Sea Kayaking Whitsundays

Whitsundays is at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. It consist of 74 emerald pine forested islands surrounded by white beaches and turquoise water. Most of the islands are undeveloped with only a few scattered resorts. The most popular way to see the islands are through sailing and yacht tours. We chose to go on a seven day independent kayaking tour. What better way to see the islands then to explore it ourselves?

We paddled out of Shute Harbor with all of our camping gear and Parker's fishing gear, seven days of food and water, our snorkel gear and a liter of sunscreen, a copy of Shantaram for me and Noble House for Parker and of course island inspired cocktails. Our 5 km paddle to our first island, S. Molle Island, was a good indicator of the adventure to come. The first couple of days were overcast, windy and the waves were big.


We made it safely to Sandy beach on S. Molle Island. Parker wasted no time and immediately casted out a line. Within minutes I heard him yelling that he hooked on something "HUGE"! We quickly realized that it was a sea turtle. We were worried that the turtle had swallowed the hook. We fought the poor thing for a good 20 minutes. Fortunately Parker only hooked the inside of the shell and we were able to set it free.

Day two was our big day to cross the Whitsunday Passage. The passage is known for it's crazy currents and tides. It was 10km to Henning Island and the weather was not promising. We checked the tide charts and went for it. We knew right away that we were in for a ride. The ocean is so deceiving, the waves were huge. Since I was up front I got most of the action. For the next three hours, I was assaulted by 3-4 foot waves. The nose of the kayak would climb the 4 footer, then it would dive 2ft into the water on the other side of the wave and the next wave would crash over my head. The waves came at me as if in slow motion but there was no escape. Parker and I paddled non-stop for three hours.

The rest of our trip was not as traumatic. We did have a couple of rough patches around some of the points but we were closer to shore. I was in awe of the beauty and danger of the water. We discovered a leak in our boat but we worked around it. Unfortunately, my camera stopped working so I only got a couple of shots. Major bummer. But the weather started to clear and we were finally able to relax on the beach. Our only real concern was checking the tides before we paddle out. Otherwise, we were on "island time". We read, fished, snorkeled and baked in the sun. Parker caught nine fish in one hour. He was in Parker heaven.

We paddled about 80 kms around the Whitsunday Islands. Now we know why people go on a tour or take a barge to the islands but we wouldn't have done it any other way. It was an unforgettable sea kayaking experience. We paddled over the Great Barrier Reef with dolphins, sea turtles and giant Manta Rays. We had most of the islands to ourselves. We had a few visitors during the day but at the end of the day they would pack up and go back to their resorts. At sunset we waved to passing yachts and sailboats from our very own beach on our private island.

Almost famous in Australia

From Australia: Sydney to Byron

The residents of Byron Bay worked together to successfully keep away the skyscrapers and fast food chains that clutter most coastal towns. Inturn, Byron remains a picturesque paradise with great cafes, shops, beaches and surf.

Parker and I decided to make Byron home for a few days to soak up the sun and play in the water. First, we purchased proper snorkel gear that is also suitable for our future dives. Then we were upgraded to shorter surf boards by default - they were out of long boards. The waves won, again, but we were able to get up a couple of times.

In a local pub, we met our two new friends Damian and Jan. Turns out we were staying at the same place. The pair are frequent visitors of Byron. They were on a three day break traveling with their 'Kostly Kombi', the coolest camper van we have seen. The next couple of days, we met each other in the communal kitchen and swapped travel stories.

Damian and Jan live three hours from Byron and they gave us an open invitation to stay with them. We enjoyed a relaxing couple of days in the cute coastal town of Mooloolaba. We especially enjoyed their favorite hole in the wall Thai restaurant that they have nicknamed Dodgy Thai. It's your typical hole in the wall, not so posh but great food and cheap.

Damian is a journalist and the weekend editor for the Sunshine Coast Daily. We were surprised when he told us that he wrote about us in his weekly column. We were quite flattered. He certainly made us sound way cooler than we actually are. At least some of it was true!

We got on well with our new friends who take a relaxed and fun attitude towards life. We were excited to find out that we were all going to be in Amsterdam the same time next year. Also, I think we have convinced them to put Austin Texas on their travel list.

Link to Damian's Column:

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2010/05/16/only-the-depth-varies-opinion/

No Guidebooks and No Road Maps: Australia

From Australia: Sydney to Byron

Parker and I were pleasantly surprised by Sydney. Australia's capital is more populated than the whole country of New Zealand. We immediately picked up on the energy of the city. The Opera House and the Harbor Bridge is as amazing as one would expect. It dominates the Sydney harbor and skyline.

We decided to home base at King's Cross for a few days. It is a part of the city that I would compare to the East 6th St./So. Congress of Austin. It has the perfect mix of dodgy and not so dodgy. On our first night, after a few drinks at the Opera Bar, we went back to King's Cross. It was unmistakably where people go to party.

After six months of traveling, we have become very relaxed and serendipitous in our ways of wandering. We have survived this far without a single guidebook. We found that every person with a lonely planet or any guide all go to the same places. What we do is ask the locals and other travelers. Granted, we can't avoid all the hot spots but we skip a lot of tourist traps.

We have a month to road trip Sydney to Cairns through the east coast of Australia. We left Sydney without a road map and just started driving north. On our itinerary is snorkeling, surfing and a whole lot of nothing on the endless Australian beaches.

Kiwi Hospitality

Parker and I have fallen in love with New Zealand but as amazing as this country is, it is nothing without it's people, the beautiful Maori and wonderful Kiwis. In our four months in NZ, we have been fortunate to make so many new friends, locals and travelers from around the world. Through our travels we have meet trampers, fishermen, 3 teenage pig hunters, deer hunters, tahr hunters, a gold panner, sheep farmers, sheep shearers, dairy farmers, as well as the city folks and everyone in between. We have been offered rides, tea, food and places to stay. They have opened their homes to us and shared with us their way of life.

Jack is an old friend from our days on the Appalachian Trail. He is Kiwi-American. He spends half the year in the NZ summer and the other half on the A.T., what a life. He guided us around Northland and showed us some of the most special places in the North Island. He intruduced us to the Kiwi way of life, the locals and the Maori of Waitangi.

Ski and Sonya became mentors in our time at the Bay of Islands. Ski is a Tai-Chi instructor who taught us how to control our breathing and how to connect our breathing with the present. Sonya is a yoga instructor and helped us with our morning yoga routine. These two are very special and we had an instant connection. Each session with them enriched us and taught us a different way of seeing and experiencing the world.

Maraea is the leader of the Maori Tribe in Waitangi. The Maoris are the natives of New Zealand. She taught us about the rich Maori culture and she shared with us their history and stories of her people. She also gave me a traditional Kumara Ho cleansing treatment and taught us how to weave tekes (baskets), a Maori cultural art and craft.

We met Bryce and Germaine at Mavora Lakes and again in Christchurch. We discovered they are adventurers and world travelers. They were our trail doctor and nurse and they kept an eye on our progress in the South Island.

Catherine in Te Anau offered us her rental cottage. She took us into her home and gave us a glimpse of rural life in Southland.

We met Paul and Els our first week and ran into them a week later in Te Anau. They decided to hike the Kepler Track with us. They are from Holland and Els was born in NZ. They are on a six month trip to explore NZ and Australia. We enjoyed our time with them and even learned a little Dutch.

Varsha and I met at the start line of the Rotorua Marathon. We became instant running buddies and ran 15k together. We met up in Auckland and talked about meeting up during our travels and running another marathon together.

We were honored to spend the last few hours of our time in New Zealand with the creators of the Te Araroa, Geoff Chapple the CEO, Miriam Beatson the secretary and Kim Olliever thier map Guru. The Te Araroa Trust is a small group of people with a big dream of completing a path across their country. We shared with them our adventures through the South Island and shared our thoughts on how to possibly make to trail easier for the next trampers. We also offered our assistance in answering the flood of emails they get about the trail. They thanked us for honoring the spirit of the Te Araroa and told us that we were their ideal hikers.The Te Araroa was very special part of our trip and an amazing and a fitting begining to our journey.

New Zealand has always captured our imagination. It has everything Parker and I love mountains, rivers and beaches. We have enjoyed our four months in NZ and feel that we got a good glimpse of the country and it's people. We have not met many Americans and we are surprised to find ourselves in the minority among the travelers we have met. It's still a good laugh when people ask why we don't have big hair or Texan accents. We leave NZ with a list of things to do for our next visit that could easily take up another four months. We'll be back.

Cheers, New Zealand!!