9am church. Sara and I walked into the chapel and saw the other two BYU girls in our ward on the stand. Yesterday afternoon I received an email asking for Sara and I to speak in church the next day... I called the counselor back and let him know that we had just gotten back from the south island and that we had just spoken a few weeks before. So I guess he called the other girls and there they were. Good thing they had a whole evening to prepare :). They did an awesome job!
After church we drove home and discovered that Beau's dad had come over and made a BBQ for us. It was the usual kiwi BBQ of chicken and NZ sausage. So yum with salad, mashed potatoes, a little bit of beef stew stuff, and bread. We were able to eat outside under the shade of a tree in their yard. It felt so nice. The rest of the afternoon we spent just hanging out and napping. I spent my time reading the hunger games, blogging, and catching up on life. Sara slept for most of the afternoon and so after a bit I went over to the house for some watermelon and to spend time with Beau. Some of Julie's family came over to visit and we colored pictures and played pictionary with some of her grandkids (Sara came over to the house for that part). Julie made some delicious banana cake with chocolate icing. We ate it with hokey pokey ice cream! Delicious!! It was SO nice not to have tons of ysa activities and things going on. We could just hang out with Julie and her family. I loved it.
Tomorrow is practicum preparation day where we'll get our schedule and talk about the expectations of our teaching experience. I am super excited for practicum! It's going to be great to get into the classroom and to be with the kids! This is what our whole experience is all about :) It's going to be awesome!!!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Homebound
Saturday and again we slept in! James wasn't staying in the cabin so we could ditch the ear pluggs :). Our drive home was pretty uneventful with only a brief stop in Pokano at the famous 12 scoop ice cream shop to get our last treat before arriving back in Auckland. The van ride back was super nice because we picked up another car that James was driving back home so we could spread out over three cars instead of just two. It was only about a 4 hour drive back home and boy was it nice to set my suitcase back down on my bed at Julie's. Funny, I'm so tired of living out of a suitcase/backpack and yet even at Julie's I'm still kind of living out of my suitcase. I guess I'm just grateful that I don't have to repack it every day and move it across the country with me.
Julie and Beau weren't home right we when got back but they pulled up pretty soon thereafter. Beau had made welcome home signs for us and he laid them all across my bed. He was so cute giving us big hugs as soon as he saw us and he kept saying "You're back! You're back!"Julie made us a wonderful dinner (we had also missed her cooking!) and we spent the next little while telling her all about our adventures. We also spent most of the afternoon catching up on our laundry... you don't want to know when the last time was that I had washed some of my clothes...
That night Camilla invited us to go to the Chinese Lantern Festival, which sounded really cool but I opted out. I was already pretty tired from everything that we had done plus unpacking plus early church the next day so I stayed home. But Sara went. I think it was a good idea that I stayed behind because they didn't get home until after 11:30 and I had already been asleep for over half hour by that point. Plus sometimes it's just nice to have time to yourself after being with a group of people virtually 24/7 for over two weeks. :) I can't believe the south island trip is over! Boy was it a great one! Now I'll just have to go through and sort out all of my photos :).
Julie and Beau weren't home right we when got back but they pulled up pretty soon thereafter. Beau had made welcome home signs for us and he laid them all across my bed. He was so cute giving us big hugs as soon as he saw us and he kept saying "You're back! You're back!"Julie made us a wonderful dinner (we had also missed her cooking!) and we spent the next little while telling her all about our adventures. We also spent most of the afternoon catching up on our laundry... you don't want to know when the last time was that I had washed some of my clothes...
That night Camilla invited us to go to the Chinese Lantern Festival, which sounded really cool but I opted out. I was already pretty tired from everything that we had done plus unpacking plus early church the next day so I stayed home. But Sara went. I think it was a good idea that I stayed behind because they didn't get home until after 11:30 and I had already been asleep for over half hour by that point. Plus sometimes it's just nice to have time to yourself after being with a group of people virtually 24/7 for over two weeks. :) I can't believe the south island trip is over! Boy was it a great one! Now I'll just have to go through and sort out all of my photos :).
The Beginning of the End
Friday morning we were able to sleep in a bit. The funny part about this is that our guide James cannot sleep in to save his life. By about 7am he's already had breakfast, packed as much of the van as he is able without disturbing us and is ready to go. He has no problem making as much noise as possible to let us know that he is awake (probably hoping that we will wake up and start getting ready). This is a common trend that we've noticed during the few days that we've actually been able to sleep in on this trip. So last night we were smart and slept with ear plugs and the doors to the family room shut so we could enjoy our chance to sleep in. :)
Our drive was about 4 hours long. Just enough to experience the road and still have time to play. Originally, the plan was to camp in Taupo but a miracle occurred and the cabins that we tried to book suddenly had two openings- just enough for us. So we jumped on the opportunity. Not that I don't enjoy camping its just that I was ready to have a real bed and a real shower again. It worked out perfectly because we girls could have one whole cabin to ourselves for one last party before going home. We created a shopping list and made a dinner plan before hitting the grocery store. We all chipped in $10 and headed off to buy our ingredients for a salad, spaghetti and plenty of ice cream, tim tams, and milo. It was awesome. After dropping off our groceries at the cabin we put on our togs and hit the hot pools.
These hot pools are different from the ones in Rotorua because they are thermal powered through underground magma and don't carry that sulfur smell (which is so nice!). They had a normal pool attached to the hot springs that also had a water slide! We spent a good part of the afternoon racing each other down the slide- super fun! Around 7 we decided it was time for dinner so we headed back and everyone took turns preparing the food and showering (since there were only two showers). Even though it was just spaghetti it seemed like one of the best meals we've eaten while being on our trip. We had heaps of the stuff left over (enough for breakfast the next morning and yes we did eat it for breakfast... not as bad tasting as you might think). It was so nice not to be in a tent or hostel or someone else's house. We had the whole place to ourselves and we could just relax a bit without having to go anywhere or do anything.
Last night we had started watching Stardust but had stopped it half way through because it was late and everyone was tired (I actually fell asleep in the first five minutes of the movie). So we finished watching Stardust and then broke out the ice cream, milo, and tim tams for tim tam slams. Let me tell you now that tim tam slams by themselves can create a buzzing effect because of the amount of sugar you consume but add ice cream to the mix and it can get off the charts! Which made a perfect segway for a "planned" dance party. It was so much fun rocking out and sharing our incredibly amazing dance moves with each other haha. We wrapped the evening up with How to Train Your Dragon. Everyone teased me because I stayed awake past midnight (I've usually been the first one to fall asleep but that's only because I don't sleep in the car like everyone else- I'm too excited about the scenery and seeing as much of NZ as possible). It was such a great ending to our amazing South Island trip. It's hard to believe that it is over, especially since we've been (well, mostly Erika) planning this trip since last August.
Our drive was about 4 hours long. Just enough to experience the road and still have time to play. Originally, the plan was to camp in Taupo but a miracle occurred and the cabins that we tried to book suddenly had two openings- just enough for us. So we jumped on the opportunity. Not that I don't enjoy camping its just that I was ready to have a real bed and a real shower again. It worked out perfectly because we girls could have one whole cabin to ourselves for one last party before going home. We created a shopping list and made a dinner plan before hitting the grocery store. We all chipped in $10 and headed off to buy our ingredients for a salad, spaghetti and plenty of ice cream, tim tams, and milo. It was awesome. After dropping off our groceries at the cabin we put on our togs and hit the hot pools.
These hot pools are different from the ones in Rotorua because they are thermal powered through underground magma and don't carry that sulfur smell (which is so nice!). They had a normal pool attached to the hot springs that also had a water slide! We spent a good part of the afternoon racing each other down the slide- super fun! Around 7 we decided it was time for dinner so we headed back and everyone took turns preparing the food and showering (since there were only two showers). Even though it was just spaghetti it seemed like one of the best meals we've eaten while being on our trip. We had heaps of the stuff left over (enough for breakfast the next morning and yes we did eat it for breakfast... not as bad tasting as you might think). It was so nice not to be in a tent or hostel or someone else's house. We had the whole place to ourselves and we could just relax a bit without having to go anywhere or do anything.
Last night we had started watching Stardust but had stopped it half way through because it was late and everyone was tired (I actually fell asleep in the first five minutes of the movie). So we finished watching Stardust and then broke out the ice cream, milo, and tim tams for tim tam slams. Let me tell you now that tim tam slams by themselves can create a buzzing effect because of the amount of sugar you consume but add ice cream to the mix and it can get off the charts! Which made a perfect segway for a "planned" dance party. It was so much fun rocking out and sharing our incredibly amazing dance moves with each other haha. We wrapped the evening up with How to Train Your Dragon. Everyone teased me because I stayed awake past midnight (I've usually been the first one to fall asleep but that's only because I don't sleep in the car like everyone else- I'm too excited about the scenery and seeing as much of NZ as possible). It was such a great ending to our amazing South Island trip. It's hard to believe that it is over, especially since we've been (well, mostly Erika) planning this trip since last August.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Wellington Part 2
Thursday we were at the ferry dock by 7am. It didn't take a long to load up the cars and cargo on the return trip because there weren't as many. This time we were smart and as soon as we parked the car we got out to stake our claim so that we could all have seats by each other. I didn't spend as much time up top as last trip since it gets really windy but it was fun to enjoy the scenery of the straight.
The three hour ferry ride went a lot faster on the way back. Not sure why but it seems like I had just sat down and turned on my iPod and then we were in the port at Wellington (and no I didn't fall asleep).
After leaving the ferry James dropped us off at Te Papa or the museum of New Zealand while he went to drop off our stuff at the house we were staying at. It was a museum similar to the war memorial museum in Auckland. They had lots of interactive exhibits talking about the evolution and history of New Zealand. There were also exhibits all about natural disasters such as volcanos and earthquakes since NZ is part of the ring of fire and these things are not uncommon. The coolest exhibit by far was the colossal squid. The museum of New Zealand is the only museum in the world that has a giant squid on display for the public to view. In 2007 some fisherman off of the coast of Antarctica were surprised to find a giant squid feeding on some of the fish they were reeling in. The fisherman froze the squid and transported it to NZ where it was studied and then put on display. Honestly it looks pretty nasty but hey I've seen a giant squid!
We had time to wander around the city for a bit until we met back up as a group around 4. I got back together with the group but then left with some family friends that we have that live in Wellington. My dad came to Wellington for a few months on a business trip a couple of years ago. His first Sunday here he looked up the time for church and found out it was at 9. He arrived around 8:30 just to be early and found out from the one person there setting up that it was stake conference weekend and so he was pretty early. Well that one person ended up introducing my dad to his family and inviting him over for Sunday dinner. The rest is history. Fast forward a few months to the beginning of November of that same year. I was a brand new missionary at the St George temple visitors' center and in walks a couple from New Zealand. They take one look at my name tag and ask me where I was from. When I told them Alabama they told me about meeting my dad. Haha small world.
Well we still keep in contact with them and when they found out I was visiting Wellington they were kind enough to pick me up and give me the local tour. I got to see where my dad worked while he was here as well as the street where the red carpet was for the hobbit and LOTR premieres. This was particularly interesting because Brother Turner was an orc in the LOTR films. He was also a goblin in the Narnia film and I got to see his mask (which was pretty creepy). After driving the loop of Wellington they shouted me to dinner (meaning paid for me) at an amazing steak place. I had the best time talking about my South Island adventures (they were impressed at how much we had seen), culture differences, and New Zealand facts. Both of them are very much into the outdoors and it was so fun comparing different places I had visited to where they have been.
After dinner they brought me back to their house for some ice cream and a chance to meet their kids. After two weeks of traveling everywhere it was super nice to just spend the evening with a family again. After family prayer and putting the youngest kids to bed they took me back to my group.
I was pretty tired from everything so I went to bed shortly after getting back with the group. We stayed with the same family as before when we visited Wellington. They had all of the air mattresses and couches covered with sheets for us. It was wonderful to have a nice soft bed :).
The three hour ferry ride went a lot faster on the way back. Not sure why but it seems like I had just sat down and turned on my iPod and then we were in the port at Wellington (and no I didn't fall asleep).
After leaving the ferry James dropped us off at Te Papa or the museum of New Zealand while he went to drop off our stuff at the house we were staying at. It was a museum similar to the war memorial museum in Auckland. They had lots of interactive exhibits talking about the evolution and history of New Zealand. There were also exhibits all about natural disasters such as volcanos and earthquakes since NZ is part of the ring of fire and these things are not uncommon. The coolest exhibit by far was the colossal squid. The museum of New Zealand is the only museum in the world that has a giant squid on display for the public to view. In 2007 some fisherman off of the coast of Antarctica were surprised to find a giant squid feeding on some of the fish they were reeling in. The fisherman froze the squid and transported it to NZ where it was studied and then put on display. Honestly it looks pretty nasty but hey I've seen a giant squid!
We had time to wander around the city for a bit until we met back up as a group around 4. I got back together with the group but then left with some family friends that we have that live in Wellington. My dad came to Wellington for a few months on a business trip a couple of years ago. His first Sunday here he looked up the time for church and found out it was at 9. He arrived around 8:30 just to be early and found out from the one person there setting up that it was stake conference weekend and so he was pretty early. Well that one person ended up introducing my dad to his family and inviting him over for Sunday dinner. The rest is history. Fast forward a few months to the beginning of November of that same year. I was a brand new missionary at the St George temple visitors' center and in walks a couple from New Zealand. They take one look at my name tag and ask me where I was from. When I told them Alabama they told me about meeting my dad. Haha small world.
Well we still keep in contact with them and when they found out I was visiting Wellington they were kind enough to pick me up and give me the local tour. I got to see where my dad worked while he was here as well as the street where the red carpet was for the hobbit and LOTR premieres. This was particularly interesting because Brother Turner was an orc in the LOTR films. He was also a goblin in the Narnia film and I got to see his mask (which was pretty creepy). After driving the loop of Wellington they shouted me to dinner (meaning paid for me) at an amazing steak place. I had the best time talking about my South Island adventures (they were impressed at how much we had seen), culture differences, and New Zealand facts. Both of them are very much into the outdoors and it was so fun comparing different places I had visited to where they have been.
After dinner they brought me back to their house for some ice cream and a chance to meet their kids. After two weeks of traveling everywhere it was super nice to just spend the evening with a family again. After family prayer and putting the youngest kids to bed they took me back to my group.
I was pretty tired from everything so I went to bed shortly after getting back with the group. We stayed with the same family as before when we visited Wellington. They had all of the air mattresses and couches covered with sheets for us. It was wonderful to have a nice soft bed :).
Beach Day
We slept in!! It was awesome! Wednesday was super chill. We were in the car and moving by 10 on our way to Nelson (about an hour and a half away). We originally were going to stop but we all decided that we wanted to keep going onto Picton. It was about a two hour drive through some of the windiest roads yet. I'm usually not the type of person to get carsick but this road did me in. It wasn't too bad but enough to make me very very grateful when the car stopped and we could get out.
Our first stop was the bathrooms. These were the most high tech bathrooms I have ever been in. First off you walk up and push a button that opens the sliding stainless steel door. Once you walk through the door slides shut and a voice comes over a speaker system. It welcomes you and then says that the door will automatically unlock in 10 minutes time. Then elevator music begins to play. Everything about this bathroom is either automatic or controlled by pushing a button. Even the toilet paper is push button activated. Weird!
We drove to our backpackers hostel and surprise it had free Internet!! That's like sticking gold :). I had the chance to FaceTime the family for a few minutes before we left for the beach.
It wasn't much of a beach. It was mostly a park next to a marina with a small section for swimmers. The water again was that beautiful clear color. It was such a hot day and just as we were about to go swimming a man told us that he and his boys had spotted a few sting rays in the water. So surprise surprise we decided to sun bathe instead. That is until James came over and said he didn't care about the sting rays and that they wouldn't do any harm. He then jumped off the dock into the clear water. He finally convinced Sara, Elise, Brooke, and I to jump in after him. The water felt so good and we swam out to a little floating dock and jumped off a few times.
After a bit we got out and soaked up the sun. Just before we left another woman at the beach pointed out a sting ray. It was a dark black shape moving in the water. I ran up to the dock to see better but it had disappeared. I was just looking over the dock when suddenly it appeared over no where. It startled me because it was huge! It's wings were almost as long across as my arms! I followed it along from the shore for a few minutes. James saw it too and he was so surprised that a sting ray that size was in these shallow waters. I'm just glad I saw that ray after I got out of the water and not a minute earlier.
When we got home I was able to FaceTime my family at home and my sister in Utah. It was awesome!! I didn't feel like I had to limit my time talking to them which was nice :). After getting caught up on all the happenings of the world (aka Facebook and email) it was time for bed. Thursday would be an early day since we were riding the ferry back to the north island.
Our first stop was the bathrooms. These were the most high tech bathrooms I have ever been in. First off you walk up and push a button that opens the sliding stainless steel door. Once you walk through the door slides shut and a voice comes over a speaker system. It welcomes you and then says that the door will automatically unlock in 10 minutes time. Then elevator music begins to play. Everything about this bathroom is either automatic or controlled by pushing a button. Even the toilet paper is push button activated. Weird!
We drove to our backpackers hostel and surprise it had free Internet!! That's like sticking gold :). I had the chance to FaceTime the family for a few minutes before we left for the beach.
It wasn't much of a beach. It was mostly a park next to a marina with a small section for swimmers. The water again was that beautiful clear color. It was such a hot day and just as we were about to go swimming a man told us that he and his boys had spotted a few sting rays in the water. So surprise surprise we decided to sun bathe instead. That is until James came over and said he didn't care about the sting rays and that they wouldn't do any harm. He then jumped off the dock into the clear water. He finally convinced Sara, Elise, Brooke, and I to jump in after him. The water felt so good and we swam out to a little floating dock and jumped off a few times.
After a bit we got out and soaked up the sun. Just before we left another woman at the beach pointed out a sting ray. It was a dark black shape moving in the water. I ran up to the dock to see better but it had disappeared. I was just looking over the dock when suddenly it appeared over no where. It startled me because it was huge! It's wings were almost as long across as my arms! I followed it along from the shore for a few minutes. James saw it too and he was so surprised that a sting ray that size was in these shallow waters. I'm just glad I saw that ray after I got out of the water and not a minute earlier.
When we got home I was able to FaceTime my family at home and my sister in Utah. It was awesome!! I didn't feel like I had to limit my time talking to them which was nice :). After getting caught up on all the happenings of the world (aka Facebook and email) it was time for bed. Thursday would be an early day since we were riding the ferry back to the north island.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Backpacking Through Abel Tasman
Tuesday I woke up to some birds singing outside our hut. The sounds were beautiful which made me less annoyed to be woken up early. I decided to get out of bed and do some exploring while everyone else slept. Last night Erika had told me about some salt water caves near our site and so I walked down by the water to find them. The water was so calm and peaceful especially in comparison to yesterday's kayak adventure. I walked down along the shore and found the caves which were more like little inlets in the rocks. The rocks were covered in names I assume from the visitors who passed through. I found one cool carving dating back to the 1930s. After about 45 minutes of exploring I headed back just in case people starting waking up and saw that I was gone.
We had a nice hot breakfast of milo and oatmeal and then prepared for our backpack into more of the park. This park was really good at marking the trail and telling you how much further you had to hike. We followed the up hill trail for about an hour over to a place called Cleopatra's Pool. The water was crystal clear and pretty chilly but it felt so good! There was even a natural water slide along the rock that was super fun to go down. I took the liberty of washing my hair in one of the waterfalls since we didn't have the chance to shower yesterday and my hair was coated with salt from the sea water.
After a bit we pushed on along the trail for about 2 hours. We were in the shade of the jungle for most of the hike, following along the coastline. Along the way we were privileged with some absolutely stunning views of the beautiful blue ocean and sandy beaches. We finally reached our destination of Barks Bay and dropped our packs in the sand. We were able to cool off in the nice bay water. Again the water was such a beautiful clear green blue color. The cool water felt so nice on our sore back and shoulders.
We didn't rest for long because our water taxi arrived about 20 minutes later. The water taxi is really nothing more than a motor boat. They really know how to pack people in those boats. We had about 20 people and a giant kayak hooked on back. It took us about half hour to get back to our original starting point where we first picked up our kayaks.
James was back at that same backpackers house we stayed at on Sunday night. He was wonderful because he had made a huge dinner for us full of bread, salad, and BBQ chicken/sausage. We took turns taking hot showers and after our delicious meal we crashed. It was still early so we turned on the Hunger Games, which made us feel even more hard core. :) After the movie it didn't take me long to fall asleep. What a day!!
We had a nice hot breakfast of milo and oatmeal and then prepared for our backpack into more of the park. This park was really good at marking the trail and telling you how much further you had to hike. We followed the up hill trail for about an hour over to a place called Cleopatra's Pool. The water was crystal clear and pretty chilly but it felt so good! There was even a natural water slide along the rock that was super fun to go down. I took the liberty of washing my hair in one of the waterfalls since we didn't have the chance to shower yesterday and my hair was coated with salt from the sea water.
After a bit we pushed on along the trail for about 2 hours. We were in the shade of the jungle for most of the hike, following along the coastline. Along the way we were privileged with some absolutely stunning views of the beautiful blue ocean and sandy beaches. We finally reached our destination of Barks Bay and dropped our packs in the sand. We were able to cool off in the nice bay water. Again the water was such a beautiful clear green blue color. The cool water felt so nice on our sore back and shoulders.
We didn't rest for long because our water taxi arrived about 20 minutes later. The water taxi is really nothing more than a motor boat. They really know how to pack people in those boats. We had about 20 people and a giant kayak hooked on back. It took us about half hour to get back to our original starting point where we first picked up our kayaks.
James was back at that same backpackers house we stayed at on Sunday night. He was wonderful because he had made a huge dinner for us full of bread, salad, and BBQ chicken/sausage. We took turns taking hot showers and after our delicious meal we crashed. It was still early so we turned on the Hunger Games, which made us feel even more hard core. :) After the movie it didn't take me long to fall asleep. What a day!!
Sea Kayaking
So Sunday evening we arrived at a backpackers cabin just on the edge of Abel Tasman right along the coast. It was pretty nice with a kitchen, and three separate rooms (one for James, one for Erika and her cousin, and one with tons of bunk beds for the rest of us). The front lawn was full of tents from other campers. We spent the evening preparing for the next few days. Monday we would be sea kayaking up the coast and Tuesday we would be backpacking back out. So we divided up the food we would need, picked out our one outfit, and attached our sleeping bags to our backpacks. We were set and ready to go.
Monday were up by 7 to gather any final items and to make our last preparations. James kindly volunteered to watch the rest of our stuff that we wouldn't be able to pack in and out. So we loaded up the van with the rest of our stuff and waved goodbye to James. He has no trouble making friends or finding places to sleep so we weren't worried.
Our kayak rental hook up was just across the street from our cabin. The look on our guide's face was priceless as he realized all 11 of us girls were going on this trip and only a select few we're actually excited about the all day excursion (not that we all didn't want to be there it's just that not all of the girls are as ambitious as Erika when it comes to the great outdoors). His name was Iaho (I-ho) but we renamed him Thor since he carried such a striking resemblance with his tan skin and blond pony tail. Thor wasn't actually going to kayak with us. His main job was to prepare us and teach us a few safety maneuvers and send us on our way. We spent the next hour with him learning how to steer and paddle. We also learned and practiced what to do in case our kayak flipped over on open water (meaning with no shore close by).
After suiting up in our orange windbreakers, life jackets, and black kayak skirts (it protects your legs from getting wet and keeps you secure in the kayak) we were ready. The weather was a bit overcast and windy but it promised to clear up later in the day, which it did. We walked across the street to the beach while a giant tractor pulled our trailer full of kayaks to our launch.
So our first challenge of the day: launching the kayaks with both people fully secure. Sounds easy right? Try adding mini waves to the mix (yes it is hard even though the word mini wave doesn't make it seem so). Jannette (Erika's cousin) and I did a pretty good job. We only both got wet from the waves but we didn't tip over :).
Ok so confession time... There are few things in this world that I am afraid of but the ocean is one of them. It's more like a love hate relationship because I love the beach and body surfing in the waves but I hate the undertow and the amount of dangerous sea life living in the water. It's a combination of watching shark week one time too many as well as not knowing what could be swimming under, around, or next to you.
There I said it and with that confession we'll move on to the rest of our adventure. The water was pretty calm and beautiful. The overcast sky made it appear really grey. An interesting part of kayaking is that you are right along the water. So every time the wind would pick up it would splash salt water up on us. That didn't happen too frequently but enough to keep me wet. I was nervous starting out but once I got the hang of paddling that took my mind off the fact that we were in the ocean and I quite enjoyed taking in the scenery around me.
We paddled for about an hour around the coastline and between two decent sized islands before breaking for lunch. The beach that we stopped on looked like it came right out of a magazine. The water was such a beautiful clear blue color and the sand a carmel yellow. It was incredible! The sun finally broke through the clouds and that just added to the overall beauty.
We continued paddling in and out of little inlets along the bay for the next two hours. We didn't see any wild life except for a few bird along the water. Although it would have been really cool I was kind of glad just because you realize how small and insignificant you really are when you're on the ocean and having a whale or even a seal appear nearby well it would have been exciting and a bit nerve racking at the same time.
Anyway after those two hours we stopped at another beach. Some of the girls were ready to be done and decided to hike the rest of the way into our camp site. The rest of us decided we wanted to keep going so we hopped in and continued our journey. Now when Thor was briefing us about our trip he specifically took care to inform us about this next section. On the map it was coded with a bright red circle and exclamation points. He said that its known as the mad mans mile and that it is doable but to be very wary of the weather and water conditions since it can get dangerous pretty quickly. Taking that into consideration I decided to take the challenge and press onward with those who wanted to keep going despite my fear of the water. I thought maybe this trip could help me conquer that fear.
It wasn't too bad at the start. But as we rounded the coast and left the protection of the bay I realized that maybe this adventure was a bit over my head. To make things even more exciting we had switched partners since Jannette wanted to hike instead of continue on. That put me in the position of kayak steerer. The key to smooth kayak operation is to hit the waves head on at a perpendicular angle. If you stay parallel to the waves you are more likely to tip over because the rocking motion makes you less stable. Sure it seems simple enough and it was until we rounded that corner. The wind picked up and the waves began hitting us from all directions. These were no longer mini waves but instead turned into swells that were two to three feet high. The kayak would go up and come straight down. Remember I'm trying to steer here so that we don't tip plus paddling against the current and waves as well as not freak out because by this point I was very much outside of my comfort zone. Oh and did I mention the nice sharp rocky coastline to our left? Yeah I didn't want to hit that either. A few times the waves actually came over our kayak. I could tell that my partner Andrea was just as nervous so I started shouting (you had to shout to hear each other over the wind and waves) random questions at her to keep her mind off of the fact that our arms hurt, that we were paddling through big waves in a little plastic kayak, and that our only coast was full if sharp rocks. After paddling for an hour we hit another bay. This wasn't our final destination but we decided it would be since the water was so rough and because we were exhausted. The hardest part was pulling into the bay because we had to turn the kayak inland and put our backs to the waves. Meaning we didn't know when one would hit us. I cannot tell you how happy I was to step on dry ground :).
We pulled the kayaks up and informed one of the water taxis (a boat that shuttles people around the park) that we had 4 kayaks ready for pick up. We met the rest of our group at our site. Thankfully they had decided to hike because they were able to secure enough beds for us at or cabin. We were spending the night in a giant community hut with a kitchen and two giant bunk beds with 8 mattresses across top and bottom. We ended up sharing our beds with a nice German couple. Basically everyone just slept in their sleeping bag on a "mattress" right next to each other. Welcome to communal living :).
Before bed we had a feast of roman noodles and canned chicken. That night we enjoyed some nice warm milo and timtams on the beach. We had the chance to watch the sunset and see the stars. Even with the bright half moon we still could see the Milky Way. It was incredible!!
Today was definitely a crazy adventure. If we ever get a chance to see a video of our life I really want to rewatch the sea kayak craziness. I'll probably sea kayak again but I'll be sure to stick to the calm waters.
Monday were up by 7 to gather any final items and to make our last preparations. James kindly volunteered to watch the rest of our stuff that we wouldn't be able to pack in and out. So we loaded up the van with the rest of our stuff and waved goodbye to James. He has no trouble making friends or finding places to sleep so we weren't worried.
Our kayak rental hook up was just across the street from our cabin. The look on our guide's face was priceless as he realized all 11 of us girls were going on this trip and only a select few we're actually excited about the all day excursion (not that we all didn't want to be there it's just that not all of the girls are as ambitious as Erika when it comes to the great outdoors). His name was Iaho (I-ho) but we renamed him Thor since he carried such a striking resemblance with his tan skin and blond pony tail. Thor wasn't actually going to kayak with us. His main job was to prepare us and teach us a few safety maneuvers and send us on our way. We spent the next hour with him learning how to steer and paddle. We also learned and practiced what to do in case our kayak flipped over on open water (meaning with no shore close by).
After suiting up in our orange windbreakers, life jackets, and black kayak skirts (it protects your legs from getting wet and keeps you secure in the kayak) we were ready. The weather was a bit overcast and windy but it promised to clear up later in the day, which it did. We walked across the street to the beach while a giant tractor pulled our trailer full of kayaks to our launch.
So our first challenge of the day: launching the kayaks with both people fully secure. Sounds easy right? Try adding mini waves to the mix (yes it is hard even though the word mini wave doesn't make it seem so). Jannette (Erika's cousin) and I did a pretty good job. We only both got wet from the waves but we didn't tip over :).
Ok so confession time... There are few things in this world that I am afraid of but the ocean is one of them. It's more like a love hate relationship because I love the beach and body surfing in the waves but I hate the undertow and the amount of dangerous sea life living in the water. It's a combination of watching shark week one time too many as well as not knowing what could be swimming under, around, or next to you.
There I said it and with that confession we'll move on to the rest of our adventure. The water was pretty calm and beautiful. The overcast sky made it appear really grey. An interesting part of kayaking is that you are right along the water. So every time the wind would pick up it would splash salt water up on us. That didn't happen too frequently but enough to keep me wet. I was nervous starting out but once I got the hang of paddling that took my mind off the fact that we were in the ocean and I quite enjoyed taking in the scenery around me.
We paddled for about an hour around the coastline and between two decent sized islands before breaking for lunch. The beach that we stopped on looked like it came right out of a magazine. The water was such a beautiful clear blue color and the sand a carmel yellow. It was incredible! The sun finally broke through the clouds and that just added to the overall beauty.
We continued paddling in and out of little inlets along the bay for the next two hours. We didn't see any wild life except for a few bird along the water. Although it would have been really cool I was kind of glad just because you realize how small and insignificant you really are when you're on the ocean and having a whale or even a seal appear nearby well it would have been exciting and a bit nerve racking at the same time.
Anyway after those two hours we stopped at another beach. Some of the girls were ready to be done and decided to hike the rest of the way into our camp site. The rest of us decided we wanted to keep going so we hopped in and continued our journey. Now when Thor was briefing us about our trip he specifically took care to inform us about this next section. On the map it was coded with a bright red circle and exclamation points. He said that its known as the mad mans mile and that it is doable but to be very wary of the weather and water conditions since it can get dangerous pretty quickly. Taking that into consideration I decided to take the challenge and press onward with those who wanted to keep going despite my fear of the water. I thought maybe this trip could help me conquer that fear.
It wasn't too bad at the start. But as we rounded the coast and left the protection of the bay I realized that maybe this adventure was a bit over my head. To make things even more exciting we had switched partners since Jannette wanted to hike instead of continue on. That put me in the position of kayak steerer. The key to smooth kayak operation is to hit the waves head on at a perpendicular angle. If you stay parallel to the waves you are more likely to tip over because the rocking motion makes you less stable. Sure it seems simple enough and it was until we rounded that corner. The wind picked up and the waves began hitting us from all directions. These were no longer mini waves but instead turned into swells that were two to three feet high. The kayak would go up and come straight down. Remember I'm trying to steer here so that we don't tip plus paddling against the current and waves as well as not freak out because by this point I was very much outside of my comfort zone. Oh and did I mention the nice sharp rocky coastline to our left? Yeah I didn't want to hit that either. A few times the waves actually came over our kayak. I could tell that my partner Andrea was just as nervous so I started shouting (you had to shout to hear each other over the wind and waves) random questions at her to keep her mind off of the fact that our arms hurt, that we were paddling through big waves in a little plastic kayak, and that our only coast was full if sharp rocks. After paddling for an hour we hit another bay. This wasn't our final destination but we decided it would be since the water was so rough and because we were exhausted. The hardest part was pulling into the bay because we had to turn the kayak inland and put our backs to the waves. Meaning we didn't know when one would hit us. I cannot tell you how happy I was to step on dry ground :).
We pulled the kayaks up and informed one of the water taxis (a boat that shuttles people around the park) that we had 4 kayaks ready for pick up. We met the rest of our group at our site. Thankfully they had decided to hike because they were able to secure enough beds for us at or cabin. We were spending the night in a giant community hut with a kitchen and two giant bunk beds with 8 mattresses across top and bottom. We ended up sharing our beds with a nice German couple. Basically everyone just slept in their sleeping bag on a "mattress" right next to each other. Welcome to communal living :).
Before bed we had a feast of roman noodles and canned chicken. That night we enjoyed some nice warm milo and timtams on the beach. We had the chance to watch the sunset and see the stars. Even with the bright half moon we still could see the Milky Way. It was incredible!!
Today was definitely a crazy adventure. If we ever get a chance to see a video of our life I really want to rewatch the sea kayak craziness. I'll probably sea kayak again but I'll be sure to stick to the calm waters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)