French Pass and Beyond

Our time here on the South Island is coming to a close.  We have been so busy since our last post.  We have a few days before we catch a ferry so I wanted to get the blog caught up. 

We left Pohara and returned to Motueka. It was the place where we knew we could get all the supplies we would need once we left the main road. The next several days would be on narrow and twisty roads. We were hearing of high winds coming and we didn’t know what this would mean for circumnavigating d’Urville Island. It has a cape that extends out into Cook Strait, Cape Stevens..Rounding it is always iffy. Think “Brooks Peninsula.” The best time to round it would be at a slack tide with low winds. We were not sure that we would get those conditions. At the other end of the island, near the launch point is a current feature , like Deception Pass, called French Pass. Need to time that right as well. We had quite a few challenges above just the weather and timing. We had to find camp sites that would accommodate our group size. 

Map of d’Urville Island. 

French Pass in the distance

In the end, after much discussion the decision was made to camp in French Pass for a few nights and take a day paddle to a cafe in Catherine Cove. It was a good decision because the wind did come up the following day. We had a group of impressive Manta rays that visited the beach each day looking for hand outs. We have so many pictures of them but I think this picture of Marty gives an idea of the size. 

With the threat of bad weather we headed to Elaine Bay. It was pretty protected, but we still got hit with some weather. The campground itself was absolutely stunning. We had views and there were several very nice hikes we could walk if we couldn’t or didn’t want to get out on the water. It has been, so far my favorite campground (although the one we are in now is a close second). We also had rays at this site and they were varied.

A different species of ray. 

Sunrise at Elaine Bay

A view from Arther’s Trek, near Elaine Bay

Finally it was time to leave Elaine Bay and point our heads toward the North Island again. We got out of camp and drove 30 minutes to Okiwi Bay. We put in at 11:00am and paddled about 10 miles along incredible rock formations and cliffs. After playing for a long time we knew we needed to quit or we would never get down the road. There was always something more around the corner. We went through slots and caves. Marty got most of it with his GoPro. Maybe someday we will post it on our YouTube channel. 

We spent last night cleaning up, doing laundry, scratching too many to count sand fly bites, and reorganizing the car. For the next few nights we are in Waikato Bay Holiday Park. Did I mention how cool this park is. The TV room is an airplane fuselage. We are in a super cute cabin.

 We’ve done more cleaning of gear and are planning our next moves. We will update again.  I’m going to close with this picture of Marty’s form. It’s pretty much perfect and the boat was doing exactly as it should. Catch you all later.