Battling wind, waves, and wekas on Kenepuru Sound (New Zealand #2)

After a week on the North Island, we caught the 4 hour ferry from Wellington to Picton. We would spend the next two weeks of our trip exploring the South Island. As someone who loves bobbing on waves in a tiny kayak, I'm always surprised by how quickly I get nauseous on big ships in slightly rough seas. The weather was crappy, so we couldn't spent more than a few minutes outside in the fresh air. 

That evening we stayed in a scenic, walk-in, waterside Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite, where we shared the site with one other tent (see album at the end of this post). Early the next morning we drove to the kayak rental headquarters, where we emptied our belongings across their lawn and packed for our first overnight kayaking trip in New Zealand (and Henk's first overnight trip ever!). Destination: Kenepuru Sound in Marlborough Sounds on the north coast of the South Island.

Packing for kayaking in the parking lot outside Sea Kayak Adventures

We rented kayaks from Sea Kayak Adventures, run by Natalie and Aaron Price -- a very pleasant experience. When I emailed to ask whether we could do an overnight rental of two single kayaks, they responded promptly requesting logbooks/qualifications. Luckily, this website sufficed! They also honored our request to paddle on Kenepuru/Pelorus Sound (it seemed to be a bit more remote) and provided us with a couple extra dry bags. We did pay a surcharge for the single kayaks since they required extra explanation. The total cost of the two day rental for a single kayak was $160 NZD (roughly 95 Euro or 115 USD), versus 100 NZD pp for a double kayak. ​The plastic sea kayaks were decent and easily fit our camping gear. 

Packing the boats at Sea Kayak Adventures headquarters

We went through three different sets of instructions, which took a total of ~2.5 hours. The first two (basics of a kayak and basics of rescues) were not particularly helpful for us, though I understand why they do it. The third was a 1:1 conversation with Aaron, one of the owners, about our route and the conditions forecasted for Kenepuru Sound. That was, of course, very helpful and necessary! The forecast predicted strong south winds (35 knots) at the open coast, which Aaron estimated at 20 knots in the Sound.  

Door-to-waterline delivery of our packed kayaks on Ohingaroa Bay

We packed our boats at the headquarters and loaded them onto a trailer. We met Aaron at the beach on Ohingaroa Bay about 15 minutes later. It was low tide, and he drove the trailer to the waterline because, well, it's New Zealand. In the photo above you can see the first point that we paddled around, behind the yellow sailboat. The crossing took 30-45 minutes, and as we rounded the point to face the length of Kenepuru Sound, the wind picked up. Contrary to the forecasted tailwind, we had a strong headwind! That's New Zealand weather...   

That water color!

We noticed some light spots in the water around us (see photo below), and realized we were paddling through dense crowds of jellyfish. Each time the paddle entered the water, it hit a heavy jellyfish with a *thud*.  We hypothesized that the wind had pushed all the jellyfish to the end of the sound.

It's a bit hard to see, but the water is FULL of jelly fish

We had to paddle hard to make progress, but the scenery helped pass the time. We passed huge arrays of buoys connected to mussel and oyster farms. They lined the entire sound. At one point, boat nearly ran us over - I forgot to ask Aaron why they didn't have whistles on the rental PFDs.

We stopped at a very scenic beach for a pee- and snack-stop (cover photo of the blog). When we departed, we were both using our rudders. The kayaks didn't have skegs, and the strong winds made tracking a challenge. It was the first time I've ever used a rudder, and it felt a bit like giving in, but it really made paddling in the strong wind more enjoyable. 

Rows and rows and rows of mussels and oysters

Our destination for the day was the Ferndale backcountry DOC campsite. At the end of the day we made one long crossing, where we encountered even stronger winds and some waves and whitecapping. Luckily, the campsite was located in a small cove, which was sheltered from the NW wind. There was one other group set up on the north side of the beach, so we headed for the south corner where we found a spot with a picnic table and a tree for shelter. 

Since we arrived early, we decided to do some more exploring along the lee side of the shore. Our chart noted a shipwreck a few coves further, so we hugged the cliffed shoreline until we came upon this giant sunken ship, the Amokura. This website tells its history in quite some detail: ​http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/amokura2.htm. 

Shipwreck - the Amokura, sunken here since 1955.

The view from our shaded campsite

We finished paddling around 4:30pm and set up our private beach campsite. The previous campers left quite a mess (spilled oatmeal, tons of oyster shells, some lemon peels), so we tidied up the site a bit. It didn't take long before the wekas arrived. Wekas are flight-less, chicken-like brown birds who love to scavenge your food. They are the raccoons of New Zealand. The moment we turned away, they took over the campsite and snacked on the oatmeal strewn about by the previous campers. They were aggressive, both with us and with each other - even more so than seagulls. They kept chasing each other across the campsite, squawking loudly. I don't have a good photo (they're too speedy), but you can see photos here. 

Our private camping beach

Henk made some instant pumpkin soup, and we enjoyed a few moments of sun before the clouds rolled in. Dinner was sauteed chorizo with mushrooms in tomato sauce over pasta - yum! We really aced the camping portion sizes, having measured them out while packing ahead of time. For dessert we ate the last two squares of Belgian chocolate that had travelled halfway around the world with us (sad). 

Sea Kayak Adventures sent us a text message at 6pm (as planned) with the weather forecast for the next day, to which we were expected to respond with our camp location. It was all well-organized and helpful. However, the weather forecast said the wind would change directions the next day, meaning we would once again be paddling into the wind... We went to bed early and were on the water by 7am(!), before the late morning winds picked up. 

Hanging out in camp for a few sunny minutes before cooking dinner

The paddle back was uneventful, and we enjoyed calm water and sunny views along the north side of the sound. We passed some very happy cows hanging out in a field by the water's edge. 

We passed a field of cows on the way back - not a bad life!

We were back at the launch site by 11am, just in time to coincide with Aaron dropping off the next batch of renters. We threw our boats on his trailer and accepted his offer to shower at the headquarters. Warm! Free! Unlimited! "so right now we're pretty spiffy - maybe spiffy enough to go wine tasting?!" says the trip journal. Unfortunately we didn't go wine tasting, but we made many beautiful stops on the drive down the west coast of the South Island. Check out the photo album below for those photos. And stay tuned for Kayaking in NZ #3 - Fiordland National Park! 

Photos of the South Island, Part 1

Date: Wednesday and Thursday, December 27th and 28th
Distance: 20 km (12.4 miles) each day
Duration: 2 days!
Weather: Super windy on day 1 (howling!) and less windy on the morning of day 2. Pleasant temperatures.