Sunday 3rd September 2023
We were awake early and before breakfast we headed up the headland doing a bit of rock climbing and bush bashing to get to the top. The view was spectacular of the bays surrounding Crayfish Beach. We could see all the coral sections for our snorkel later. After a short time up there enjoying the view, we headed back down through the bush a much better option. David thought it would take about 10 mins up and 10 back, but it was a little trickier than expected. It actually took 47 mins. Laney, Josh, Florienne and Charles invited us to join them on a snorkel further afield in the bay, David stayed and had breakfast and tidied up a bit whilst I joined them. We always enjoy safety in numbers when we go away from the shallows. I saw many fish and in the deep section I saw a giant Maori Wrasse and some parrot fish. I also saw larger angel fish and many of the fish I had seen yesterday but they were all a bit bigger. We then packed up and into the kayak and after some more chatting were on our way again. We followed the coastline around the bay and then headed north along the coast of Hook Island to the most north eastern point called “The Pinnacles”. It was a little rippy around a few of the headlands, but all in all, it was very still until we headed around the Pinnacles. We then headed east around the top of Hook Island continuing along the coast, in and out of the small bays. They were so beautiful. The water was so blue, the rocks were so different all the time, both in colour and form and we saw only a few turtles today. We arrived at our camp at 1.30pm after having paddled 10.5km in just over 2 hrs. The last section we had the wind behind us. Once again it was a lovely day on the water. The tide was only a little problematic for us at Maureen Beach as it was still mid tide but the coral bank was so steep, about a 45° angle, making it very difficult to ground the kayak. We had to unpack the kayak once again to move it up the shore and tie it to a tree as requested by Salty Dog. It was a little windy after lunch so we just enjoyed a rest afternoon instead of snorkelling. The wind dropped off at about 4pm but the bay was very open and neither of us felt comfortable snorkelling today. We enjoyed a sunset dinner on the coral beach and both remarked how lucky we are to be able to take on such an adventure. We have learnt a few things for next time. The most important one is to stay 2 nights at each camp, to give you time to enjoy the paddle, as well as a day for activities (snorkelling, swimming, hiking and reading) as this afternoon is the first time we haven’t felt rushed. We have little mice at the camp again tonight, so as per every night, we make sure everything is in the kayak and no food is in the tent. We are in bed at 7.50pm and feeling very relaxed.
5L water today