I was able to finish my today’s blog update in the Paddler’s Zone kayak shop in Christchurch, where I briefly showed up to check the local NZ kayak equipment.
Dana, being an attentive shop assistant, looked at me, then looked at her computer where she was just busy studying my rubbish I was posting this morning on my blog (this is "work" in a kayak shop!), and said:"You look so familiar, are you not Freya? You are still in Christchurch? Good to see you here!" …and offered me to finish my posting on the shop computer. Thanks, Dana!

The whole Friday spent in Christchurch seemed again like a lost day for getting progress, it was lovely sunny and not too many winds.
Especially the town and the protected Lyttleton Harbour area was just quiet.
To ease my mind, I took the car John borrowed me for the day (Thanks, John!) after stopping by at the kayak shop and went out to Birdlings Flat again, to see how the forecasted SE 3,20 m+ swell looks like…

Good I did that!

What I got to see out there was earthshaking, literally. Dumpers double the size than yesterday would have crashed a normal house without any problem to the size of the cobblestones on the beach. Not to talk about a tiny person in a fragile kayak. You got to shiver and feel happy dry and safe high above that impact.

Impressive. Very impressive. I have never seen some force of nature like that. It looked like a momentum pic of the Nigara Falls sometimes. Spray all around you and on your camera lense. You are standig there and feel soooo small. You try to get closer for better pics sideways, then you got to run. Run away from the uphill running water, which wants to catch you and suck you back to it’s deep bottom. 60, 70 m uphill. You feel the beach vibrating on the crushing water, which has only one wave to break on that steep cobblestone beach.

I took pics and videos again, will see next what came out in the low sitting sunlight. I just hope Justine gets a day like that when she’ll be around, and is able to catch that with her professional camera much better than I am with my little Canon.

The swell is on the way down tomorrow, and for Sunday there is a forecasted 1,90 m in the morning, down to 1,40 m. I might give it another go then. The whole week should be (hopefully) around 1 m. Probably time enough to make it to Dunedin.