Sea, Sand & Sun

It is impossible to do the South Island of New Zealand in three weeks or less; therefore, one makes do with glimpses and snatches, here and there. An important rule when booking activities or tours, is to use the ones that help you find a sitter. Kaiteriteri Sea Kayaking did just that, so Dave & I happily abandoned Mikaela for the morning to take their Split Apple Classic Tour.

It was the perfect day; the sun was shining and Kaiteriteri Beach was a long stretch of golden sand...littered with sea kayaks and guides at 8:30 am. Our tour guide was a young, Japanese man named Hiro. Oddly enough, he reminded me of Hiro on Heros - all awkward and cute. I relinquished the back of our two-person kayak to Dave so he would feel manly, and we set out on our journey. Dave & I were superstars, we put that family from the UK and the two Japanese girls to shame. Sadly, we also were reprimanded by Hiro for going too far out to sea and getting too far away from the group. I was sufficiently apologetic for this lapse in judgement, while Dave celebrated being a rebel.

The Split Apple Rock is the landmark in Abel Tasman, legend has it it that the rock was split, like an apple, by the sword of Zeus while battling with Neptune over the hand of Dione. Zeus actually won that battle and the hand of Dione; exactly how this rock made it's way to NZ is a bit murky. The kayaking was effortless, the scenery beautiful, and the company (Dave) tolerable. In Dave's words, I actually felt a moment of contentment and relaxation. Several consecutive ones, and we even managed to squeeze in lunch before picking up Mikaela. We returned to Kaiteriteri Beach again for the afternoon, this time just building sand castles and jumping waves. A fabulous real start to our vacation...