My loud cackle broke the silence at Gees boat ramp on Ōhiwa Loop Road. It was so good to be able to laugh like that again. It was Friday and there were only four people at the boat ramp that morning - a lone fisherman and our group of three getting ready to set out on our kayaking tour. After a couple of minutes getting to know each other, Teresa (the other woman on the tour) and I just realised that we actually work together, although we had only communicated by email previously. Talk about two degrees of separation.

It was only mid-morning and there was still a slight dew in the air, the kind that tells you that you’re just far away enough from town life. The harbour was so flat that you thought you were looking out at glass. Kenny told Teresa and I to paddle around while he locked up the truck. A few minutes had passed when Kenny called out to us to come back closer to shore - it turned out we had floated quite far out and were heading in the opposite direction. We soon realised how strong the current was, especially in the flat conditions.

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