Kayak Cockle Bay to Whitford - goodbye, summer holidays

Who: Shirley and Annette in Ciao
When: 3 February 2013

With school, (therefore, work,) set to start the next day for me, it was a perfect opportunity to get out for a day-trip. The estuary leading into Whitford remained unexplored and looked interesting on the map, so that's where we headed.

Parking at the beach at Cockle Bay, we quickly rounded the peninsula with a decent breeze filling the sail. It was good to see so many others on the water and around the shoreline, enjoying the sunshine.

On the other side, many boats were moored and we enjoyed some sailing with the wind for the fun of it.

Finding the branch of the estuary to lead to Whitford wasn't as easy as we had expected. We soon realised that the clear waterways on the map were muddled by mangroves in real life. Nevertheless, we found it without stress and set down among closing-in banks to explore further.

Island on the map? You mean that muddy mangrove section? This was not our most picturesque paddle, but who cared. It was outside and relaxing.

Paddling among mangroves

Mangroves - this might have been the island (?)

We explored a branch to the left that ended nowhere, then set back to go right, under the Whitford-Maraetai road and down Turanga creek.

Just before the bridge and on the right is quite a busy boat ramp. I suppose that if we had wanted a cafe experience in Whitford, that would have been a good place to get out, but instead, we kept going.

Due to the high tide, the bridge was very low for us - we realised this and removed the masts just in time!

Turanga creek is quaint, weaving between a park, then bush on the left bank and lifestyle properties on the right. We meandered down there for about twenty minutes before it ended at a golf course. A bit surreal for us to suddenly arrive at a green with golfers playing nearby.

We turned around and 'borrowed' the use of a bank at a farm to eat lunch at. Ciao decided it was time to go just before we did and we caught her starting to drift off as we went back to her. Nothing a quick wade and grab couldn't fix.

The tide had dropped significantly by the time we got back to the bridge. (Yes, we time these things well - more drifting for us!) We got chatting with an older couple, also kayaking. They were interested in Ciao and we, their paddles. We were told that they were Greenland paddles, modelled on those used by the Inuit and very light and effective. I had considered getting normal kayak paddles to replace Ciao's heavy wooden ones but knew they would look wrong. These Greenland paddles, however, look just the part.

Greenland Paddles from Google images - no copyright

With the estuary widening out again, we stopped off at the right bank before heading back to Cockle Bay. This area is known as a home for the NZ dotterel, one of the world's rarest birds, along with many other coastal wading birds. No idea if we saw the dotterel or not, but there were lots of birds and lots of mud when we put in to shore.

Tide way out as we pulled in near the bird colony

Watch out for the rare NZ dotterel - not sure what to look for though

Heading back to the car afterwards was fun. We managed to almost surf in with the wind in sail. A great day out with a good mix of sea, estuary and stream. While it was not as breath-takingly beautiful as some previous kayak locations, it was still lovely. I would recommend it as a good beginner's paddle.

Watch out for: low bridges and high masts
Look into: Greenland paddles

Our route. Pretty much the same way back, with a stop at the end of Potts / Clifton roads to see birds.