Abel Tasman Day 3

Sunny day. The park ranger comes around in the morning and tells me that I am not allowed to camp on the beach. I tell him sorry and tell him it will never happen again. He also wants to look at my booking document. I show him the number that I copied down from my online booking but he says that I must have the actual document. I tell him that I couldn’t print it out and he lets me slide. The couple form Switzerland are heading up to Shagg harbor and after I break camp (and move it off the beach) I head north as well. I find Shagg harbor almost by accident. I happen to see a pod of kayaks go into a small opening in the rocks and this turns out to be Shagg harbor. When I turn in I meet my new friends just as they are about to head back. The little harbor is only accessible during high tide and contains a bunch of seal pups. They are very playful and have absolutely no fear of us. I take a bunch of pictures then I start paddling back to the campsite. On my return I find that the tide is complete out so it’s about 200yrds from the edge of the water to the campsite. So I haul all my gear to the boat and get it packed and head back south.

I stop and spend some time on Adele Island on a small beach. It is deserted as most of the tours have completed for the evening but the sun is shining and I take some time to sit and just enjoy the afternoon. I found a small cave that was hidden by trees in the side of the cliffs on the beach. It is not very deep but very tall and filled with ferns. It’s very lovely. After an hour or so I finish the paddle back to the beach and found Homey unmolested. I take my time cleaning and repacking my stuff.

While I’m backing my stuff I talk a bit to two local older guys who are cooking on a camp stove and chat a bit then a bunch of people show up they are a group of young people from all different nationalities. It turns out that they are a bunch of Politic kids having a picnic. The old guys seem make a few disparaging remakes about the Asian ones and I just smile and say nothing. I think that racial prejudice is very much in evidence in this part of the world. This was not the first comment of this kind that I have heard from a local. A Danish gentleman come over and asked if I am going to stay the night as he and his wife plan to but aren’t sure if they will get hassled or not. I tell them that I’m not but only because the car has been parked here for a few days and I thought that I was pushing it.

I not head down the road a bit to Katierine where the large car park is and a large percentage of the kayak companies launch out from. I sneak a load of laundry and a hot shower from the camp site then head back the way I came but instead of returning to the beach I go up a road that takes me to a vacant lot that overlooks the water. I spend the night there and think how nice it would be to have a house on this spot.