The Magical Light Show of NightSUP

Becoming SUP experts with Jamie

Now, paddle boarding is not your everyday sport. It’s becoming more and more popular in New Zealand, but let’s be honest, many of us non-Kiwis have never done it before, so we are super thankful for an introductory lesson before we head out onto the water.

Once all the lights are attached to the bottom of the boards, Jamie is bringing them down to the waterfront, lining them up and setting his own board facing the line. Life jackets on, we are given a carbon fibre paddle each and Jamie is going to teach us how to use them. First, they need to be the right size, then we are practicing strokes, with Jamie explaining how we are going to get the most power. It’s all well and good paddling, but standing up for the first time is the daunting part. If you get a bit of a wobble-on, it’s likely that you’ll end up swimming with the fish.

The prettiest time of day to have a SUP lesson!

Supping with a stunning sunset

Jamie goes through an easy step-by-step instruction, making sure each of us is comfortable before heading out onto the water. Meanwhile, that magic moment of sunset is creating the most gorgeous backdrop to our SUP lesson. The red hue of the sun is just lighting up the bottom of the clouds, which in turn is reflecting pink in the water. This evening is all about brilliant colours!

By the time the last 20 minutes of light is in the sky, we are now on the water, some of us standing up straight away, like Laura, and some of us gingerly getting to their wobbly legs, *cough* Robin! *cough*. Although Jamie gets Robin to stand up without falling in the water, the unstable French man is comfortable enough being on his knees…

Saying that, the hard boards do feel extremely stable on the water. Everyone in our group, except Robin, is happily stood on their board despite being complete beginners!

Searching for stingrays

With everyone comfortable, we follow Jamie around the perimetres of the harbour toward Children’s Bay. Not only are we a safe distance to the shore, but the water is shallow enough to see the seabed floor litten up by our LED lights! Each coloured light provides different visibility in the water, creating quite the atmosphere with seaweed floating past in the murkier parts of the water.

Up ahead, Jamie calls the group to look at a stingray lit up underwater… Unfortunately, our SUP skills are not quick enough. Nevertheless, this keeps us super sharp for spotting more wildlife, which we know is in here thanks to all the amazing wildlife tours we have been on out in the harbour.