March 11th; Return of the Surf

Log

Date: March 11th

Weather: Sunny

Swell: small E

Wind: Light variable winds

Distance: 26NM

Camp: In some Dunes Kohiowa Beach

Back Country Cuisine Food Review

www.backcountrycuisine.co.nz

Meal: Babatojie ( an African dish)

Impression: smelt great and the first bite was delicatable, the sweet fruit chutney flavor infused through the rice and beef mince was awesome. Quite a sweet and flavourful meal, very filling, no spice, though perhaps a bit sweet for some. We loved the raisins in it.

Stars: 9 out of 10

Blog

NOTE BEFORE HAND: story contains information about bodily functions on a Marine wilderness trip; some people may be offended, read on at your own discretion!

Awoke early to find people walking dogs all over the beach, this meant we weren’t able to utilize the “shit in the surf and wash you’re bum at the end” method for the morning! Dave went cat holing in the dunes, and I just held on for later in the day! Dave and I have brought two rolls of toilet paper each with us, and have yet to use more than half of one, due to the fact that the tidal flush is so effective with smooth stones or your left for wiping that we don’t need it. In turbid surf, you can just drop the kids straight off, or you dig a hole within the tidal zone, fill in after and stir with a stick. My favorite is finding a big flat stick, loading it up then tossing it upside down into the ocean. Many more effective methods abound I am sure.

Any way enough toilet talk, the morning was beautiful, Dave cooked up the small fish he caught the day before for us to have for lunch, while we packed our boats. Nev came down with the dog and greeted us good morning and bid us farewell, we thanked him again for the great hospitality then went on our way. Pushing into the small surf, Jon turned up and waved us off, as we got a little wet. The water was flat calm and we made good head way.

It was a hot day, with a fierce reflection of the water; Dave had his “Doo Rag” around his face, which as usual, made him look like a Mexican bandito. Dave quickly earnt the nick name, Doo Rag Dave on the trip because of his adoption of my Blue tube Scarf from Norway (which I called a Doo Rag) on the second day of the trips start. I had my Kokotat Destination Hat that wraps around my face fully done up and then the wind start blowing from behind. We really got some miles done today easily!

At about 5pm we decided to land on a good area, though we had to come in through some slightly messy surf, that pounded on the beach. This lead to a good time as Dave ended up paddling in on the same wave as I, though I didn’t catch it (which was the plan), though Dave did (not the plan) and he ended up side surfing right in front of me as I came in behind the wave on top of him. Needless to say it was a bit of a mess, and not so good, as either boat could have done some serious injury too one or the other off us. This time we were lucky and the worst injury was Dave’s ego as he got toppled on the beach by more force hitting him, and swamped by white water and sand, as the next wave bailed him up. We now won’t come in at the same time.

As soon as we had the boats sorted, I had to return to this morning’s issues, and now with a very empty beach and some great Turbid surf, I went and dropped the kids off for a swim. Setting up camp, washing sand out of Cockpits and trying to fix our ever problematic solar charging system, took up the short evening, then we sat down and ate a great back country Cuisine meal, then hit the hay on a slightly uneven tent spot.

The surf is back and we can feel that it is time to start getting ducks in order for tackling the bigger stuff again as it will inevitably return soon as we come around the East Cape of NZ.