The trip is a visual feast with the massive rock formation dropping directly to the sea and in some locations creating narrow passes that a single kayak can barely squeeze through. Eagles, turkey vultures and osprey glide and dive among tree tops and at water's edge. As the paddlers enter into one last bay before heading back to the mothership for a comfortable and tasty dinner, they discover a lovely lagoon with a broad, fine, sandy beach that gives way to a rise of land, flat and grassy. Even in the hottest of days the combination of broad leaves and needled trees offer much-desired shade here. It is by strong consent that this is to be their campsite.
Permission is granted by the local caretaker and base camp is established.
The Rainbow Voyager is brought in as close as possible before dropping anchor. Two paddlers secure stern lines to shore as dinner preparations get underway. It is the unrelenting honking of a pair of Canada geese that brings most out of us out of our personal dreamscapes in the morning. Paddlers one by one drift in to the Voyager and tie up, and hot drinks soon have slumbering tongues wagging. There is much to discuss, and lots of options to consider.