Lazing in Golden Bay

I’ve just got back from ten days of lazing in Golden Bay, still the most bestest part of New Zealand.

We climbed, kayaked, ran, swam, rode, and pictionaried. Brendan and Andy joined us for a few days half way through and Katie did a cycling mission up to Takaka and we caught up with her briefly too.

Above left: We didn’t have such a good start to the trip with a tyre on the trailer needing replacing in Lewis Pass. The weather was very nice in the pass though so it wasn’t too bad. Above right: It was a beautiful day so we headed out in kayaks to the Tata Islands off Tata Beach.

Above Left: We landed on the island and had a bit of ginger beer to celebrate. Above Right: The island was inhabited by many shags.

Above left: We found some seals lazing on a collection of rocks poking out of the sea. They were extremely lazy which meant we could get quite close. Above right: Mr Seal (actually he was given the name Theodor) on the rock.

Above left: We found an arch to kayak through and quickly took a posy photo. Above right: Did I mention that the weather was perfect?

Above left: We went for a cruise to Wanui Inlet after lunch. Above right: And had a kiwi BBQ in the evening.

Above left: Even the tuis wanted to join in on the fun. Above middle: I made a feeble attempt at doing some road cycling in the morning. Above right: Dad posed with his boat.

Above left: The sun set. Above right: I went running along the Abel Tasman Track until I was thwarted by high tides at the Awaroa Inlet.

Above left: The beach at Totaranui looked great as usual. Above right: Silly walks were executed on the way to Anapai Bay.

Above left: Mum and I went for a walk to Anapai Bay and I posed a little. Above right: We met a sea gull and seal (Theodor again) that seemed to have decided that they weren’t going to talk to each other any longer.

Above left: The rest of the family came looking for us in their sailing boat. Ahem… row boat/slow boat. Above right: I went exploring on a little island which had a nice view.

Above left: I attended the crab festival between the rocks but somehow I didn’t fit in. Above right: The shags were curious but unphased as we paddled past on our return. Tata Islands are covered in them.

Above left: We were treated to all manner of nice sunsets and sunrises while we were there. Above right: We hung out with Tristan Bray for a morning and went climbing with a bunch of people he knew.  We met at the Espresso Ship. It’s a boat that you can board and drink coffee/hot chocies.

Above left: I climbed with Holly a couple of times at the sea cliffs and with Andy and Brendan once at Paynes and once at the sea cliffs. Above right: We lit a fire a couple of times in the evening and cooked potatoes and other goodies wrapped in foil in the fire. We toasted the sausages above the embers with sticks.

Above left: Brendan, Andy, and I did some easy climbs at Track 5 at Paynes Ford. Our finger strength was rubbish but fun was still to be had. Above right: After climbing we went swimming at the Paynes Ford Swimming Hole. It was much fun as always.

Above left: We even caught up with Sylvia at her folks’ house in Takaka. Above right: Brendan and I went running to Taupo Point in the Abel Tasman National Park one evening.

Above left: Running across the sand was hard work but the views were good. Above right: While running back from Taupo Point in the Abel Tasman NP we were chased by pigs who turned out to just want to have a bit of a grunt with us and snuffle around for food. Brendan wanted a gun. I wanted a sandwich.

Above left: While Brendan and I were out running, Holly and Andy cooked up a storm. Delicious salad, spuds in the fire. Sausages. The works. Above right: Ligar bay looked nice by day and by night.

Above left: Brendan was looking for a good way to protect himself from the sun… Above middle: Andy and Dad went sailing a couple of times. The first time there was very little wind and they passed the time waggling the rudder backwards and forwards in an attempt to move. The second time there was a good amount of wind and it wasn’t just from Andy. Above right: Brendan, Holly, and I went and lazed at Wainui Inlet one day and Brendan was nearly slaughtered by a flying book as he descended onto the beach. Watch out for those flying books, they’re nasty.

Above left: Brendan showed off his amazing talents at sculpturing breasts and his not so amazing talents at sculpturing the rest of the female body. Sand castles were out, breasts were in. Above right: Holly and Brendan went on a mission to collect a load of iron sand. They then put Joanne the fridge magnet to work to refine the sand and remove the non-metallic bits. Holly admires Joannes handy work in this picture.

Above left: The wind was good and Holly and Brendan went out for a sail after Andy was finished with sailing. Above right: I picked up Katie from Richmond with her mum after Katie did a cycling mission up there. We caught up with her briefly the next day and got out for a quick kayak around the lagoon.

Above left: Holly, dad, and I went for another kayak out to our favourite spots around the Tata Islands on our last day in the bay. We’d been out there a number of times during the holiday to see the shags and seals on the rocks. I did some deep water soloing around the rocks under the arch. Yay. Above right: The seals were often uninterested in us paddling around their rocks but in this case both seals started swimming with the kayak. This one swam after us and then swam backwards and forwards under the kayak.

Above left: Holly named the seals Theodor and Madison. I think this is Theodor being lazy on his rock. Above right: At the top after leading Sweet Jane (16) on the Black Vegetable Wall. Frauke and I climbed this a couple of years ago too.