Things we learned: dare the birds

On most campsites there are many nice birds. You hear the Tui everywhere. Very often there are some smaller birds who are after your bread crumbs, and you find ducks everywhere close to some open water, which is the case most of the times.

We never had more and more daring birds than on this campsite though.

The ducks came straight at the humans, to look for something to eat. And of course, most guests couldn’t resist feeding them.

There are Pukekos walking around. They have a very funny way of walking. Their long legs with the extra-large feet long a bit out of proportion. And with their fierce head they look very dinosaur-like.

They would walk right at you, so that you were wondering if they didn’t see you or if they are tried to scare you away.

The ducks would eat out of your hand. A misbehavior I could not tolerate and so I tricked them with picking up little rocks and throwing them in front of them. They jump on them looking for the bread crumbs they expected to find. Ha! Got ya! It feels really good to outsmart naughty individuals. Even if it is just a duck.

Stuff we saw:

Getting instructions…

we made it to the shore…

it is fantastic to paddle along the shore

Christy is having fun

Stop at a random beach…

another beach-stop

I found a little cove

footprints

drag the boat up the shore and relax in the sun

on the way back we had a lot of wind from the back

I think its fair to say: thats a lot of fun

Stuff we did:

The village we stayed at has little more than 20 houses. It is just at the edge of the Abel Tasman NP and therefore entrance to one of NZ most popular walks and NP.

Beside walking you can also experience the park by paddle boat. And so, there are 8 companies that offer rental kayaks and guided paddle tours.

We chose one and got our kayaks at 8:30 in the morning.

We did not make a video of the guy doing the handling and safety instructions. But we should have. It was very funny. With his broad accent he explained in a very entertaining  way how to use the boats and the dos and don’ts. A real fun start into the day.

The paddling was amazing. It was very warm so the wind didn’t bother us and we paddled from beach to beach. We paddle along rolling hills with deep green forests. The shore is a 4-meter rocky wall washed out in wild formations. In between small and large beaches with golden sand. The deep blue water in the front adds to the picture-perfect views we had during the whole day of paddling around.