I have arranged to spend my last day in New Zealand kayaking with Heide at Waiheke Island, a half hour ferry ride from Auckland Harbour.
The ferry provides us with a scenic view of Auckland, with the circular Sky Tower standing out as its centre piece. When we arrive at the island and at the kayak rental hut, we are greeted by two men in exceptionally jolly mood. I don’t think they have had many rentals today, as I suspect they have spent much of the day in the pub. One of the men doesn’t even work there.
They ask us if we are two adults or one adult and one child, in a flirty attempt to flatter thirty three year old Heide. It is just past three o’clock and I have hired the kayaks for two hours. They tell us that we absolutely must be back by five o’clock, as the sun sets around then. Or by 5:30 at least.
The sea is calm around the island, but as we get out of the harbour area, there is lots of rocky coast line, and we do some kayaking between some of the formations that capture swells. This leads to some prangs and some slightly panicky moments as waves shove us through narrow passages until eventually, and inevitably, I capsize. With this, camera number four or five of my trip (I’ve lost count) expires.
We arrive back in the quay just before 5:30 to be told that we are only just in time as they were about to call out the rescue helicopters.
Back in the city and heading towards Heide’s hostel – she has moved to one called ‘Frenz’ after a couple of nights of drunken antics by her roommates at Base - I am still wearing my wet shorts as I walk through the city. In this part of the world this may not be an unfamiliar sight, but I can’t imagine anybody being seen walking through any big city in England with wet swim shorts, so I feel somewhat conspicuous.
I get changed at Heide’s hostel and then meet up with Caz and Mary to go for a Thai dinner, which turns out to be the best Thai meal I have had on this trip, including any I had in Thailand. It’s very good value in comparison to most restaurants in the city too.
We say farewell to Heide over a few drinks before going back to the hostel for a fairly early night. We have to be up at three o’clock tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Australia’s Gold Coast.
New Zealand Part 2
No comments:
Post a Comment