Paul Humphreys Adventures
Reflections & tales from a life of adventure faith & Family
“True Adventure doesn’t begin…
…Until things start going wrong”. Someone one said this and this past weekend is no exception. Not that anyone got hurt, or died. However we didn’t get anywhere close to what we had intended to do. That said you have to start with a plan and then move forward from there and have the flexibility to change as you go. This is especially true in the outdoors. And I have been leading people and facilitating long enough out there to know that all of the above is very true.
We did have a wonderful time and what else can you hope for… outdoors, hiking, sea kayaking, family not much better than that. I realized that all of my adventures have been with Robin or team mates therefore it was fun to share some of my passion with family.
We basically broke the 3 day weekend down into 3 separate trips. The weather was less than perfect and even required a few game time decisions.
We started on Saturday by collecting Louise from the plane to the sight of snow covered peaks all around us, there was snow already on these hills but the winter storm that was here friday brought even more snow. Its nice being 15mins from the airport too.
We travelled to Picton where i work as a guide to get into our sea kayaks and spend a few hours out on the water. It was really a good intro for my nephew and brush up for louise. We had already decided that overnight in The Sounds were off the table partly because on the very cold overnight temps dipping into the low 20’s F. And that most places have a fire ban year round.
Therefore on Sunday we headed up to the mountains to Nelson Lake National Park which is less than an hour from where we live. We spent the most of the day hiking. wanting to get up high above the tree line to enjoy some views. We hiked up and around part of Lake Rotoiti and took in some great views. We weren’t able to make it to a high alpine hut because of the incredibly high winds that we blowing. Probably around 100mph in places. Enough to blow us off our feet. Of course i was loving it, and really enjoy being out in challenging weather like that.
Monday we headed back to The Sounds to explore more in our kayaks. Were on the water early and paddling out of Picton to explore some islands. The weather came into play again and we were forced to beat a retreat with swells picking up and me not really wanting to have my family out in weather like that. We had a difficult paddle across a small piece of open water to be relieved when we got on the lee side of the land and have a calm paddle back into Picton. But a good few hours on the water none the less.
Each night we relaxed in the warmth of our house and cooked and ate good food. Introducing David to some good Mexican food then having breakfast for another night. The photos are from the 3 days of hiking and paddling.
Paul Humphreys Adventures 
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