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BARRY ROUNDING PUYSEGUR POINT
BARRY WITH HIS 15KG GROUPER, AND SIMON, DOUG & ALASTAIR

We’ve spent another day at Harriet and Phil’s house in Westport as the swell this morning looked pretty intimidating and the forecast said it was 4 metres again. Last night we made the mistake of looking at the place we planned to land next on Google Earth and counted 4 or 5 few lines of surf rolling into the beach with a couple of lines at the end of the river mouth. It suddenly didn’t feel quite so ‘bombproof’ as a sheltered landing and we decided to wait until tomorrow to paddle there when the swell is meant to be lower ( just 7 or 8 feet!). Maybe the google earth photo was taken during a northerly swell and it would have been fine,,, but then again maybe not. Either way, we are going to paddle tomorrow and take on whatever surf landing we find ( or don’t find). Today Brian took us for a drive to Charleston where we went for a walk along the cliffs. The surf looked quite manageable at times, but there were some massive sets coming through and smashing up the cliff faces. At least the gaps mean that if there is surf on the landing tomorrow, we should be able to time it so we land in a lull. We also went for a bike ride around town today and chilled out a bit.

Swedish kayaker Babs is about 150km ahead of us also stuck by big surf, check out her website here She’ll hopefully be able to get away tomorrow aswell, although it would be fun if we manage to catch up with her before she finishes her circumnavigation in Picton in the next week or 2.

Thanks again to Harriet & Phil, Brian and the other nice people we’ve met in Westport.

JUSTINE IN FJORDLAND ON THE DAY WE PADDLED PAST MILFORD SOUND
BARRY VYING FOR SOME OF THE ATTENTION THAT THE ‘GIRLS’ PADDLING AROUND THE SOUTH ISLAND ARE GETTING!

We’re having a day off in Westport. We could probably have made good progress north today as there is a SW tail wind but the forecast is for 4 metre swell so we stayed put. In fact we have a sheltered launch at the harbour in Westport and the next place that we plan to land is, according to Paul Caffyn, one of the best sheltered landings on the West Coast so we’d probably have been fine, but the forecast for the next 2 days is good aswell with a lower swell, and we felt like a rest and some good eating while we are in a town!

SUNSET AT OKARITO
DINNER WITH JAN AND WHISKERS
Yesterday we had a following sea again and even after a bit of a lie-in, we arrived around 3.30pm. We walked a couple of kilometres into town for some food and a look around, and when we got back we camped on the beach by the kayaks. This afternoon we found out that a friendly local, Harriet, who the Sweedish kayaker Babs stayed with was looking for us to offer us a place to stay. After a few phonecalls and a chance meeting with a friend of hers, Brian, on the beach, we’re now in her lovely house getting showered, washing our clothes & using the internet. I’m ashamed to say that our clothes have only been washed twice in the last 55 days – they can practically walk into a room by themselves, so it’s great to have them clean again! We’re continuing to be amazed and grateful for all the help and support we’re getting from locals in NZ.
JUSTINE ROUNDING CAPE FOULWIND YESTERDAY
Once we leave here, we hope to paddle about 60km to the Little Wanganui River which is the sheltered landing Paul mentioned, and then we plan to wait for a good weather day and paddle as far as we can as there isn’t much more protection from the swell until we round Farewell Spit. Paul told us about a few places which offer some protection so we’ll try to reach one of those, and with luck round the spit the following day. We shall see!! Meanwhile we’re enjoying a sunny day off, we had a dip in the sea this morning, a nice pub meal at lunchtime and Harriet is planning a BBQ for this evening.
BARRY AT GREEN’S BEACH
This is now my longest ever kayak trip – today is day 51 and Barry and I are still talking to each other! In fact we worked out that in the last 55 days ( including travelling & preparing time) the most time we’ve spent apart is about an hour, and that was when I was sick and sleeping at Tim & Jacqui’s house, so we must be getting on OK! We did think about going to see different films at the cinema in Westport just to get a bit of space, but Harriet tells us there’s only 1 film showing here so there goes that idea!
BAZ & JUSTINE AT THE FOX GLACIER

Stopped in Westport after safe landing. 47km fast paddle with foul wind and big swell at the cape. Walked into town for fish and chips – icecream and beer tonight!

S41°44.23' E171°35.55'

[alex on behalf of jc]

Stopped at Seal Island after 51km in 6 hours! Wind and swell were with us. Very pretty limestone cliffs and a protected landing. Met some playful dolphins. Had a great morning with Paul and friends before setting out.

S42°02.09' E171°22.20'

[alex on behalf of jc]