New Zealand - Abel Tasman

Oh my...what a day. That was so cool we want to do it again and again...well maybe if the aching stops!

We were up and on the road for 07:00 to drive to the base of The Sea Kayak Company based in Motueka. There we were asked to fill in a disclaimer making sure we were aware it is potentially dangerous and we might get wet, drown or be eaten by marine mammals and so long as we were happy with that then please sign-here. We did. We met our guide for the day - Kim. She's been guiding for them for 2-years and has a relaxed friendly approach to life...doing her job I can see why.

From Motueka we headed to Marahau - this is the launch spot for the water taxis. Short of walking for days the only way to get into te park is by boat. You have to book in advance and it's therefore a complicated system - it also incorporates retrieval of kayaks as well as people so it's pretty slick to manage it all. We met our other tour members - Jordi, Shjona and Mike (I'll check that spelling as well!) and boarded the boat...which was on a trailer...which was towed behind a tractor. The shallow bays and low tides mean boats need to be dragged out to see to be launched. Quite a bizarre experience. We were then wisked the 12km to Onetahuti beach where our kayaking would start. Starting here meant we missed the 'mad mile' but also Split Apple Rock - maybe next time!

The Sea Kayak Company are one of only two companies with permission to head to Tonga Island Seal Colony within the marine reserve. We set off from the beach across the bay to see plenty of seals. There's a number of juveniles from last years breeding still being fed by mothers and others who are just plain playful. We weren't allowed within 20m of the island but the seals didn't really respect that and came to see us. They seemed to love nipping fingers, chewing paddles of swimming upside down under the boats and getting a stroke. They were brilliant. We just drifted for ages watching them play around us. The picture of the seal here is when he was chewing the back of our kayak!

As we headed off (eventually) we passed lots of seals but also saw some blue penguins running (well waddling really) for cover on the island - they're very shy. At this point I spotted a pod of dolphins (turned out to be dusky dolphins) ahead of us and we paddled off towards them. They were somewhat quicker than us but seemed to enjoy playing in the wakes of the water taxis. When the taxis had gone they were still around and did come quite close. By this stage we were getting really giddy! The rock of Spotted Shags, Australasian Egret and swimming Blue Penguins afterwards just rounded off the trip from a wildlife perspective.

The kayaking itself was fun and good exercise. It was a twin kayak and as I was given the back seat I had to drive. There's pedals to operate a rudder. Alice wasn't impressed with my steering but in my defence it isn't the easiest thing to just pick up. We didn't do too badly though and made it to Bark Bay in time for lunch. All along the coast there's beautiful beaches, coves and inlets - some only accessible by water. We had sunshine and relatively calm seas so had perfect conditions. The views were breathtaking.

Regretably so was the massive steep slope we had to hike through in the afternoon. We waved goodbye to the others and headed on the undulating 9km bush walk from Bark Bay to Torrent Bay. We had good conditions, amazing views and just enough time. We were getting the last water taxi of the day so didn't want to miss it! In hindsight, we might have preferred to kayak more but we were tired! Ultimately it was all absolutely briliant. Just wish we could have had time to do two or three days doing it. Really is beautiful and just great fun - it's also peaceful in a kayak (except the water taxis) so really a great way to explore.

We drove back via Rewaka hoping to get to the Monkey Wizard Brewery but it only opens Thursday to Sunday so we couldn't go in. They were looking for staff if you're thinking of a part time job Tony?!

Alice made a bee-line for the bath and I passed out. We'd had such a good day. Dinner at The Vic (Mac's Brewery) bar was enormous - we could have shared J9's meal - two lamb shanks plus a heap of vegetables - plus free pavlova pudding.

What can we say - Awesome!