Day 8: Time has Come…
We
started out from Torrent Bay Lodge, and paddled past a largish bay
called The Anchorage to the south. We then paddled around the head to
the east and into Te Pukatea Bay, with a beautifully round beach. Whitey
took Team Extreme on a short hike up to the site of a pa, or Maori fortification.
When we got to the site, the first thing Whitey pointed out was "a
ditch." He explained that on one side of the ditch would be a wall about
8'-9' high, with a platform on the inside for the defenders to stand on
to "chuck things" at the attackers. The pa was not intended for everyday occupation; it was a refuge for the residents of a village under attack.
From the position of the pa,
which was logically the highest point on the headland, we could see our
kayaks in Te Pukatea Bay, and the sandbar of Torrent Bay. There was a
tight loop at the end of the trail, with a couple of tall trees in it.
In one of the trees was a bird that made several loud calls. We strained
to see it, but it was so well camouflaged we never did.
Back
in the kayaks, and we started paddling around the lower part of the
small peninsula, and south toward Adele Island. Whitey was hoping to be
able to sail a bit, but the normal sea breeze did not blow. Instead,
there was a bit of wind blowing in toward shore, creating just a bit of
chop. Today those skirts were doing their job! We paddled down to Adele
Island for a few more glimpses of seal pups, then paddled back toward
shore and Apple Tree Bay.
If
Whitey told us why it's called Apple Tree Bay, I didn't hear it, but I
recognize the layout of it on a map. We had lunch there along with some
gulls, and some ducks that flew in to greet us. After lunch, we paddled
back out and along the coast. We paddled past Coquille Bay and Tinline
Bay, and on into Sandy Bay, where we were encouraged to paddle into and
backward out of a couple of shallow caves. We also had a bit of fun
paddling around a couple of rocks jutting from the water just off the
main cliff face.
To
get past Sandy Bay, we had to paddle across a boat lane marked with
buoys, careful to make sure no motorboats were traveling through it. We
paddled on past the Otuwhero inlet, paddled past Towers Bay with its
luxurious homes and condos on the cliff high above the sea. We paddled
past Honeymoon Bay, where Split Apple Rock is. We paddled along Breaker
Bay. We paddled through the channel between the township of Kaiteriteri
and Kaka Island. Finally, we paddled up onto the beach at Kaiteriteri!
I guess my point is, we did a lot of paddling that day.
From
there the bus took us back to Wilsons HQ, where we exchanged email
addresses with our fellow members of Team Extreme and said our
farewells. DW and I got back into the car and drove east--along the main
coastal highway this time. We passed through Richmond and Nelson,
knowing we wanted to spend some time in the Marlborough region, but
unsure where we wanted to make our base. When we got to the intersection
with the Rapaura Road, where we had turned toward Nelson five days
before, we followed the signpost pointing to Blenheim (pronounced blen-əm, not blen-hyme as one might think).
Blenheim
is a charming little township with a vibrant downtown. After driving
around a bit, we found a room at the "Blenheim Boutique Hotel", the
building probably about 35 years old, but with a lobby and restaurant
fully updated to the 21st century. One bonus was that laundry facilities
were available to guests at no charge, and the washers even had
soap-dispensing machines attached! This helped greatly to eliminate the
sea-scent most of our things had picked up. After a pleasant meal at one
of the restaurants we had driven by, we had no trouble falling asleep
in short order.
Even if we hadn't quite decided what to do the next day…
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