My Body Hurts

Why does my body hurt you ask (or maybe you didn’t but try to play along)? Let’s turn the page back two days.

Greg and I had driven to Te Anau, the stopping off point for Milford Sound. Despite the name, Milford Sound is actually a 16 km long Fjord which connects to the Tasman Sea. It is a world heritage site and the most visited tourist attraction in New Zealand.

There are many ways to explore the Sound, an airplane, helicopter or most popular of all, via a cruise. What did we settle on? Kayaking the entire length of the Fjord plus 4km into the Tasman Sea with, of course, a start time of 6am. Have we ever kayaked before? No. Do I have the trapezoids of a well-seasoned paddler? Don’t get me wrong, they are nice, but not 20 km kayak nice. This is again where I would probably parallel having eyes too big for our stomachs.

In my opinion, kayaking is the best way to explore the Fjord. It is so serene and you have the time to really absorb the beauty that surrounds you. The sights were too many to talk about, but I should list a few:

1.     Mitre Peak: the world’s second highest mountain out of water.

2.     Fur seals strewn about lazily on the surrounding rocks, one of which playfully swam under our kayak.

3.     Various waterfalls that cascaded over the surrounding mountains, including one that we were able to paddle almost directly underneath.

4.     A large water bird that just so happened to catch a fish as we passed by. It wrestled it for a few seconds before finally engulfing it whole, where you could still see the fish moving around it the bird’s long neck. I can’t do this justice through description; it was one of the coolest examples of nature I have ever seen.

Despite the serene weather at the beginning of the trip we experienced 25-30 km winds for several hours, which would actually push your kayak backward in the event you weren’t paddling forward. Needless to say, 16km, two near divorces, and six hours later we reached the Tasman Sea. Due to the heavy paddling and extra time required for the high winds throughout the trip, we weren’t able to finish the last 4km. It was spectacular regardless and well worth the effort.  

Unfortunately our camera also seemed to be having a bit of difficulty with the 6 am start, as it was slightly on the fritz and subsequently we have few pictures. Not that it mattered as taking it out of the dry bag as you are getting doused by the large ocean waves spilling over the front of the kayak isn’t exactly conducive to photography. It’s also difficult to take lots of pictures when every time you stop to grab the camera out of the dry bag your wife, who is paddling her little heart out in the front seat, yells you at for not pulling your weight. Fortunately, I don’t think it’s a memory that will be forgotten any time soon.

We are now headed back to Queenstown where 2 days earlier we booked a “Queenstown Combo” for Saturday, which consists of the infamous Nevis Bungee jump in the morning and a white water rafting trip in the afternoon. I’m not sure if I’ll be sleeping tonight, but if I survive tomorrow we will write a post immediately and let everyone know how it went.

I guess I’d better end this, as we just got pulled over by the cops for speeding. I’m not sure how that happens in a campervan, but at least the ticket will make and interesting addition to the scrapbook.