Made it to Sunshine Bay!

Well what a week we had - still digesting the experience. It's going to take a while to catch up with diary for the paddling bit and it deserves separate entries because each day was so different. Not surprisingly we got the whole gamut of different weather conditions apart from snow. I think there was one day when I forgot to turn the tracker on but for the rest of the days I was fairly dilligent. We were lucky to spend the night with the heaviest rain at Gut Hut, a DOC building on Secretary Island. But as anticipated by the end of the first day we were pretty wet but free from sandfly bites, soon put right by a night under canvas in temperate rainforest.

The kayaking was tranquil and elemental by turns. When the breeze fell, it was very humid, with long white streamers of cloud hanging in each valley we paddled into. When the sun shone onto these, the humidity really made itself felt.  Al and I decided that by day three, the closest approximation could be achieved thus:

• You'll need a giant waterproof plasma TV showing stunning scenery of course...
• Turn the heater on in your bathroom and get it up to about 25 degrees in there so that it is good and steamy
• Run a cold bath and climb in, wearing all your paddling gear and a 4mm Farmer John wetsuit (handy because it keeps the sand flies off your lower body)
• Empty in all food you'll need for a week and a good shopping bag's worth of garden mulch/compost and stir around
• Now turn the shower on periodically and watch your hands and feet slowly turn white and puffy from immersion 

We had an insect shelter to eat in under a large tarp suspended between ancient beech trees but it didn't make much difference in terms of bites - we were pretty much swarmed within  minutes of landing. Individually the bites are less irritating when they occur than those of mosquitoes but the effects are cumulative; it is difficult to concentrate on any task when twenty or thirty sandflies are biting you at once. Fortunately I had long sleeves, sailing fingerless mitts, and a headnet but the latter was pretty difficult to see through.

On the plus side, the group dynamics were excellent and we all worked really well together and genuinely revelled in the experience. The paddling and the isolation were fantastic - we didn't see other people or boat traffic for days at a time. Each night saw us camping in the most fecund rain forest environment environment, with extraordinary biodiversity and tremendous mountain vistas - and wika birds the size of  spaniels trying to raid our food supplies.

It was all great - I was particularly lucky to be paddling with Al who has a inexhaustible supply of good stories and expertise in paddling in more challenging environments. The double kayaks themselves were a really good choice for the trip  - very reassuring to paddle in terms of stability, pretty fast in the water, and with ample packing space. Even when paddling in force four conditions with the waves being whipped into spray around us, we both felt entirely at home and relaxed as we batted through the waves and bent to the task of keeping the kayak moving efficiently through the water.

Keith our guide deserves a special mention for being such good company on the trip. His knowledge of the area and its history and wildlife is immense and he's an excellent trip leader - never sharing any stress he may have felt when conditions got really rough but very in tune with the environment and our route through it. I'd highly recommend Fi and Keith and Go Orange to anyone contemplating doing a similar trip in this outstanding area of natural beauty - the equipment and organisation were first rate.

And the day after the trip on the water finished Al and I did make it to Sunshine Bay, even finding time to tale in a bungy jump too to round the trip off...