This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Tory Channel, and this weekend provided the perfect conditions. We rounded Diffenbach Point - that’s where the Tory Channel meets the Queen Charlotte Sound (and where Wayne once caught a barracuda) by 10am, and headed down into the long and narrow channel, aware that a ferry might come hooning around the corner at any minute. Wayne managed to get caught in some kelp/seaweed, but the fish were not biting. The Tory Channel provided excellent paddling, with sleek calm conditions, and the weather gradually improving. We were surprised at the strong currents _ in the area, particularly when rounding points it felt like being in a river with quite strong rapids. The many ferries passing back and forth were good fun, with great waves and lots of people gazing at us. You realise how small your kayak really is when you are next to one of these ferries... .
Around: 3pm-we-reached the old-disused whaling station at the end of the channel - our goal for the day. It is really only a rusty heap of old structures and boilers, and is now being managed by DoC who have put up displays and viewing platforms. Quite a paradox that DoC, being a conservationist organi-
Jeanine Langvik
sation, is looking after a place where close to 4000 whales were slaughtered and processed for their oil and meat. The station, one of many whaling stations in the Tory Channel, was operated by an Italian whaling family, Perano, and closed only in 1964 when the technology of the big whaling ships made their operation unprofitable. They hunted out in the Cook Strait, for sperm whales, humpbacks, minkes and also managed to catch a few blue whales and fin whales.
Form the whaling station we could see straight out into the Cook Strait, and straight over to the Wellington coast south of Makara. It seemed so close it was really tempting just to keep going and head across... Ona day like that with perfectly calm conditions, it would certainly have been possible. After exploring the whaling station, and contemplating on that dark chapter in New Zealand’s environmental history, we set out again, heading back down the channel to find a campsite at Ngaruru Bay, halfway down the channel. The tide had definitely turned and was now on its way out. This turned out to make the last few hours quite tiring, unable to stop because of the strong current, we just had to keep paddling. Close to 7pm we finally landed at the campsite, with sore back and shoulder muscles and cramped up legs. We had kayaked over 40 km that day, the longest day I had ever done. After a quick stir-fry and several deserved glasses of cider, plus the compulsory weka visit, it was time to crash under the stars.
Sunday turned out to be just stunning, probably the nicest in March and one of the last summer days _ this. year_(2). We-took our time heading back to_Picton, spending lots of time lazing on the beaches and cooling off in the sea. Back on the ferry we caught up with the rest of the Club kayakers who had stayed in the main Sound and had an equally great weekend.