Paddle and Drive For Your Life

Nelson > Motueka > Marahau > Takaka > Collingwood > Farewell Spit >Picton

Nelson is a popular stop for travelers; it is a gateway city to the Abel Tasman National Park. I’m sure the national park has a lot of amazing wildlife, but what we wanted to do here was kayak.


After our usual breakfast of tea and toast, we headed out to Marahau where our hostel advised we could rent kayaks. Savvy travelers never go with the brochures or street ads. Thankfully each major city in the South Island has Information Centres.

Our Adorable Private Double Room

Tasman Bay Backpackers

Ready for a Day of Kayaking

Driving from Nelson, we passed through vineyards and began climbing hills again. By 10:30am, we arrived in Marahau and went straight to the Information Centre. We told the desk exactly what we wanted: to rent a kayak for two for the entire day. They had exactly what we ordered. We paid $65 each and were on our way to a lesson behind the building with a major kayaking company. Dave and I had been kayaking before in Laos, but the rules didn’t really apply there. In Laos, we were given a 5 minute demo and got most of lessons on the water. With this Abel Tasman company, we had to demonstrate our learnings of how to flip a kayak right side up when flipped in the water. We also got to wear a sort of jumper skirt, which fits around the seats so water doesn’t leak in. This was the largest kayak we’d ever been in, but this was also the first time we would be in the ocean where the chances of flipping over were greater.

By 11:15, we were pushing our kayak into the water and paddling out past the current. We paddled over 9km that day returning the vessel by 4pm. During the day, we paddled hard past the red zones where boats were boating or pulling jet skiers and tubers. We encountered two caves where we could test our backwards rowing skills out the cave. 

The Beach

Setting Up For Picnic on the Beach

We landed on the beach by 1pm and had our lunch, which consisted of a bacon cheese loaf bought at the local grocery store, lime and pepper kettle cooked chips and bananas – the perfect diet for hard paddling in the summer heat. We were surprised at how hot the day was. When we arrived in New Zealand, we needed to wear our sweaters. Here, we were paddling in bathing suits and sun tanning on the beach.

Carbing Up

The Water Receding Exposing the Beach

Black Sand & Regular Sand

While I slept/suntanned Dave went around the beach and found two very peculiar things. First he found a dead blue penguin. Later he walked me over to see it and it was indeed a dead penguin and sadly lying next to a soda can. The other interesting he found was black sand. He held it in his hand like it was silver speckled black play doh. It reminded me of the sidewalks on 5th Avenue in NYC.

Smooth Paddling

After lunch, we decided to go see the seals at an island across from our beach. At first glance, it looked close, but once in the water, it seemed very far away. At lunch time, the tide peaked and began to recede. However, this had no effect on our paddling towards the island. The further we got from mainland, the bigger waves became. We paddled hard and paddled strong because if we didn’t, we would surely flip over. At times we had to lean into the waves to ensure our balance was protected. We finally reached the island, despite our fear into crashing into the rocks. We rounded the corner and found no seals. It wasn’t a big disappointment because around the corner, our kayak was now parallel to the waves allowing the waves to carry us further towards our final destination. We didn’t even need to paddle. We sailed blissfully around the island towards the boat ramp.

Made it Past the Rough Waves

By 4pm, the tide had receded so much that the kayak companies used tractors to pick up our kayaks. We handed our kayak over and walked the rest of the sand bar to the car park. I’m not usually a body vs nature sports person, but kayaking is something I think I’d like to take up and Sydney is just the place for it. One thing I’d like to try next is paddle boarding. If I can paddle sitting, why not challenge myself standing?


We were at a crossroads after our day of kayaking. Our next hostel was located in Picton, another 150km from Nelson (the shortest distance we would travel between sleeps), but we were 100km from the most northern point of the South Island and the longest sandbar in the world Cape Farewell.


“We don’t know when we’ll be back” was our mantra, which led us to keep driving north to Cape Farewell. Unfortunately this 100km drive turned into 2.5 hours of climbing and descending hills around the Abel Tasman National Park and Kahurangi National Park next door. By 6:30pm, we arrived at Cape Farewell. The tide was so low exposing a long 12km sandbar, where local wildlife fed on the exposed sea life.

Lookout on the Way to Cape Farewell

Saw a Rainbow

Exposed Sandbar at Cape Farewell

Painted Rental Caravans All Around New Zealand

We stayed only 15 minutes because we were about to face the longest drive of our trip. Circling back towards Nelson, we deliberated whether or not to forego the deposit on the Picton hostel and stay in Nelson or to push on because after all what’s 150km more?

We arrived back in Motueka 8pm and called the Picton hostel asking if they would be able to check us in if we arrived late. They instead did us one better. The left an envelope with Dave’s name on it with the key to our room in the mailbox, so we would be able to pick it up anytime. I’m glad they didn’t ask us where we were, because they would have laughed. We were so far away.

The Rain Chasing Us

After eating the dirtiest $11 tray of Chinese buffet food, we got back into the car where facing one of the hardest drives; not only for the distance, but also the terrain, driving at night and the rain chasing us over the mountains in the Mt Richmond Forest Park. The drive should have taken us half the time if we drove in the daylight. We arrived at our Picton hostel at 11:45pm exhausted and hating national park hills. Our tired bodies hit the bed hard.


Trip Extras:

• Kayak at The Abel Tasman National Park at Marahau (rent one when you get there, no later than 10am) Other extended trips available at Information Centre
• Pack a picnic, bathing suit and plenty of water for the beach and the day's worth of kayaking
• Manage your time so you can drive to Cape Farewell
• Plan to stay in Nelson after the kayak trip or drive earlier to Picton to avoid night driving in the Mt Richmond Forest Park
• Accommodation: Tasman Bay Backpackers ($70/night for private double room)