Marahau: So many stars!

Yesterday we arrived at our final stop in the South Island (sad face), Marahau, in the Abel Tasman national park. We were only going to stay one night but have decided to stay again tonight, as we're loving how peaceful it is here.

We're staying at the Barn Backpackers in our own little cabin which faces towards the sea. I love this place! It has al fresco kitchens and an al fresco pool table! First amazing thing we've seen here: STARS! There is so little light pollution here, in fact there is none at all out by the cabins. I have never seen so many stars, it was actually a bit strange to begin with, almost like someone had covered the sky with a black twinkling cloth. It looks like you could reach out and touch it. I think the last time I saw anywhere near this number of stars was on a cruise ship with my parents and even then, that didn't come close to this. The sky is so clear that with the naked eye you can see the Milky Way streaking across it, and just to the right of it, two other, smaller disc-like galaxies. I wish I could capture them on my camera and I am so gutted to not have my tripod with me right now! Ciaran said that you get a similar view from the Salt Flats in Bolivia, so I'll be sure to have it for then.

Today we did a self-guided sea kayaking tour. The company we did it with, Marahau Sea Kayaks, was not the most efficient company by a country mile, as the safety briefing, which could have easily taken half an hour, took TWO hours. A total joke. Anyway, once we were out on the water it was brilliant, hard work paddling some of the time but brilliant. The sun was high overhead (we have been SO lucky so far with the weather, even Ciaran has a tan) and we paddled around some islands, stopping off at remote beaches every so often.

The most amazing part of the day was when we found the seal colony. It was marked on our map anyway, but when we got there Ciaran spotted some tiny seal pups playing around in a nook of the island. We manoeuvred our kayak towards them and it took about 10 minutes but eventually they swam over to us and were swimming all around the boat, popping their heads up like meerkats!

I got a pretty good video, though I was a little scared that they were going to have a nibble on me when they got really close!

So, one more night with the stars in Marahau before we head off to Picton for our ferry to the North Island tomorrow. I hope it's going to be as amazing as the South Island has been!