A journey of many airports

Arriving in Sorong in the morning I am slightly amazed that all the flights have aligned and we are actually in West Papua! 

The only hiccup was the first flight to Sydney where we sat for a while then de-planed for one that worked (qantas).

Very smooth trip through Indonesian Customs in Jakarta and no problems finding our way between flights.

We couldn't see much of Makassar at 4am, but with the sunrise the archipelago is laid out below us as the plane flies into the rising sun.

Our first Indonesian breakfast is airplane food (rice, chicken, a muffin, jelly, prawn crackers & water) but quite tasty & a bit of chilli sauce at 6am wakes me up though I think I need a coffee after 24hrs on the move!

Raja Ampat - the Journey begins

Tomorrow morning we are away!

We are flying out for Indonesia and by a circuitous route we will (hopefully) arrive in Raja Ampat Saturday evening. It is basically 4 flights and 2 boat rides to get to Kri Island./

The plan is to circumnavigate Gam Island over 12 days (see the Map page). We have hired kayaks from Kayak4Conservation, who are also providing a guide and organised the pickup from the ferry & accommodation.

I doubt there will be much access to wifi, or even cell phone service, but I'll update where possible. We plan on using the SPOT Connect, which will give our position each day. Don't be too concerned if we miss a day - we have a tendency towards user error! The link to the SPOT map is on the right hand side of the blog.

Bay of Islands

Monday 11th - Friday 15th March 2013

On Monday we drove up to Russell in the Bay of Islands, crossing over at Opua on the car ferry. There is a back road but it looked pretty minor & I made an executive decision to take the ferry! We are staying in Russell Cottages, a complesx of quite new, rather well appointed (apart from some kitchen items!) self contained 2 storey cottages.

Russell is one of the earliest European settlements in New Zealand and has a lot of historic buildings. The original capital was at Okiata, where the ferry now lands. Across the water is Paihia  (more touristy) and Waitangi (Treaty grounds).

Next day we had a look around, did some walking and went out to lunch at the very historic Duke of Marlborough Hotel - the first licesed premises in NZ. Unfortunately they had run out of mussells so the mussell quest was put aside (mussells seemed to be out in all the restaurants & cafes - apparently no-one had got around to going & getting them!).

Later on we had a message & dinner invite from Nadia, who we met at the KASK Forum and met up again aty the Duke for Drinks and dinner at Sally's Restaurant (fish & chips - still no mussells!). We organised to meet up the next day for a paddle.

A glorious Bay of Islands morning & a convoy of kayak-bearing cars & vans wound around to Rawhiti - the end of the road before Cape Brett. The other paddlers - Nadia, Dave, Ruth and Rob were going to camp out at Urupukapuka Island, while Peter & ourselves would do a day paddle. Urupukapuka Island is the only one of the Bay of Islands with a DOCS camp on it.

The campsite at Cable Bay had a nice grassy sward, plus toilets and a freshwater source (might have been a spring but came out of a tap and a shower! (luxury!). We had a swim & lunch, then set off around the island.

 

Cable Bay on Urupukapuka Island

 The water is incredibly clear & the colour is a brilliant turquoise rivalling the Nadgee coast (!) - we poked around into little bays and rock gardens, passed around the back of Waewaetorea Island, through Okahu passage and out into the less sheltered side.

There was a small swell, though on the more exposed areas this was said to be running 2m out past Cape Brett (so no paddling through the Hole in the Rock yet). It was a lot less here, but still enough that we couldn't get into too many of the caves that are very abundant on this coast. Dave & I went into one that had a bend in the entrance giving more shelter from the waves.

The outside of Waewaetorea Island

Capr Brett & Hole in the Rock in the distance (about 16km away)

 From the eastern side of Urupukapuka Island we passed around Rawhiti Point and into Oke Bay. Another swim, with the water noticably colder here compared to Urupukapuka Island.

Lots of interesting little passages  - entrance to Oke Bay

 The rocks near shore were pretty much stripped bare by sea urchins. We could have had a feed of kina (sea urchin roe) but no-one was very enthusiastic so the urchin I picked off the rocks lived another day.

Sea Urchins were abundant in Oke bay

We headed back towards Rawhiti with Peter, afetr arranging to meet up with the others at an island closer to Russell. Packing up the Traks was fairly quick (getting the hang of it more), then after a cup of tea with Peter and his wife Su at their campervan, we headed back into Russell.

 

Next day we launched from Long Beach (the 'back beach') of Russell, to paddle over to Robertsons Island. It is only about 4km offshore - all these islands are quite close together. On the way we found a cave that I could jump out in - though there might be a lead but the tunnel in the right of the photo only goes a few more metres.



 

 

The cave had a little gravelly beach at the end

 

Looking back out of the cave

We also found a miniature Hole in the Rock (since we weren't going to get out to the 'real thing')!

A small arch - not the real Hole in the Rock just a little one!

Around the corner from these features is Cooks Cove, where Lt James Cook landed in 1769. There is a plaque on a rock out in the middle of the bay. A fleet of jet skis on a tour stopped to look at it as did the tall ship E Tucker Thompson.



Plaque commemerating Cook in Cook's Cove

 Around in the next bay we found the other paddlers, having morning tea. We walked up the lookout which commanded a brilliant view around the bay - the sun chose this time to come out on what had been a dull moring up until then.

View from the lookout (to the NE)

Looking back down on Robertson's Island

Those of us inclined to tolerate cold water (ie. the women) went for a swim in the lagoon that had a snorkell trail (now mostly grown over). The lunch, and after this quite long break we were back on the water again.

Nadia & Dave launching from Robertson's Island

We crossed back to the mainland into Manowaora Bay and bid fairwell to our new friends. They continued into Assassins Cove to test out a portage, while we turned back towards Russell and contoured the coast into long beach.

 

 

Today was packup day - clean the gear and make sure the Traks were dry. A last lunch out at the Duke (yes they'd got mussells in this time!). Back to Auckland tomorrow, then home.

A last lunch out at the Duke (mussells!)

 

 



KASK Forum - Raglan

Friday 8th - Sunday 10th March 2013

Leaving the Coromandel, we started off for Raglan to the KASK (Kiwi Association of Sea Kayakers) Forum at the Raglan Kopua Camping ground. We stopped off at Te Aroha and went for a stroll around the old hot springs domain - the Edwardian era buildings are in good knick but the springs are looking a bit dry with the drought.

We arrived at Raglan early afternoon and stopped off at Orca restaurant (yes more mussells!) for lunch, and watched the parage of kayaks on cars & vans roll into town. We arrived at the venue and met up with Evan & John, who we met 2 years ago at Anakiwa, and helped with a bit of set up.

Max from Q-Kayaks had 8 sea kayaks on his ute, but can carry 11, plus several sit on tops!

On Friday night after the welcome we had a flare demo and shot off a couple of dozen orange smoke and red comet flares. We couldn't set off the parachute flares as it was too windy. The one I had was a fizzer & didn't even look that old - there were some from the 90's that still worked whereas much younger ones didn't.

Flare demo

 Saturday was set to be a couple of mystery sessions, chaired by JKA. It turned out to be a team challenge - 7 teams constructing kayaks out of cardboard and packing tape. I was the captain (more a facilitator) of one team - our kayak looked a bit like a punt until we closed in the ends a bit. I was the designated paddler, based on weight (!!) as well as supposed paddling ability (since none of my team had ever seen me paddle). We called it Kiwi's Revenge as I figured part of the fun might be to dunk the Aussie!

Sealing the bottom - a good move!

The crew of the Kiwi's Revenge

Charging for the finish line - not quite fast enough!

Surprisingly all seven craft floated. We ended up doing 3 races - I came second in the first 2 and we had a different paddler for the third - by this time only ours & two others were still afloat  - the rest were soggy piles of cardboard. It was a very competative event actually, with protests and a bit of sabotage. As can be seen from the above photo the gunwales are a bit high which affected my paddling style!

In the afternoon we watched Mike's talk on rolling and Paul & Natasha's talk on their Whitsundays trip last year. Happy hour, then an interesting talk on the journey of Sean Smith (FatPaddler) back from injury and trauma to his paddling achievements and kayaking trips. The final video he showed was from the cardboard kayak comp - check it out - I am the one with the red paddle & orange headband.

On Sunday we paddled along the Raglan Harbour, finishing amongst the limestone cliffs  - weaving through narrow slots. The Forum concluded after lunch with a talk by Tim Taylor - who paddled around all three islands of NZ in 2011 (concluding 2012 after having to wait to round Cape Reinga at the end of the season). Most of the group dispersed after that, but a smal group stayed another night - the Aussies, Paul, John, Evan and the group training with John in the morning. Many pizzas consumed though they seemed disproportionately covered by pineapple!!  Thanks guys for a great weekend!

Kayaking the Limestones

Tairua & Coromandel Peninsula

Wednesday 6th  - Friday 8th March 2013

On Wednesday we drove up to Coromandel Town, lunching at the Coromandel Mussel I Kitchen - this is looking a bit like a mussell and beer tour with not so much kayaking!

On the way back from Coromandel Town we stopped off at Waihi Falls for the (very) short walk to the falls.

On returning to Tairua I wlked up Mt Paku, the old (7-8 million yo) volcanic remnant behind our accommodation. Part of the walk is winding up past the palatial homes (& occassional older bach) to the reserve at the top of the hill - magnificent view! The way down was much quicker as I managed to find all the walkways that were not obvious on the way up - sets of stairs and right-of-ways that appeared to parallel people's driveways & even seemed to go through their yards (that's how they looked from below).



Mussels at the Coromandel Mussel Kitchen in Coromandel Town




Waihi Falls

Looking up Tairua Harbour and Pauanui from the summit of Mt Paku

Thursday was another day that looked a bit ordinary at the start of the day, dull, overcast & even a bit drizzly, but fined up in the afternoon. We drove to Hauhei for the walk to Cathedral Cove after lunch - the sun came out and really did the place justice. There are kayak tours to Cathedral Cove from Hauhei, but it's only a couple of kilometres. We did the walk in & out of the coves, before arriving in Cathedral Cove (a busy spot!) and had a swim. We walked through the big arch (tht features in the movie Prince Caspian).

The Arch at Cathedral Cove

Tairua



Tuesday 5th March 2013

The flight over and entry into NZ was uneventful - no-one needed to check out the kayaks, so we arrived in time for dinner at the hotel. Next day we drove to the Coromandel Peninsula - first stop was the west coast where we visited the Rapaura Gardens and had lunch at the Tastes of Koru Cafe. The Coromandel is renowned for its mussels so that's my food mission for this part of the trip!

 

Greenlip mussels at Koru Cafe at Rapaura Gardens

 

After lunch we continued on to Tairua - to Paku Lodge Motel. The motel is on the base of Mt Paku, looking out over Tairua Harbour, just in from the mouth of the inlet. The tide flows in & out of this quite fast, with a tidal range of nearly 2m. Lovely green water at high tide and wide sand flats at low water. The water is cool but not much colder than Port Phillip Bay!

 

 

The view from the balcony!

Monday was a pretty lazy day and we were going to get out on the water today, but it was pretty we & windy this morning so we went for a drive and checked out some areas that would be good for a paddle. The water at Hot Water Beach was thumping in! The local kayak operator at Hahei was packing up & going home. We had lunch (chevre platter) at Mercury Bay winery and a giant coffee at Hot Waves Cafe. The weather should clear tomorrow though the local cafes are tyalking about breaking out their winter menues!

The beach at Hahei - looks like a sheltered spot to launch but perhaps not today! This bit is flat as it is protected by an island but the water is a bit wild out of the lee.

Off to New Zealand

Well it has certainly been a while
since my last post. Since getting back from Canada in late July there has been a health challenge which contributed to something of a reevaluation of shorter term kayaking goals.

Instead of a big trip this year we will do 2-3 shorter trips - low key.

So on Saturday we are off to Auckland NZ for a couple of weeks and get out to the coromandel and Bay of Islands, as well as 3 days of the KASK conference. The weather for the next week is looking very nice!