w h i t e w a t e r • r i V e r • s e a • m u l t i s p o r t ... - Canoe & Kayak

Unicorns sighted in
the Bay of Islands
by Ruth E. Henderson
There was green alligators
And long necked geese
Some humpy back camels
And some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants
but sure as you’re born, the loveliest
of all was the unicorn.
I t s t a r t e d o u t a s a r e g u l a r N o r t h
S h o r e Y a k i t y Y a k c l u b t r i p .
Destination: Urupukapuka, Bay of Islands based
at Otehei Bay over Anniversary weekend. Led by
Paul & Natasha - it was sure to be organized to the
nth degree and run like clockwork.
And it was, it did, with one notable exception – one
clubbie leaked (or was it more like broadcast?) that
it was his birthday that weekend.
Friday afternoon revellers banded together and
were practically blown over from where the road
ends just past Rawhiti, down the Albert channel, to
the big island. Securing the beach front for Yakity
Yakkers, we settled in the camp’s cookhouse to
wait for the night paddlers. Apart from the usual
‘meeting and greeting’ it was a quiet night with an
8.30am muster scheduled for the next day.
Saturday dawned drab, windy and shrouded in
cloud. A good day for a book? Nope, we were
here for the kayaking! One pod elected to do a
tour of Urupukapuka Island and Waewaetorea
and Okahu which hang off the nor-eastern end
and came home elated. Their stories that night
were of dolphins.
The other pod took a compass bearing, and then
had a few hair-rising moments as out of the gloom
tourist boats sped towards the Hole in the rock
AND US. Once reaching the safety of the mainland
shore, we clung to it and inched our way north to
Deep Water Cove. Caves and narrow gaps lured
many and gave some of us, an adrenalin rush.
Witnesses never knew such a small person
could scream so loudly. I was caught out, washed
backwards and inches from needing major surgery
to my new boat and maybe to myself. My “NO, NO,
NO’s” and Chris’s “PADDLE, PADDLE, PADDLE”
worked. What a workout! What a high!
At the Cove our pod split, with one group
determined to get to Piercy Island.
They did, but the swell was too great to safely
go through the Hole in the rock. Some very tired
people congregated in the cookhouse that night.
Others running on high octane, high energy fuel
Nadia Lehmann is highly visible.
plotted…
Sneaking off to bed, I thought the birthday boy
belonged to the tired fraternity as at 9.30pm, from
the tent next door came the sound of snoring. But
the cunning devil was just catching a few winks
before the game began. The mischief makers were
bent on letting his tent down, but to their dismay
he was not in it. The hunted became the hunter…
imagine if you can - 40 & 50 year olds playing hide
and seek in the pitch black, among tent guy ropes,
flax bushes, pohutukawa trees and kayaks…
giggles, whispers, stumbles… He thought he’d
out foxed and out lasted them all, went back to his
tent and to bed only to have the revellers return
at 12.45am with the inevitable party poppers.
He could not escape. Sometime after 1am peace
reigned.
Then Noah looked out through the driving rain
Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games
Kicking and splashing while the rain was pouring
Oh them silly unicorns.
The sunshine over breakfast on Sunday was
promising…by now there were about 40 of us in
camp. A small pod (notably all using Greenland
paddles) took off straight-lining the 15km to
Piercy Island, determined to go through the Hole
in the rock. The swell defeated all but two daredevils
– Christine went inside, and Neil went right
though.
The rest of us, wanting a more restful paddle, broke
into 4 pods heading in various directions but all
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