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.

Feb 6th; Day Of Hard Lessons.

We awoke in the morning to a typical west coast hazy look, packed up camp, piled in the car, drove back down the river we used to get up to the camp area, and headed north up the rest of ninety mile beach. It was quickly a stunning day as the sun peaked itself over the Giant mountainous sand dunes to the east, built up there by the beating winds of the west coast. These dunes are truly magnificent, just like something out of Laurence of Arabia; some must be close to 500 feet tall, stunning and alien.

Arriving near the northern end of Ninety mile beach, we chose to stop where it appeared the surf had a reasonable gap, caused by a rip, that local fisherman fishing at the spot, confirmed to be a regular and reliable feature of that spot. Great we needed all the help we could get to punch these fully loaded boats out of this beach. The surf rolled in constantly multiple layers of breaking waves, the most furthest out ones where irregular, but huge when they came. This was going to be a challenge for Dave, who had never paddled in anything like the west coast of NZ before.

We said good bye to mat, and thanked him for the shuttle service, he had to fly back to Auckland to go paddling with some friends, who in a couple of weeks time where also going to attempt to paddle from up this way to Auckland, they weren’t starting on the west coast however! Dave and I talked about whether to just pack and go or not, I was keen, though he was not, I could see in his eyes he could do with a little paddling in this stuff with an unloaded boat. So we put stuff up on the dunes and went out.

We timed ourselves well, pushing through the initial shore wash, to just in front of the first breaker waves. Small walls of white water charged at us, as the boats lifted over them. We then timed it and pushed past these breakers, Dave’s eyes set and intent. As we got past these guys we then faced the ominous walls of green faced peaking (but not yet breaking) waves looming over us. We punched hard up these faces to ramp off the back and land with a splash behind. Picking up the pace, we charged the gaps between mountainous curling waves that broke left right and center of us, aiming either for the shoulder (where they had yet to break) or right at the foam pile punching through and over them, and then we were out back, the world changed, it became calm and quite.

The task that Dave feared, and wasn’t always my favorite, was on us; coming back in. we watched the sets, timed it in through the big outer breakers, came in behind the second break zone, waited again. I said to Dave “at some point you just have to decide and commit!” at that moment I saw a gap and went for it, looking back I saw a big wave come at me, Dave let it go by, but I was in its zone, I tried to back paddle but it had me. I dropped down its face on my side, before I knew it I was upside down. I rolled up quickly, to see Dave back of a bigger one that came at me like a mad thing, it would break on me, so I paddled forward thinking I could bet it, the back of the sea bear lifted to the sky, and we shot down the disintegrating face into an explosion of white wash, I positioned for a side surf and came out of the wash riding the bucking bronco of an 18 foot kayak side on in a 4 foot wall of white water.

I looked back out as I rode to see Dave come in, he caught a clean face, and surfed well, the wave began to broche, his boat turned, he didn’t react quickly enough and over he went and was sucked straight out of his boat, for a messy swim. Finally letting his boat wash in, he swam in. I paddled out gave him my bow and back paddled in through the surf till he could stand. Dave met the west coast that day.

Unfortunately in the forced swim, one of our repair kits got broken open and lost its contents, a rear hatch cover was lost from the boat, the rudder was bent, and Dave’s confidence a little battered. I found a bunch of stuff washing up on the beach as Dave pumped out his boat. Though the hatch cover, epoxy resin and a screwdriver where never found again. Camp was quickly set up to allow repairs, reflection and preparation for the next round. I made Dave’s boat a new hatch cover out of an old piece of wheelie bin I found on the beach, it was crude though works well and almost matches in color. We decided to play today and then hit it in the morning for the real beginning. This proved awesome as the break changed often as the tide came in and out, and we where to find the best time to leave.

We where to discover that later in the day, the break just became a monster of huge dumping waves three to four break zones wide. We played in it and got beaten up real good just trying to hold our ground in the first break zone. Tail stands, back surf, trashing. Eventually Dave got sucked out of his boat again, and I limped in with all my camera gear hanging from the boat after huge wave ripped the suction mountings lose and knocked the wind out of me. The big grin I had from the beatings and awesome fun, soon turned to tears when I found out that none of the camera gear was recording. I just missed out on getting some of the coolest surf kayak footage of our Sea Bear Waitoa, getting the snot kicked out of them. Ahhh!

I went back out again this time recording, but the waves within 20 minutes had changed, they let me work through them easily and I ended up out back again, I turned and surfed back in. Dave hadn’t come back out and was cooking up our backcountry cuisine feed for the night. I told him that I know new that an hour after low tide was the time to go; I just got out back easier than ever. So we knew now we had to be on the water between 8 and 9 tomorrow morning to get that magic break.

Dave rudder had got bent again. Ugh. We had a stunning sunset to end a day of hard knocks and good lessons.

Oh and we enjoyed our first Back Country Cuisine meal, and where amazed out how wonderful it was, amazingly fresh tasting and flavorful, and I am telling the truth.Chicken A La King with Croutons,very memorable, we rated it  0ut of Ten, and Apple crumble for dessert, awesome,it  had a real crumble topping you make by crumbling your own cookies and all, just like a home made one, but out of a packet, 10 out of 10 for the dessert. what an amazing first impression, these meals are gourmet and we have 22 types of mains to eat, we are not going to get bored!

Feb 5Th; The Bluff, 90 mile beach NZ

 

Picked up Mat at 2pm, hit the road north, the day ended up being hot and beautiful. The subtropical summer heat of northland beat down on us as we drove north through farmland and native forest covered hills. The tar in the road was melting, and the sky was a stunning blue with fluffy white clouds, truly a day of a typical northern NZ summer.

Finally reaching Kaitai at 7pm traveling roughly 300km with one near over heating of the car, we stopped for fish and chips. We found out that we had timed it great with the tides in order to drive along 90 mile beach, taking our fish ‘n chips we headed out to the stunning stretch of west coast (that is actually only about 60 miles long) and enjoyed the setting sun over the constant hazy surf pounding into velvety sand.

We had some fun driving along the beach while sitting in the kayaks atop the car, mesmerized by the colors that where enhanced by the hour of evening. We drove on until we got to the bluff, half way up the stretch and meet a local woman in a surf casting competition (a style of fishing), she recommended we not continue as the tides where rushing in and it was almost dark. We ended up talking her advice and camping in a site just behind where she was fishing at.

We set up camp, sorted a little gear, and then hit the sack. The surf looks OK, but the zone is big, doubts and fears swell through the mind. I know this is doable, though the brain can’t help but be humble by the unknown of adventure, perhaps that’s why some of us like to pursue it?

Up early in the morn to drive further north so we can launch from the northern end of Ninety mile beach, from there we hope to round the northern tip by the end of the day. Tomorrow will be a big challenge, as we haven’t had any time to train in loaded boats recently, nor in surf. It’s time to jump right in and do it; at least the weather is good.

YES this is finally happening!!

On the Road North!

All right! Things have finally come together for the Kayak Down Under NZ Expedition, Feb 5^th 2011 we are finally on our way north by car, to start paddling south down the east coast of NZ. Dave Has been here almost a week now and we seem to be all set finally!

We are all loaded and geared up for the first leg of the journey from Cape Reinga (northern NZ) to Auckland, this should take us about 14 days (give or take a few). Spirits are high and Dave and I can’t wait to get out on the water finally, it has been a long time coming.

We are 5 weeks behind Schedule, with a bunch of unfortunate issues holding back progression, from camera gear not arriving, paddles being lost in transit and not being released by customs (they are still tied up in customs actually, though thankfully we have some fill ins), right down to transport issues and gear faults. This has been quite good in one way, as in the last 5 weeks the country has been hit by at least three tropical cyclones, however it appears there may be more to come, and this will be a challenging year to paddle the NZ coastline.

We have been excited this last couple of weeks, with our food sponsor Back Country Cuisine coming on board to supply us with the main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and Desert) as well as Dave arriving with Film gear and other much needed equipment, getting gear testing done, filming with Pure Productions, organizing a driver to get us up island, and our Lendal Paddles Finally getting into the country!

Things have been good, though as always last minute issues arise, our hopeful driver had to pull out, we then found a new one in Mathew St Martin, a zesty American chap, with enough charisma to power Auckland city. He agreed with two days notice and an all night sailing race the night before. Good stuff. Then however we discovered, customs wasn’t going to release our paddles by Friday as we had been told, we learn this 4pm Friday. Ahhh we are all set to leave Sat morning, SHIT! The paddles will be released sometime next week sorry, I was informed over the phone.

“Ok we need to get on with this trip, how do we over come two boats one paddle?” I pondered, and we need to scurry.” Jonesy!” I exclaimed to Dave, who was just as disappointed as I.

“Who’s that?” asked Dave.

Mark Jones was my lecturer at University, a great inspiration and now a friend; He is a member of the Adventure Philosophy team (Grahame Charles, Marcus Waters, Mark Jones), who have done numerous expeditions, including the first sea kayak circ of South Georgia island

Now Jonesy, had told me a couple of weeks ago, when I had dinner with him and his family, if we end up needing gear, to let him know. So I did and the reply was “no worries come on over we will set you up!” I showed Dave the book of South Georgia trip; he was excited to meet the man. We turned up, Jonesy set us up with some paddles (well used but perfectly sound), as well as a Hawaiian sling for spear fishing and some fins. After some tea and some tails we had to go and get back to packing and cleaning the house before Bruce and Louise returned from their honeymoon (friends of mine who left us to use their house for a week)

In the morning I got a text from Mathew, stating that they won’t be in till noon, as the wind has gone and they aren’t moving. Oh man another setback, I had to laugh at this one. No worries, gives us more time to clean (and for me to write this much needed blog update). So now we just wait for Mat and then we are off. Mat can sleep on the way up; he just needs to drive the car back we told him we will sponsor him with many caffeinated products for the drive home, and he is more than welcome to camp with us the night before driving back down.

Again big thanks to sponsors, friends and supporters for helping make this dream a reality!

J