Looking Back on Kayaking the Coast of New Zealand

It is now a year since I, pulled into wellington harbour in New Zealand, and called an end to my attempt at paddling the length of NZ's east coast form the north of the North Island to the South of Stewart Island.

What an amazing trip it was and it feels like a life time since that trip.... so many more adventures have come and gone, yet I look back on the Kayak Down Under NZ expedition as a corner stone of my life's new momentum.

Read more about the Adventure on the Blog site www.kayakdownundernz.blogspot.com and stay tuned as I strive to share the adventures I find myself on.

Keep exploring by whatever means!

J

Published in White Sea Magazine

Here is a Piece Marty Perry, of White Sea Magazine and the Hurricane Riders, did on the NZ expedition in 2011 and some other stuff on me, as well as some of my pics used for illustration.

Cover.

See entire issue at www.whiteseamag.com

THE END (for now)

After arriving in wellington, Leona and I loaded my boat on her car with inflatable roof racks loaned to us by Fergs kayaks and headed to her place. I spent the next 5 days enjoying wellington area and catching up with old friends and family. The storm finally came the next morning after I arrived and proceeded to rain and rain and rain; plus the wind; my, my how the wind blew. This storm travelled north and proceeded to devastate coastal Hawke’s Bay with the biggest floods in 100 years, destroying parts and cutting off many of the coastal villages I enjoyed along the way. No one died, though many people lost homes and farms, I was quite epic. I am thinking of a title for this trip, maybe “ In The wake of Disaster: kayaking the north island of NZ during a summer of chaos” after all, there had been the Christchurch earth quake, the Japanese quake and tsunami, the Myanmar Quake, Floods in Australia and now the floods in Hawke’s Bay. We will see, it is probably to ominous a title.

April 28^th was my Birth Day; I turned 30 years old, I couldn’t think of a better way to roll (or should I say kayak) into my 30’s. it has been an amazing 29 years of life so far, I can’t wait to see what more is to come. I celebrated with a small collection of friends and relatives who were around and available for dinner and drinks. Leona made an Awesome kayak cake. What a great little night at a South East Asian Restaurant called Monsoon Poon; it was very funky and the food tasted great.
My father drove down after the storm passed his land in Hawke’s bay hadn’t been affected luckily. We drove up and camped on the west coast looking out at Mount Egmont; it was a fitting way I felt to end things: the boat on the racks of a car, camping back on the west coast and watching the sunset into the Tasman, me sitting in the kayak on top the car as we drove along, setting up the tent in the dunes; all reminiscent of how Dave and I began the trip on the North west coast and now I end it In a similar way. We awoke the next day to a beautiful morning, it was a flat day on the west coast, the snow caped peak of mount Egmont glowed in the morning light and ever so slightly a tingle felt in my belly, an urge filled my mind, the call to paddle on started whispering in the back of my mind…………….. and I knew there would be many more adventures to come.
Read all the Stories here  www.kayakdownundernz.blogspot.com

KAYAK DOWN UNDER NZ UPDATE April 17th; Gifts from the Cray Fishermen

 
Log
Date: April 17th
Weather: overcast
Swell: 2M SW
Wind: 10knots SW
Distance: 10 NM
Camp: Mikes Bach, Flat Point

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Blog
I awoke to find the surf area at low tide riddled with rocks awash, hmmm. The surf was big enough to be tricky though there was a good channel through the rocks straight out from my camp, and swell lulls were often. I packed up camp without a rush, allowing the tide to come in a bit more and to let the morning sun dry my wet tent before I packed it. As I ate breakfast and loaded the boat down on the beach, big dark clouds rolled in and the sun started to get covered, by the time I decided it was time to work my way off the beach through the rocky surf, only patchy sunlight came and went.
I Sat and watched the surf to find some patterns, but when I launched and held my ground amongst the rocks in the wash, the waves seemed to pick up in intensity with no lulls. I sat and sat; fighting to keep in the channel and off the rocks, waiting for the gap in the surf; so I could safely break out back and not risk getting back surfed on to an exposed reef. Finally after 8 or so minutes the gap came and I powered my ass out through the green lumpy swells that started coming in again; breaking left and right. it was well timed and I had no incidence.

I was only paddling a short way today, to find a good place to camp up for 2-3 days to let the coming bad weather pass and then I can move on, though as I paddled south, the wind blew up in my face a bit, and I got worried that I was getting caught out by the bad weather early, however I could see my destination, flat point, ahead; so I pushed on. Nearing flat point I could see only rocky shores, and started doubting whether I was going to be able to land; though as usual, when I am in doubt, I see a tractor and boat trailer and know that if they can launch and land a power boat in that part of the surf, then I can land as well.
I came up next to the tractor, through surf much smaller than it initially appeared, just as the EL Toro (a Cray Fishing Boat) came blasting up onto the beach on the other side. I had always wondered how they got these big boats up onto the trailers, now I got to see. The Cray boat was now high and dry on the beach, after a full speed landing; now the Trailer was backed up to it, and a winch pulled the trailer under the boat as the tractor backed up. The boat didn’t move until the trailer tilted forward and lifted clear, then it all went like normal; however I guess in this case the whole process was normal.

At this point I meet Mike and his Son Luke, they where instantly intrigued by my story and within 5 minutes of talking, I had been given a Cray for dinner, had help lifting the fully loaded kayak onto part of their boat trailer, and  transported up to their ocean side Bach.
At the front door of the Bach I was given the key and told to make myself at home. “ sorry we can’t stay and talk, though we need to get going back to town, we will be back 3 days probably, so as long as you can figure out the stuff inside by yourself, we will see you once the storm passes; enjoy!” said mike as he and Luke then drove off up to their Lobster shed.
Here I was given the use of a brand new, fully furnished modern beach Bach and I didn’t even know these guys, wow awesome. I had been prepared to hunker in a tent for 3 days while some crazy winds and rains came through and now I had a warm little house to hide in, but still also be right on the water. Perfect; even had a Fur Seal as a neighbor.

The evening went very still and got very sunny, so I cleaned some gear and hung it to dry and had my doubts about the coming weather. I then cooked the Cray for dinner, sat out and watched the moon rise over the ocean, while eating my meal and drinking a beer, then very quickly the night turned, the Calm before the storm was over and the storm was here, the winds picked up fiercely, clouds rolled in and I went inside to listen to music and read a book. Soon rain came and poured down while the wind whipped the sea into a fury; while I was warm and comfy inside eating chocolate, reading a book and listening to music. I am  happy I am not in a tent. Thanks Mike.
 
FOR MORE STORIES FROM THE  KAYAK DOWN UNDER NZ EXPEDITION

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we made a cover!

Open publication - Free publishing

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Feb 7th, So It Begins!

Log
Date: Feb. 7th
Weather: sunny moderate swell from the east, light swell from east
Wind: light NW
Distance: 20.5knts
Camp: Spirits Bay

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We awoke early both apprehensive of the day coming, this was really going to be the beginning of it! I felt doubts and fears creeping in, but brushed them of as, “just the ideas and fears of failure and the worst case scenario”, in reality, I knew when the best time to go was, the weather was good, and as soon as we got around Cape Reinga, with the weather the way it was, we didn’t have to contend with the surf of the west coast. Dave didn’t know these things as certainty and he wasn’t as cheery as I was, I knew this and I tried to keep him positive, which also helped me keep positive, Dave did not need a beating in a loaded boat, as this would result in a lot more damage to the boat and maybe to him than the day before had provided. The surf break looked great, we were set.
We packed the boats close to shore, and by the time we were ready the water had come to meet us, we where however 30 minutes late, the break had changed, it wasn’t as good, but was still doable though we had to go now. We broke out with very little miss hap, though the breaking water was continuous for what seemed like 30 minutes, Dave was feeling a bit defeated he thought we had missed our chance, I assured him to wait, and then like mosses parting the red sea, the surf suddenly opened up. “GO!! F#@#ING GO! THIS IS IT WOOO HOO!
Dave and I paddled like bats out of hell, we powered through half the zone before the first peaks came at us, we pushed up these faces with 200kg loaded kayaks not giving up their momentum. I; looking back after I kicked of one big wave, saw Dave in his green machine, fully airborne off the back of the now breaking wave and come crashing down with a splash and powered on! I laughed at this point, just before I looked forward and saw the huge back breakers start rearing up and I screamed, “PADDLE FOR THE WHITE WASH!”
Dave and I punched through the first wall of white water, the boats in their loaded state not giving an inch, we then charged for the shoulder of the next one as it curled and broke furiously beside us as it passed, we pushed hard up the last step green face and then slowed down the pace, not stopping yet until we knew we were well out of the rogue wave breaking zone.
YES!! IT HAS BEGUN!! I yelped in ecstatic joy! Dave was still a bit charged and speechless, we drank some water and then we where off! Dave was pumped and ready to take on the world, and so was I. what a way to start the trip, some real good lessons, and some great achievements. We packed our surf training into one day and it paid off great.

The paddling was stunning, we moved along well off shore, both of us happy to be away from the surf zone for now. The sun beat down and the sky was blue. Rounding the first cape; Marie Van Damon, Cape Reinga came into site, and the swell drop off. Cruising by golden beaches and tall cliffs, we approached the fabled Cape Reinga and its notorious shoal and rip tides, edging in it looked tempting to go on the inside of the shoal as we had got to it on about slack tide and no currents where present . Heading advice however we gave the shoal and its gigantic clapitos waves a wide berth paddling out about 3km’s.

I felt very sea sick out here due to all messy large swells mixing, though that was soon forgotten when we looked across the angry waves at the light house of cape Reinga with all its tourist looking out at us ( or at least so we would like to think), and I was stoked. We had beaten the west coast break, we had done the rounding of cape Reinga the trip was now a reality!
 

 

 


We punched over 20 knm’s that day; we caught a fresh fish for dinner, and reveled in the change of beach energy compared to the west coast. We came to a beautiful large crescent beach, where we rode in through the small surf, and set up camp behind the dunes. Hot smoked Kawhai (the fish we caught), was on the menu for dinner and we enjoyed the sun setting behind cape Reinga as we talked and reflected on the day and our hopes for the next three months of our trip together. As night fell the light house light blinked away and we retired to the tent triumphant and well feed.











To read the rest of the Story click HERE  www.kayakdownundernz.blogspot.com

Pan America Trip

The Trak atop the Taurus in Seattle

I sleep tonight in the back of my Station wagon, outside the ferry terminal to Vancouver island and it is near freezing, as the recent snow fall, still has remnants on the ground. With my folding Trak kayak atop the car, and I, a ferry boat ride away from a comfortable sleep in a house, am jammed amongst the boxes of my stuff I retrieved from my ex's place in California.
  The last couple of weeks have been spent journeying south along the length of the USA, to clear up and finalize some unfinished business with my best friend and ex fiancé, who now lives in Merced California. It was an emotional time, raising issues of me leaving her for my “crazy dreams of adventure”, I feel I can’t do while staying with her, and my desires to be with her and live our love.

Read More Here http://onayakabout.blogspot.com/2010/12/pan-america-trip.html 

or check out the Kayak Down Under New Zealand Blog site