It was a 7am alarm call in order to meet at the kayak office for 8.15. It had been another slightly restless night, perhaps we were getting too old to rough it in our basic camper van. We felt like the poor relation in between a lot of the self-contained campers around, and there was envy seeing people able to stand up straight in their vans!

Annoyingly, there was a lot of faffing and waiting around at the kayak office. Cerys was getting grumpier by the minute (some hormonal interference was also playing a role!). Added to which, the guide, Chris, reminded me of one of the actors from the film Road Trip. Über cocky, very self absorbed. He clearly enjoyed kayaking, but I think forgot that he was the guide most times.

We were a small group going out, 5 of us were kayaking from the highest point that the water taxi could take us. We waded through the cold sea on arrival, which sent Cerys' circulation haywire - white fingers and toes and blue legs! Luckily, the sun was coming out. We had a quick briefing on the beach, but Chris didn't help with the kayak skirts or launching off (unlike Marky Mark when we did our other kayak trip in Hahei). He also seemed to lack knowledge of history/nature in the area and instead flirted with the girl that was sharing his kayak, instead of even telling us where we were headed. By this point, Cerys was beyond grumpy.

We stopped for lunch which was a good time to dry off from sea spray and warm up. For $199 per person, the fare was pretty basic, a roll and a muffin. Frustratingly, the guide wasn't adding much value either! He didn't even have a watch, and we had to rely on the Dutch guy's camera to tell us the time. Thankfully, the scenery was beautiful.

We had been promised that the trip would involve some sailing, which Chris was keen to unleash. Ditching the exploration of another island, he got the sail out which had to be held by all of us in the kayaks. He'd previously told us that it worked better with at least 4 kayaks. He wasn't joking - the sail barely got up, the poor Dutch girl in the middle kayak got totally drenched, Cerys and the Irish girl at the front flanks were charged with holding the sail as well as the other kayaks together, an impossible task in the high wind... The boys in the back seemed to have it a little easier, pushing the foot peddles and holding the sail up with their paddles.

We were swiftly overtaken by another group (incidentally the other company that we had thought about booking with who seemed to be managing with ease with their 6 kayaks), and then we were instructed to let go of the sail. I hadn't realised this would leave Stef without a paddle, and we were the only kayak without a spare paddle; so I had to struggle across the wind for about 200m to get to Chris to retrieve it. I was frustrated that he didn't make any effort to get any closer to us. (Can you tell I was in a foul mood by this point?!)

Chris seemed to have lost all interest in guiding us by this point, and decided we didn't have time to go and see the other tributary that we were meant to have kayaked up, making the trip seem more like a waste of good money. We headed back for Anchorage, where we waited nigh on an hour for our water taxi back to Marahau.

It was good to get back on solid ground, showered and back in the van to head for Nelson where we had decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out. We decided to stay in a camp site fairly near the town centre, and whilst the area wasn't the most beautiful we'd stated in, it was small, clean, had all the amenities and best of all a super friendly owner, Chrissy.

Chrissy was a font of info on the do's and don't's in town. She warned us off parking in the town centre backstreets where there had been a spate of car break-ins by knife wielding youth. Our first warning of potential crime in NZ. I also said we'd fancied trying our hand at fishing, and she made some phone calls for us. We had seen a trip advertised for $95 ppn, but that was based on 10 people in the boat, which could cost us $1000 if it was just us! Suddenly, Chrissy remembered her brother in law would likely be out fishing. She called his wife who said he could collect us from Duncan Bay at 7.30am. Although another early start (5.30am!) wasn't ideal, we went for it having heard that the weather was meant to turn on Sunday. We were given vague instructions on how to get there and the kind of boat to look for, and with that set off for dinner into town.

We had a quick stroll around the city (though it was more like a town really, albeit organised as a grid) which had a good vibe to it. We ate at Hopgoods. The back wall out by the restaurant toilets were littered with awards that the restaurant had won. The food did not disappoint either. Stef had a delicious fillet beef and I had a great pork belly. We enjoyed the recommended glass of wine for our respective dishes, and at 10pm decided we should turn in before our early start tomorrow.