Tramping (Hiking) in New Zealand #23: Kayak camping in Abel Tasman National Park Day1 no.1

Kayaking Day1: Marahau to Mosquito Bay campground in Abel Tasman National Park

Type: Out and back 

Time Spent: 6 hours

Day2 Distance: km ( miles)

Elevation change: on the sea!

We had a reservation for 2 night/3 days kayak camping trip in Abel Tasman National Park. This is the shore of the very north of the south island. 

In the morning we went to the Abel Tasman Kayaks. This is the company we booked. We rented a kayak for 3 days. They booked camping site for us. Some companies only do guided kayak tours, but this company Abel Tasman Kayaks offers not only guided day kayaking trip but also freedom multiple day kayak rentals. Here "freedom" means kayaking without a guide, basically just give us a kayak. 

We were wondering if there was a choice to rent one 2-person kayak or two of 1-person kayaks. There was no choice. They lended us a 2-person kayak. Probably they do 2-person kayak for a party of 2 because of a law that prohibits single kayakers with rented ones. 

Because email instructions said check-in time is 8:30 a.m. and come 15 minutes earlier, we arrived around 8:15 a.m. One Abel Tasman Kayaks person was assigned for 3-4 groups. Our assigned person was Jack. He was a relaxed guy with a long hair. He wore T-shirt and shorts with flip-flops. Nice job!
All the kayaks were lined up on the ground for that day's departure. Maybe 30-40 kayaks were in line. Most of them were guided day trip and freedom kayakers were minority. 
Jack showed us where our kayak was and told us to bring stuff to go. The containing area to put stuff in the kayak is much more spacious than we had thought. So we went back to the car and decided to bring more jackets/food. 
After putting our stuff, still other parties hadn't arrived yet. Didn't they read emails? Jack said we could have coffee and relax. The Abel Tasman Kayak office and coffee area had free wifi. Because Jack said have a cup of coffee, I thought it would be complimentary. Well, it was not. Anyway we didn't want to have coffee before kayaking out. Toilets are limited on the sea!

Around 9 a.m. finally other parties showed up. One couple from Vermont, USA and a group of 6, probably from New Zealand. Ha. Very relaxed way. In Japan everybody shows up on time. 

Then we waited for them to pack up, then Jack explained the things along the shore we would be kayaking. Vermont couple would camp first night at Anchorage Bay campground ant the second at Mosquito Bay campground, and go back all the way the third day. Ours was first and second at Mosquito Bay campground and third go back all the way. The group of 6 would camp at Observation Beach at first night which is the closest to the starting point, and leave kayaks there and they would come back either hiking on the track along the ocean or water taxi. Their kayaks were going to be retrieved by Abel Tasman Kayak water boat. The company offers very flexible plans. Although camping sites can't be chose by customers, our 2 night camping sites are chosen by Abel Tasman Kayak. Probably they book campsites based on availability. 

Then finally we went out on the sea! 

Kayak

To be continued...