Marine life

Yesterday, we found ourselves kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park on the northern tip of the New Zealand's Southern Island.

Unlike our other kayaking adventures on vacations (in which we've encountered pouring rain, guides with dimentia, & very little wildlife), this kayak was actually successful. To begin, the weather was fantastic, which certainly helps when you're in the sea in a rather tiny vessel (which to its credit, is much more stable than you'd first think.)

We kayaked with two guides (because one was being assessed to make sure she was worthy to take groups out on her own. Get this: Kayak guides here have to have a 2 year diploma. Crazy, eh?) & a German couple (More than any other nationality, we've encountered lots of Germans here.)

We took a water taxi from the check in point a few miles to Torrent Bay where we got a quick kayaking lesson (Including how to pull off our kayak skirts with our eyes closed in case we flipped & found ourselves trapped upside down, under water in the kayak, a thought which immediately sent me into a panic. Mom - you can stop worrying now. We never needed to do this.)

Once done with the lesson, we bundled up & set out to sea, following the rugged coastline of Abel Tasman National Park into several bays & lagoons. Along the way, our guide pointed out various birds & brush to us, which was interesting. I was also consistently amazed at the clarity of the water. In the lagoons, you could see clear to the bottom without a problem. We also saw a pod of dusky dolphins swimming in the distance.

After about two hours of paddling, with aching shoulders, we stopped for lunch @ a beautiful beach. Lunch was provided for us & was pretty random: A veggie bone, quiche, a chicken leg, apple, orange, & a toastie (a chocolate covered marshamallow bar. Yum!) Thankfully, lunch ended (which meant the German man had to put on more clothes than just his speedo) & we resumed paddling.

After lunch, we paddled to Pinnacle Island & saw New Zealand Fur Seals, which in this case turned out to be sea lions (though they're still called fur seals. Strange.) Apparently, sea lions have external rather than internal ears as well as split flippers rather than one unified tail. Immediately, we noticed that these sea lions were much larger than the tiny little seals we saw in Doubtful Sound, though we were also much closer to these guys in our kayaks than we were in our big cruiser on the Sound. We sat & watched the sea lions for a while, though in my opinion, we could have stayed much longer. During that time, we saw a female sea lion exit the water & head toward a large male, who immediately got up & started growing at her.

From Pinnacle Island, we had a failed attempt at sailing in the kayaks. We got everyone together & the boats connected & a sail ready & then just like that, the wind stopped (for the first & only time all day.) A wee bit disappointing.

We then kayaked back to Torrent Bay, where the water taxi came to pick us up. We had a few minutes there to wander & were fascinated by watching the tide go out. Such a powerful force that changed the landscape so quickly.

Today, we drove a few hours along the east coast to go whale watching. Unlike in Alaska where we watched the humpbacks, today we saw the sperm whale. Such a large, magnificent creature. We also saw a pod of dusky dolphins (much closer than the ones yesterday). This pod was quite playful - jumping & leaping from the water.

As I watched the wildlife both yesterday & today, I couldn't help reflect on the fact that I know you can see this stuff in zoos, but man - is it ever special to see them in the wild. They are such a testimony of God's power, creativity, & magnificence.