The weather could not have been more perfect that day, and the water was amazingly clear. Within 5 minutes of kayaking we could see sting rays swimming around us in the water…I thought about jabbing them with my paddle (hmm is that thing a paddle or an oar? Now I can’t remember, but I’m going to stick with paddle even though that sounds like something you beat people with!) in honor of Steve Irwin, but I figured the kayak guide might get pretty upset by that! There’s an island off the coast of Abel Tasman called Tonga Island, and it is where a lot of NZ fur seals live. We were going to kayak around there since we were doing the seal kayak tour, but Dave decided to take us kayaking around the coast first. Surprisingly, there were a lot of seals just hanging out on the rocks around the coast, and there were even quite a few swimming in the water. We couldn’t get TOO close because we would have scared them off, but we did get pretty close to them. The guide said it was a good time to be there because the pups are just old enough that they’re able to start getting in the water and exploring things on their own. They were swimming and splashing around together, which, of course, was adorable. There are a few paths in Abel Tasman so people can walk through, but some of the beaches and areas we visited in the kayak are only reachable by boat. One of those places was an area called Shag Harbour (Da If you were just kayaking by, it wouldn’t look like much, but when we kayaked into it, it was actually a massive lagoon/beach/sandy/rocky area. Hmmm, not the best description, but I’m sure you get the idea! When it’s high tide, people can kayak through Shag Harbour, but since the tide was low, we got out and walked. When we first swam into the harbour there was a seal pup playing in the water. He swam around, climbed up on a rock, stared at us, and then proceeded to run away. The guide said sometimes seals play in that area because it’s so private and quiet, so he told us to keep an eye out for more. I have to say Shag Harbour was incredible. It was so quiet except for the sound of the water moving around and birds chirping in the trees. It literally felt like we were the only people in the world at that moment. It seemed so cut off from civilization, and it was just the 5 of us out there in the park. We came across this area pretty far back in the harbour. It was dead silent except for one small seal pup swimming around all by himself. It was one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed. We werein the middle of this gorgeous place, and there was this one little seal pup just playing by himself in the water. No disturbances, no interruptions, nobody bothering him. You don’t get to see stuff like that in St. Louis, that’s for sure! I’ve seen seals at the zoo, but to see them exploring, playing and swimming in their natural habitat was amazing. Of course, I had left my camera in the kayak so I didn’t get any pictures of that seal. Go figure!
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