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.

Sooooo I never mentioned it ahead of time, but Henk and I just spent a month in New Zealand!! Get ready - for those of us who have (gradually and begrudgingly) become accustomed to Dutch scenery, it may take a bit of adjusting to the crazy beautiful, varying, dramatic scenery of New Zealand. We went paddling three times, so I'm planning to share three posts with you, and I'll sneak in some of my favorite non-kayaking photos at the end of each post. 

For our first destination, I present you: the Bay of Islands, in the northern tip of New Zealand (-35 deg N)...

In this episode of winter boating, we compare the efficacy of canoeing and biking during a rare Dutch blizzard. Back in December, forces aligned to bring a rare snow storm to the Netherlands. This is my 4th winter here, and until now I'd only experienced a few light dustings. On December 10th and 11th the snow (~10 cm?) came down and stuck around for a few days. While children were making snow-people in the streets (ok, I made one too), Nathalie and I embarked on a memorable adventure: canoeing in the snow! 

Back in May (how did that happen?) I went on one of my favorite Dutch paddling trips so far: the Maas River in my new city of Rotterdam, with Iede, Marianne, Erik, and Adrian. The great thing about it is that you can get there from the club if you're willing to go through a small lock and carry your boat across a giant intersection in downtown Rotterdam... :D

Just a short post today to share a few photos and stats from my first trip to Grevelingen lake - one of the four (former) estuaries in Zeeland, the most southwestern province of the Netherlands. Read on to find out why my face was caked in salt at the end of the day... 

Today Toni, Mike, Alejandro, Cassie, Sierd, Marion, and I took to the canals of the Hague to enjoy the gorgeous weather and tour the Dutch food scene. Here's a short post to share a few photos from our casual afternoon paddle. For an approximate route map, see this previous post. Today involved eating/drinking Dutch food interspersed by some kayaking... On the menu were patat oorlog ("war" fries, which have peanut sauce with mayo and quite a politically incorrect name, as I learned today), patat speciaal ("special" fries with mayo and curry sauce), kroket (deep-fried hotdog-shaped gravy stick), meatballs wrapped in bacon, tiny pickles, and beer. Over drinks we pondered mysteries of US grocery shopping: why do a cucumber and 5 muffins both cost $2? Why are red peppers so much more expensive than green? and much more... Short post today since I'm running behind a bit! :)

My alarm went off at 7am on Sunday. At any other time of year, getting up would have been a challenge. Thanks to the long days that the Dutch latitude (52 degrees) bestows us, it was palatable. In what's becoming a weekend routine, I strapped my lunch and dry clothes on the back of my bike and swung a sizable duffle bag of kayak gear over my shoulder. It always takes a bit of extra effort to get the bike moving when it's loaded down this way. But thanks to the lack of topographic variability, the 12 minute bike ride to the kayak club is easy once you're rolling. Some aspects of Dutch life just need reframing to see the bright side.