Day 25 - Monday 29 January 2024

Today has been a most excellent day!

The plan had been to do a sea kayak trip at Cathedral Cove with a 13:30 start time. I had received an email last night telling me to check after 10:30 this morning for what was happening as the conditions are a bit changeable. I had no email at 10:30, so felt that I had to get on the road as Hahei Beach where the trip starts is 81km and 1 hour 20 minutes away.

Out of Coromandel Town, and a left turn onto the SH25; the Pacific Coast highway. Immediately I started climbing through many 25 or 35 kph turns, and as I reached the summit there was a viewpoint. I saw the view where I was going, and wasn't that impressed, but there were a set of steps that led up from the layby. I thought that I may as well go and have a look, and when I reached the top an 'Oh wow' escaped my lips; the lady stood nearby shared that was her reaction as well. What a fantastic start to the morning.

I'm finding something a little amusing about New Zealands roads; all single carriage way with the occasional passing lane apart from the motorway system around Auckland. The speed limit on the road I drove today was for much of it 100kph, but there was no chance of actually achieving that safely. Perhaps it's an aspiration; after all, they do enjoy their adrenaline sports here ..... I just hadn't considered driving to be one of them.

I arrived at Hahei Beach at 12:15, and thought I'd better check my emails. There had been a slight change of plan today. Rather than kayaking from Hahei Beach to Cathedral Cove and back, we were going to start at Cooks Beach and make use of the northerly wind to blow us down to Catherdral Cove and then Hahei Beach. The conditions meant that there was no chance of a landing at Cathedral Cove.

Into a minibus at 13:15, and the 15 minute run to Cooks Beach where we were split into groups, and then into pairs for the twin seat kayaks; I was paired with a Swede named Kenneth. We signed our lives away with the usual waivers, and then were issued with our gear; a spray skirt, a personal floatation device and a paddle. We were then introduced to our kayaks, and shown how to get in and out and how to attach the spray skirt (a layer that covers the hole where you sit to stop water getting in) and more importantly how to release it if you capsized.

We then walked our canoes into the calm water, and took our first tentative strokes. The kayak was exceedingly stable; I had expected to be a bit shaky for the first few minutes while we figured out the balance points, but there was none of that. Before long our guide, Oliver, pointed us in the direction of the waves breaking across a sand bar and said that we were going through that. Now, I had the front seat in our kayak, which meant that Kenneth was in control of the steering. We went about 20 yards to the left of the rest of the group, and as we crossed the sandbar a wave came straight at us, and broke in my face. I couldn't help but giggle!

Out into the deeper water, and a great explore along to coast, stopping occasionally for photo and video opportunities. After an hour or so we came to Cathedral Cove, and the only disappointment of the day. So close and yet so far as we weren't going to be able to go ashore due the the waves breaking on the beach. I did ask whether land access were possible, but that is all closed at the moment due to (you guessed it) the four cyclones that passed through a year ago. They waterlogged to soils and rocks so much that there is a real danger of landslips, so I'm not going to be able to get the shot from inside the cave looking out that I really wanted.

On we continued, and the wind seemed to have shifted direction, and it felt like we were heading straight into it. Kenneth and I seem to have had a kind of chemistry where we'd paddle along without expending any energy, and leap ahead of everyone else. We kept having to check back and wait for them to catch up. Anyway, back to Hahei Beach, we canoed right along to the far end before beaching our kayaks where there was less surf. Then a coffee on the beach prepared by Oliver before wandering back to change before setting off on the 81km journey back to base.

I'm told that they publish photos that the leader took after each tour (in much the same way they did on Moorea), so I'll be keeping my eyes open for them to see if there are any worth having!

A stop off in Coromandel Town for dinner, and then back to the lodge. It looks like there is going to be a decent sunset tonight, so as I type this the sun is edging towards the horizon, and the Gopro is busy recording a timelapse. If it's any good it could be another episode of Bryan's Briefs (ironically, if it's pants it won't be)!