Leading a Yakity Yak club trip is enjoyable and rewarding. The trip starts way before you hit the water, planning and organising to me are all part of the experience. With a trip to the Marlborough Sounds for us, being from Wellington, is pretty straight forward. Wheel the kayaks loaded with all of your gear onto the ferry, wheel them off at the other end, then down to the beach in Picton and away you go. Simple.
This trip consisted of 14 clubbies and a 3 night stay in the magical Sounds. If you have never been to this part of New Zealand you are missing some of the best paddling out there. The scenery is outstanding, wildlife is abundant, and the weather is far different than what you may expect being so close to Cook Straight. We have been across on some sailings and the ferry has a lean on, just from the force of the wind, but once you get into the shelter of the Sounds it all seems to disappear. Not saying it never blows down there, but it does seem a world away from Wellington.
After a delay due to the ferry running 2 hours and lodging a trip report with Maritime radio we hit the water in Picton at around 7pm on Friday evening. We had planed to start the paddle in daylight and finish in the dark but because of the ferry delay we had our lights on when we left the beach. With no moon to give us a guiding light, it was all up to the good old GPS to show us the way (with the back up of compass and map of course).A paddle of 11km on flat water and under a blanket of stars in the sky we made our camp for the first night. KumatotoBay. This is one of many DOC camps in the Sounds with your basic long drop and friendly/pesky wekas. If you don’t keep a close eye on gear, not just your food, you could loose it to what must be a good stash of goodies the weka has hidden somewhere in the hills. We had a club member who went for a swim once and came out of the water to find his watch gone. No he wasn’t wearing it at the time, they aren’t that good.
All of the camps in the Sounds that we’ve been to are well looked after and have plenty of room for tents, and as more of us are finding out, hammocks as well. If you wanted to go more up market with a spa and gourmet food at the end of your day you also have the choice of many lodges in the area. But we hardy souls aren’t that soft, although just quietly, it has been mentioned for a future trip. After everyone getting set up for the night and a glass of whatever you fancied it was time to hit the mat.
Daybreak and the sound of a weka trying to get into anything that was lying around. It was a lazy start with breakfast and nice weather forecast for the rest of the day. We set off to our next camp site at RitimaraBay. Only a short distance of about 9km, the plan was to get there for lunch, set up camp and continue on paddling around further for a look at the salmon farm and the seals that love to hang around there for some reason.
Not long after leaving our camp at KumatotoBay we had some dolphins swim past. As always this started a game of trying to catch up to the friendly dolphin. Unfortunately they weren’t feeling too friendly that day and slipped on past without a show. The rest of the paddle was filled with good banter and the odd lazy seal sitting on a rocky outcrop watching us glide by.
After reaching RitimaraBay and setting up camp the wind had got up a bit and some of the group decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beach while the rest of us headed off to the salmon farm. Wind behind us and a building chop we made short work of the paddle to the salmon farm. I wished I had my sail with me for a bit of fun. With a bit of a hard slog back into the wind we got back to camp and settled in for the evening. The forecast was for some rain overnight so I had the tarp at the ready. The clouds must have seen us getting ready to cook and decided to start releasing the wet stuff inside them. It was up with the tarp and down with dinner which included some of the local produce, mussels. The rest of the evening was spent with some of the group tucked in under the tarp and conversation of kayaking and camping gear. Plenty of questions from the newer members of the club. With the wet stuff still falling it was time again to let the wekas have free rain over the campsite.
Morning broke with a beautiful day in stall. Getting out of the tent I was faced with the sun just coming up and glassy flat water. Life is good.
We had a 24km paddle in front of us and plenty to see and do. With a forecast for the next day of winds up to 25knts, it was decided to head back down the Sounds toward Picton and Grove Arm (which leads to Anakiwa) just so the distance wouldn’t be as far for the last day if the conditions did get up a bit. The day was one of those days you could just about pin a perfect sign on. Flat water sunshine and a playful seal that decide to give us all front row seats to his performance. We all just sat in our kayaks and watched as he went from boat to boat giving a display that was full of darting swims and leaps. For those in the group that hadn’t seen seals up close and personal before I am sure that you couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to them. Once the show was over it was time to find somewhere to have lunch.
A nice little beach a few bays on and it was time to refuel the belly. Soon we discovered that the wildlife hadn’t finished impressing us yet as a stingray swam right in towards the beach and parked 2 meters off shore. He just lay on the bottom sunning himself, not a care in the world. Unfortunately we had to carry on, and as soon as we moved into the water the ray was off. Man can they move fast.
Next stop, Lochmara Lodge, to the delight of the coffee and cake lovers. This is a great place to stop and visit for a coffee, meal or overnight stay. Set in the bush with walking tracks that are doted with local artworks in the way of carvings and sculptures. It’s just another of the Marlborough Sounds great diversities. After dragging ourselves away from the luxuries, it was off to MistletoeBay, and the last night of the trip. MistletoeBay is not a DOC camp but it is run by a trust. You can have the option of camping or staying in one of the Whare’s they have recently built. Again we toughed it out in the tents, but we did take advantage of the kitchen and some even indulged in the coin operated showers.
Next day dawned with a storm warning in force for Cook Straight later in the day. So instead of a paddle further down Grove Arm it was a case of lets head to Picton while the going was good. Even though I said it was a different world down there you still have to listen to the weather forecast for Cook Straight. Especially when the word storm is mentioned. A call to the ferry booking office and a change of tickets to the earlier sailing, we were off. Starting the 2 ½ hour paddle back to Picton, the weather was great, overcast, but hardly any wind. As the paddle went on it was obvious that we had made the right decision. We could see the rain coming and the wind was slowly building. At least it was behind us. I think we judged it back to Picton perfectly, we got out of our kayaks and started to sort a change of clothes when the wind and some rain really kicked in. It’s always good when you make the right calls.
Back on the 2pm ferry, instead of the 6pm, we got back to Wellington to lots of rain and heaps more wind. The cleaning of gear will have to wait. It was home to a hot shower and time to think about the trip that already seems like it was a long time ago.
“Right, when’s the next one? Oh that’s right, off to Fiordland in three weeks”.
