A voyage around Rakiura by sea kayak had been a dream, a goal of ours for years now. Aware of global issues we wanted to connect with the natural world, which means so much to all of us. Often more than we realise during everyday life. “PROTECT WHAT YOU LOVE” expresses our purpose and vision with the mission to raise awareness and funds for Forest and Bird whose values for nature align with ours.
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This expedition compares to climbing one of the three greatest peaks of Aotearoa, but in the wild ocean environment, in small seafaring vessels, paddling around our third largest island. It's a commiting undertaking where you may be at mercy of wild weather systems and rough seas.
In 13 days, 3 hours we stepped out of our kayaks, back on the sandy beach of Oban, where we started the expedition 2 weeks earlier. It's impossible in words (but i’ll try) to make you feel the freedom, so alive and connected to nature, the fear, relief and stoke of rough passages, how small a human feels in the remote, wild and pristine natural areas of our world.
Stewart Island, Rakiura (the land of glowing skies) was visited by early Polynesian and Maori where they fished and hunted Titi, mutton birds. The early 1800s brought early European sealers and whalers who some settled, creating various small settlements around timber, boat building, farming and fishing. In 2002, Rakiura National Park was created, 157000 hectares about 85% of the island, protected and a sanctuary for the native forest and birds to regenerate and flourish. We camped among mature Rimu, Miro, Kamahi and Southern-Rata with Kiwi, Kaka and Kakariki. Paddled with little Blue Penguins, the Royal and Salvins Albatross, Fairy Prion, Giant Petrel, Skua, thousands of Turns, Shearwaters, Cormorants and Gulls. Counting a total of 35 species of native birds. We observed the behaviour of Sea Lions, 7 Gill sharks and Fur Seals. Tasted sea salt, seaweed, kelp, shellfish, crayfish and various finfish. Warmed and cooked with fires aware of minimising our human impact, leaving no trace of our visit.
We began in Oban traveling anti-clockwise along the coastline sometimes close in bays where we could hear bird song, sometimes over 5 kilometres offshore where 5-6 metre swell would surge up and down beneath us, often losing sight of each other in the multi-story house size waves. Coastlines are made up of golden granite beaches, sometimes massive crashing surf or long stretches of weathered cliffs battered and bashed by storms formed in the southern ocean. We'd often see a splash 12 metres high with sea spray into the treetops. The ocean felt alive around the Rakiura, powerful currents formed by Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea, where incoming and outgoing tides would flow up to 5 knots, at times with us, and other times against. Sometimes at tidal bottlenecks like the South Cape, it would stand waves up to 6 metres high. This is where we felt especially small, exposed to the great southern ocean to our right, kilometres of battered cliffs to our left and confused chop from the rebounding waves. All we could do was keep on paddling on.
Even though we experienced challenging days, which some may say are type 2 fun, sitting in the seat of your kayak for 10 hours, paddling 60 kilometres, getting motion sick, sore and tired, wet and sweaty all were physical and physiological challenges we faced day in, day out. Our comfort zones grew time and time again to a stage where getting up in the dark, putting those damp paddling clothes on and heading out to sea. Using strenuous amounts of energy paddling against headwinds, getting whipped in the face with sea spray became normal, part of our life and I now look back upon it fondly. It gave us insight of what we are capable of and how far we can push the limits, how much you can learn and grow from living at one with our natural world.
“ It’s not enough to simply appreciate our natural world; we must also protect it, preserve it, regenerate it, care for it.”
However, as well as telling our story, sharing our feelings and photos we want to share how we felt about the responsibility of an adventure to our wild places. It's not enough to simply appreciate our natural world; we must also protect it, preserve it, regenerate it, care for it. All of us, eyes wide in awe. This is our responsibility as kaitiaki of one of the most amazing places on earth. We all rely on the natural world to learn about where we came from and how far we can go, testing our limits, gathering food, finding freedom and what road to travel down next.
Rakiura’s coastlines are some of New Zealand's most remote places however they are not immune to the effects of unsustainable human impacts. Everyday it was hard to see some form of anthropogenic impact on the land and sea taking away from that wilderness we value so much.
We watch fishermen chop the heads and fins off sharks for New Zealand’s fish and chip culture, caught in the unstable practice of gill netting. We found rubbish, mostly plastic waste, a lot of commercial fishing gear just washed up on remote pristine beaches. Our oceans and marine life NEED ATTENTION. Our approach to this expedition was to witness and be part of nature, to observe human impacts in one of New Zealand’s most remote pristine areas. It’s great to see so much of Rakiura protected, and so much effort going into protecting individual species like Sea Lions and Hoiho however their entire habitat is at risk with only 0.05% of New Zealand marine area protected in Marine Reserves, sanctuaries to another whole ecosystem that provides life on earth for us and everything else that we share earth with. In 2016, the World Conservation Congress, held in Hawaii, overwhelmingly passed a motion urging governments to set aside 30% of marine environments as protected areas by 2030. New Zealand abstained from voting in this. A bold movement is needed and that is why we want to direct our efforts and funds with Forest and Bird towards a marine environment we can be proud of.
Thank you a thousand times to those of you who have supported us along the way, supporting Forest and Bird, aiding their mission in “defending New Zealand wildlife and wild places, on land and in our oceans”. We are dedicating donations to creating and protecting Marine Reserves and the Zero Bycatch petition. Follow Forest and Birds plan to deliver Zero Bycatch here. Protect what you love!
Thanks for your support, we have our Waka on the water for change
Written by Gabe & Blake