A day at the beach

 
November 17th

We woke to bright blue skies with no sign of yesterday’s clouds and the joyous news that there wasn’t a bus ride today – we were spending the day at the beach! Okarito was the first NZ landfall spotted by a European, Abel Tasman, in 1642. Today it is a tiny settlement, with a permanent population of 35 – including Keri Hulme, the author of The Bone People, which is set here, and who doesn’t much like visitors. Unlike Richard, the town’s very hospitable mayor, who also runs the local coffee shop, kayak rental shop and nature tours, including kiwi-watching. Sadly we didn’t see the shy national bird, but Okarito Lagoon is a wildlife haven. Right now the lagoon is closed off from the sea by a sand spit and the main channel is relatively deep, with no mud flats emerging. Several tributaries branch off this channel into the surrounding forest, narrowing into creeks that have you performing 20 point turns or backing out. As you could stand up in most of the water, we were kitted up in our kayaks and sent out into the lagoon with only a map to guide us. With no instructor to make up for my paddling shortcomings, I paired up with Wendy, my very fit roommate, and suggested she also did the steering. This may have been a mistake, as we zig-zagged our way along the lagoon, and ended up in at least three overhanging bushes, but I suspect I would have done a lot worse. Drifting along another world reflected back at us in the mirror-like creeks. We could hear all manner of birdsong in the trees, but our main sightings were black swans, with signets, and the rare white heron – only 150 in the whole of New Zealand.

After 10km of paddling, it was time for lunch and the Trig Walk - steep and rocky, not one for prams or flip-flops – to a magnificent viewing point for the lagoon, and then a leisurely stroll back along the stone and driftwood strewn beach. Days don’t come much better than this.