I offer reputedly, because on this day there was nothing. Something that I and my kayak, with all due respect to the local surf crew, were extremely appreciative of.
With the surf being non-existent and the time having just passed 4:00pm I approached the harbour and where I observed the colourful spectacle of some twenty odd kite surfers dashing back and forth across the entrance.
Nothing tedious about this part of the coastline.
I snuck inside the entrance where I was provided with directions to the campground where I pulled up half an hour later. It was 4:40pm and I’d covered a distance of 43.21km.
