Trip Stories
This is a page for trip stories. More stories can be sent to the Webmaster for mounting here.
The stories have been edited which is the advantage of them being loaded by the webmaster. The disadvantage is they have been edited by the webmaster. However most of the editing has been typographical.
You can click on the title and read online OR right-click and use "Save Link As" to download and read offline.
Trip Stories & Literature
Auckland & Coromandel
Fighting the Easterlies (PDF 74 KB) by Andy Wurm. Auckland to Waikawau Bay, 1995.
A Short Paddle for Some (PDF 223 KB) by Oliver. A circumnavigation of Rangitoto-Motutapu.
Around the Coromandel (PDF 81 KB) by Evan Pugh.
Pirate and Madam Salami Tsunami (PDF 97 KB) by Greg. From Auckland to Great Barrier Island and back.
Where Did You Come From? (PDF 89 KB) by Evan Pugh. A quick paddle down the Waikato River.
Great Barrier Trip May 2012 (PDF 114 KB) by Evan Pugh. From the tip of Coromandel Peninsula and around Great Barrier Island.
North Island – Mid
Waikato River Feb 2005 (PDF 46 KB) by Evan Pugh. Paddling the length of the Waikato River.
Double Circuit of Lake Waikeremoana (PDF 91 KB) by J. Fleming. A double circuit of Lake Waikeremoana.
Cold Fingers on Lake Taupo (PDF 508 KB) by Evan Pugh. Includes maps.
North Island – South
The Dark side of Mana (PDF 77 KB) by Conrad Edwards. An early morning training trip around Mana Island.
Cook Strait
Picton For Tea (PDF 67 KB) a poem by Conrad Edwards. A trip across Cook Strait in time for the KASK forum at Picton.
South Island Circumnavigations
S.I.K.E South Island Kayaking Expedition (PDF 130 KB) Brian Robert’s solo unsupported circumnavigation of the South Island of New Zealand, 1995/96.
Top of the South Island
The Voyage of the Blue Fox (PDF 200 KB) by Conrad Edwards. A trip from Golden Bay to Picton via French Pass and the Pelorus Sound.
Abel Tasman National Park
A Winter’s Tale (PDF 86 KB) by Sandy Ferguson, June 2007. A mid-winter trip in the Abel Tasman National Park.
D’Urville Island
Voyage to the Top: D’Urville 1984 (PDF 76 KB) by Sandy Ferguson. Pelorus Sound and up the east coast of D’Urville Island.
A Beginner to D’Urville (PDF 88 KB) by Nora Flight, 1988.
D’Urville Revisited (PDF 89 KB) by Sandy Ferguson. January 1990. Up the east coast, round into Port Hardy and a portage from Port Hardy back to the east coast. The idea of forming CSKNet (Canterbury Sea Kayak Network) was decided on this trip.
D’Urville Island, Easter 1992 (PDF 81 KB) by Sandy Ferguson. A circumnavigation of D’Urville Island.
D’Urville, Sounds Circular 1995 (PDF 101 KB) by Conrad Edwards. A trip from Picton, round D’Urville Island and back to Picton via Cook Strait.
D’Urville for beginners 1997 (PDF 317 KB) by Sandy Ferguson. A trip round D’Urville Island in September-October 1997.
Four Round D’Urville (PDF 64 KB) by Mike Bell, March 2008.
D’Urville 2011 (PDF 68 KB) by Nick. The pictures can be found here.
Around D’Urville November 2012 (PDF 45 KB) by Evan Pugh. Another circumnavigation with some really calm weather on the western side.
Marlborough Sounds
Wind and the Sounds (PDF 79 KB) by Evan Pugh. From Pelorus Sound to Queen Charlotte Sound, 2004.
A Weekend Jaunt to Port Underwood (PDF 74 KB) by Malcolm Gunn. From Picton to Port Underwood.
Queen Charlotte Sound for the Millennium (PDF 56 KB) by Sandy Ferguson. A trip in the Queen Charlotte Sound at a dangerous time, the millennium when computers were predicted to crash and the world stand still.
Fiordland
Hollyford River to Milford Sound (PDF 87 KB) by Max Grant.
Into the Land of Water (PDF 90 KB) by Nora Flight. Dusky Sound in a folding double, 1988.
Fiordland Yet Again (PDF 105 KB) by Erica Beuzenberg. Te Waewae Bay to Doubtful Sound, Easter 1989.
300 km in Fiordland (PDF 172 KB) by Eric van Toor. A 14 day trip in Fiordland undertaken in January 1986. Map included.
Dusky Sounds Expedition (PDF 177 KB) by Bill Anderson. 14 days in Dusky Sounds, May 1986.
Feathercrafting in Fiordland (PDF 90 KB) by Nora Flight. March 1994 trip to Dusky Sound.
On the Dark Side of the Moon (PDF 85 KB) by Marie Riley Paddling Doubtful Sound and Dagg Sounds.
Puysegur Point to Doubtful Sound (PDF 121 KB) by Phil Handford. A trip in January 1996.
Other Countries
Paddling in Nepal (PDF 73 KB) by Sandy Ferguson. Something a little different, a canoe, but still it is paddling.
Queen Charlotte Islands Canada (PDF 700KB) by Deirdre Sheppard & Sandy Ferguson. 2013 trip to BC, Canada and the islands to the north of Vancouver Island.
West Greenland 1999 (PDF 42 KB) by Paul Caffyn. The Long Journey Home for a Greenland Kayak, Paul Caffyn’s account of his trip to West Greenland and the “return” of the modern Nordkapp sea kayak to its origins.
Poetry, Songs & Videos
Yes, there has been poetry published in the Sea Canoeist Newsletter. There might also be some here from other sources, hopefully out of copyright.
Picton For Tea (PDF 67 KB) a poem by Conrad Edwards. A trip across Cook Strait in time for the KASK forum at Picton.
An Ode to the Sea Kayak Guide by Fiona Fraser. Their unwavering cheerfulness was what struck Fiona and has moved her to write.
Farewell to Tarwathie words and music PDF and a good
YouTube version of Farewell to Tarwathie by Noel McLoughlin.
This song was mentioned at the Anakiwa Forum by Paul and is about someone leaving Scotland for Greenland to go whaling. The Greenland connection was why Paul mentioned it.
Ode to the East Coast (of Greenland) by Paul Caffyn & Conrad Edwards. Composed in the anticlimactic days on the West Coast of Greenland, August 2008. This could be sung to the tune of the above, Farewell to Tarwathie.
Tara Mulvany’s South Island circumnavigation YouTube.
Tara Mulvany’s North Island circumnavigation Youtube.