Kayaking
Călin / 25 August 2024
A few months back I finally joined the Auckland Canoe Club to do some kayaking. This has been on my bucket list for a while, we thought of getting more into kayaking, but it so happens that it’s been always a lower priority. Anyway, as the autumn started settling in the New Zealand, I joined the club!
New Zealand is a heaven for all kinds of water sports. The Māori preferred mode of transportation is the waka (the canoe), which makes a lot of sense, given the abundance of water, not just the ocean, but also rivers crisscrossing the island and the rough terrain. So ingrained is the waka, that the New Zealand Department of Transportation is called Waka Kotahi, which basically translates to together in the canoe. To this day, kiwis continue to be passionate about their canoes, boats, yachts, dinghies, and of course kayaks. Auckland has several marinas where people keep their watercrafts, and on the weekends (typically the summer ones) people are out on the water. Kayaking is one of the nicer ways to explore coastal beaches and islands that may not be accessible otherwise.
As a family, we’ve done a bit of recreational kayaking in the past, mostly on lakes, using sit-on-top kayaks. Sea kayaking is quite different, sea kayaks are much slicker boats, long and narrow, and require skill to navigate. The club has a number of experienced kayakers who are more than willing to share their knowledge. They take newbies on trips where they teach you the basics and watch out for you. You still do the paddling, but in a “safe environment” – with a leader who knows how to read the winds, the tides, the boats surrounding you, and the potential rocks in your path. The club members also provide classes that allow you to practice more advanced skills, such as various ways of rescue, Eskimo rolling, and more. In short, a group of very nice people who dedicate their time to bring others to the sport. And sport it is, after 2-3h of paddling in the morning, I can barely move for the rest of the day.
The trips I joined start Sunday mornings from Okahu bay. We get there around 7:45 and the leaders pick a destination they deem will work for all the people joining the paddle. The distance is typically 15-20 km. The weather needs to cooperate, that means winds less than 12 knots. I joined three of these trips until now, and it’s been a lot of fun. Today’s trip to Browns Island was particularly nice and triggered me to write this blog entry.
My first trip, back in April, was to Chelsea Estate Heritage Park. It entailed crossing the shipping channel in the Auckland Harbor and paddling under the Harbor Bridge. Luckly I went on a double kayak with the leader. On the way there, he did the steering and I just provided additional power. We stopped for a break at Chelsea Bay Beach, shot a few photos, and picked up a coffee at the Chelsea Sugar Company.
Replenished, we started on our way back, this time with me steering the kayak. Let’s just say that the performance was less than stellar. I wobbled around quite a bit – first of all, I was not used to steering and did not have the feel of how much to press the pedals. I had not adjusted the distance to the pedals properly, so I was leaning in too much rather than sitting forward. And toward the end I was running out of energy, so everything became a lot harder. That’s where my luck showed up: having an experienced kayaker driving the boat saved my hide and the day.
A couple of weeks ago we went to Karaka Bay beach. We were a larger group, with a few new people who have not paddled in a while, but they have done it in the past and were quite good. I was in a single, a nice and fast kayak. To be safe, we hugged the coastline and took advantage of the tides. On the way back the water was a bit choppy, but still fun and I managed to keep my kayak upright for the whole course!
For today’s trip, the weather was perfect, so the destination was set for Motukorea Browns Island, a small island in the Hauraki Gulf. It is only accessible by private boats, as there is nothing on the island except for a volcanic crater and birds. This was another trip where I was in a double, this time because we ran out of singles for hire. I have gotten quite a bit better at steering, and with the exception of going roundabout in one instance, the rest of the trip I kept the boat pointed where it needed to go. The way there it was also very easy: the morning sea was like glass, absolutely no wind, a few waves here and there from passing boats. We kept a good clip and got to the island in one and a half hours.
We parked on a beach on the north side of the island. A quick snack and a 10 min hike to the top of the volcano provided some spectacular views of the island itself and the surrounding landscape.
I shall keep paddling, it is a lot of fun, it gets me to places I have not visited before, and much needed exercise.