Location - Bonnie Vale Picnic Grounds Sea Breeze Lane, Bundeena, Sydney, NSW 2230I had purchased a Groupon voucher for Kayaking a while ago. I hadn't thought much about it at the time of purchase but when I actually got to the venue.. it finally dawned on me that I was going to be in a tiny ass kayak with no harness and a big paddle in my hands (that can slip off into the water!! omfg! what would I do if that happened!!). I did have a kid-size swim vest on me (the size 'small' was a little too big for me... don't get me started on the bearing the brunt of the being the kid jokes there -_- )
Cost - voucher $49, car travel - not sure (my 86 is not the most efficient when it comes to mileage.. but nothing beats her cutting the winding roads with the windows up, the stereo blaring and me grooving ;)
Drive to the place was super cool. I was disorganized as usual.. in fact I'd originally gotten all up and ready a whole day before the actual kayaking day (I forgot it was on Sunday and not Saturday.. I"d just begun my unemployment and when you're jobless.. pretty much EVERY day is a holiday.. the day of the week it is.. is.. insignificant). I was late and didn't have breakfast and didn't pack any food with me either.
I saw a lot of kookaburras that were screeching pretty loud as I got there just close to the 8:00am mark.
It had been raining all night and although I LOVED driving down there in the rain, when I got to the place and realized I didn't have a rain jacket on me... I was a bit scared of getting all cold and pruney in the kayak. The Tour guide, Keith, however assured us that we should all be pretty warmed up once we're paddling away.
The induction was simple and as is the case with all these activites, we had to sign a disclaimer that I was all cool if I died and they weren't responsible or some such stuff... what disconcerted me however.. was that it read something on the lines of 'you know how to swim'... uhhhh... should I have really signed that? doggy paddling does count as swimming, right??
Pretty much everyone had come in pairs.. Its always very sweet to watch couples that enjoy doing such activities together. I was looking around clueless and this goodlooking fella approached me with the intro and all.. I was too excited+anxious about the kayaking to be feeling friendly but I enjoyed the small talk to take my mind off of it. Let's call him Craig. This was his Chrissy present. I asked if he'd done kayaking before.. he said he had a few times but not at Bundeena before. I was paired with him because he was also here by himself.
Damn.. when will my Hercules begin joining me in my fun trips.. can't wait to find someone who enjoys doing these silly things and wouldn't judge me for being scared of water... because once I'm in.. I'm like buffalo (my dad used to call me that when I was a baby.. and acting up protesting against a bath.. but once in.. it was hard to drag me out.. lol.. I don't think I remember that.. but I do remember crying every time I was teased as a buffalo.)
When we were given a very brief intro of how to paddle and steer (which was too brief imo). And then we were off... There was one couple that took off before us. saw I was able to observe how to get into a kayak and start paddling... but still it was a bit freaky when it was my turn nonetheless. The taller person was asked to sit at the back and their responsibility is to sync with the one in the front and steer.. while the one at the front just paddles.
And we were off... as soon as we were slightly in the deep my first question to Craig was 'what happens if I drop the paddle' and he goes.. 'oh.. you go for a swim.'. Damn! what an insufferable moron! obviously I didn't tell him I wasn't so sure about that.. but made sure I had a death grip on the damn paddle.
All fears aside.. the kayaking was an absolutely awesome experience.
We started from the Simpsons Bay. It was high tide and so the paddling wasn't so hard. Paddled over Port Hacking to our first stretch of land and parked our kayaks for a bit for a breather. The first ones there had the kayaker in the back fall in the water.. we were second so I pretty much dragged the kayak well out of the water on land so Craig didn't have to suffer the same consequence (I almost felt like kissing my own bicep for that feat ;). I was called a life-saver by the tour guide after that for helping drag a fellow kayaker out of the water where one of her leg was in the kayak and the other out and her foot kept sinking in the water. The little finger of sand we were landed was too steep and the high tide didn't help either. So it was fun to watch the other pairs gather one by one.
We Paddled over to Lilli Pilli Point reserve.. had a wonderful morning tea (just hot water for me.. I'm not into tea or coffee). I did help myself quite generously with the choc chip cookies. Again where we'd set our picnic blanket up was a tiny finger of sand between a cess pool and the bay and the tide kept creeping in and we had to wrap our blanket little by little and we lost our piece of land just as we were done.
Craig found a pen that floated in with the tide and handed it to Keith who was a little disappointed 'I was hoping I'd get a message in a bottle, not a pen'.. to which I said 'perhaps this a sign for YOU to write a message for someone in a bottle'.
After the breakfast, we paddled leisurely around and were near Maianbar where Keith told us how the legend of the big giant hairy Yeti like creature (whose name evaded me) was born. I obviously can't mention it here as it's a part of the kayakers' code to keep it secret... you'd have do this tour to know ;)
He showed us many beautiful spots around the bays one of which resembled the Mayan pyramids.. lol.. He took us down the mangroves towards The Basin.. we didn't go under the bridge because paddling in would be a fun ride... but back from under the bridge would be going against the current and would take a lonnng time plus some serious muscle.. but something he recommended we all did anyway by coming back and just hiring a kayak instead of getting a tour.. because now we 'knew' all the spots worth exploring.
After we were done, I said goodbye to Craig (who was hoping to get my number) and weighed the time it would take for me to take a shower, pee and then get back home.. or jsut go back.. so I peeled out of the salty sandy clothes on the side of the road behind a truck.. and headed back with fresher clothes but the same old salty, sandy me. My 86 and Coco were both happy with my decision.
The drive back was just as exhilarating and uneventful. Something about driving when it's all overcast and slightly raining.. love it!
The experience was really cool and I would love to do it again.. what'd even be more awesome is if I can find a partner in crime who'd join me in the paddling.
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