Today’s kayaking was much more elemental than yesterday’s. The elements in question being mainly rain and wind. No more blue skies, and the rain quickly soaked us through. When we stopped on a beach to eat out lunchtime sandwiches early, the sea which had felt icy yesterday now seemed warm in comparison with our chilly toes.
One section of the coast is marked on the map as ‘The Mad Mile’ and the strong onshore wind pushed the swell up highest here. Many of the waves were high enough to blot out the horizon. Of course, they don’t have to be tsunamis to block our view as we’re only in a kayak. But it was alarming, especially when rocks would loom up out of the depths as we plunged down into a trough between waves.
As a total counterpoint, we’re now ensconced in the most extensive accommodation of our trip. With no other guests, we effectively have a 120 year old historical house in Westport all to ourselves. It’s very comfortable and beautifully decorated. We had fish-and-chips on fine china in the elegant dining room with a bottle of sparkling 2004 blanc-de-blanc from our little collection of Marlborough wines.
Oh, and I mustn’t forget the eels! They have pet eels. Not here, this was at a cafe a couple of hours back down the road. And they’re not really pets, they’re wild eels who squirm and swarm in the creek with the hope of being fed little gobbets of raw chicken on a lolly stick. They are both gross and great.
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