Friday 16th February – Trip out on the boat to Abel Tasman National Park

Despite concerns over the forecast during the week, when we woke at 7am it was a beautiful day to go boating! We headed off to nearby Motueka to launch the Edwards’ boat, called ‘Code 11’ which for anyone in EP is self-explanatory. But for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, ‘Code 11’ is the code you give over the radio when you go off duty at the end of a shift, so of course it’s everyone’s favourite. Nick has commemorated his best code 11 (his last one!) by naming his boat after the momentous occasion of his retirement.

Simon and I did our best to assist with preparing the boat whilst also trying to read when it was best to stay out of the way!  But the boat ramp was quiet and it wasn’t long before we were on the water, heading out to sea. Chris and I relaxed at the stern (check me out!) whilst the lads took us out, Nick even gave Simon control at times: 

It was beautiful up at the National Park.  We cruised slowly past Adele island to spot some seals and watched lots of people passing by kayaking. 

Seals with a couple of oystercatchers for scale

Kayakers paddling past Fisherman's Island

We were taken round to split apple rock where we moored up for a while and went for a swim:

Say what you see.... it's split apple rock

Simon and I swam over for a close-up and for scale...

There is some stunning coastline here (above).  I took the helm for a while on the way back and Nick was cursing the fact that we’d left all of the fishing equipment back at the house when we passed over what the radar was telling us were massive shoals of fish.

Me at the helm

That's a pretty large shoal of fish apparently...

Having started the day early, we were back into port about 130pm where I stood back and watched the other three putting some elbow grease into washing down the boat, before we grabbed a cool drink and headed back to their house.

Eddie was happy to see us as it meant that it was beach time!

Eddie had a great time chasing his ball....

.... and the view wasn't bad for us either!

Being a breezy day, the beach was crowded with kite surfers.  I had never realised that there are two types of equipment that kite surfers can use.  You’ve got the set-up that looks just like a surfboard, but there’s another set-up where there is an aerofoil underneath the board which gives the surfer the appearance of levitating a couple of feet above the surface of the water.  Check it out. I’d love to be good at something like that, but we know after my recent surfing attempt, balance just doesn’t come easy to me!

One of the levitating-type boards

A levitating board in action

Back at the house there was time to relax before we headed for dinner out at the Eddyline Brewery and Pizza Company, conveniently only walking distance away from the Edwards’.  Nick had arranged a table for eight, enabling us to meet some of the other natives.  Craft beer and pizza was always going to be a good combination for a night out. We tried a flight with a variety of their products to work out what our individual tastes were, before sinking a few of our favourites.  Conversation was easy and we had a good night. Though, even on a Friday night, we were last out of the restaurant at only about 10pm!  That seems to be how nights out go in NZ – you head out and finish earlier than us Europeans do.