Ruth was over climbing and biking so as our southern “swan song” we decided to spend a day kayaking around Mahau Sound, our last destination in the South Island.
The usual questions came up; how far? how long? how hard? For the first time on our trip I could put my hand on my heart and say “no hills”. But that does not make it any easier, tidal currents and wind can be just as sinister as hills.
Our arms were not conditioned to this new activity, well, new in the sense that we have not been in a kayak for a long time. We did expect the worst and fully expected to be walking around like stiff-armed robots the next day. However, we surprised ourselves. After a long drag around the the inner sound I pointed across the widest point and said to Ruth let’s do it. She responded in the affirmative and we set out across a rather large expanse of water that took far longer to cross than we anticipated. Fortunately, the weather obliged and the wind stayed away. Our crossing was uneventful.
After four hours the legs were starting to get a little cramped and the arms were starting to tire and we were not unhappy to see the beach in front of the airbnb come into sight.
After over 7,000km we have finally crossed Cook Strait back to the North Island, another 1,000 km should have us back in Kerikeri. We hope to walk the Tongariro Crossing on the way but the weather bosses seem to have other plans that, in keeping with most of the trip, indicate that we should be rummaging through our “plan b” options, yet again.
