The morning arrives after the most restless sleep of life but we’re super excited to test out our surfing skills. I’m hoping my gracefulness on land transfers to the surf board... Ah hell, help me if it does. We grab a quick breakfast and head down to the gathering area for our surf debriefing. We get a quick lesson on which end is up and how to hold it to make it look like we know what we’re doing, then we squeeze into our wetsuits and grab a board and head to the beach. The rain has finally stopped and it’s a beautiful morning with lots of waves. On the beach we get another lesson about how to paddle, where to grab the board and how to pop up. Unfortunately my gracefulness is already transferring and we’re not on the water yet. I can see myself getting a surfboard in the face really soon.
We get out into the water and despite many near misses, no one gets badly injured by themselves nor anyone else and we all have a ball trying to surf. Neither Holly or I got to a standing position but I made it to my knees once and we both road the waves on our stomachs a few times. None of us wanted to leave but two hours later we had to get out of the water and get ready to hop on the bus for our next destination... Byron Bay.
It was a fairly uneventful ride to Byron Bay, many of us were exhausted from surfing and we’re attempting to get some sleep before we sea kayak with the dolphins later that day. It starts raining again and we really hope that it will stop in time for kayaking. Once in Byron Bay we throw our luggage in storage. The backpackers hostel looks like a five star hotel compared to the cargo bins from the night before. We grab a quick lunch and then head to another beach to put some wetsuits on and learn how to paddle our kayaks. We’re not strapped into the kayaks and that’s the only thing that makes Holly and I feel better considering our inexperience. The rain stops as we head to the beach but the waves are a-crashing, we have to get over those, in a kayak, by ourselves. Ah hell. Holly and I make it past about two waves before we realize we’re fighting a losing battle. All of a sudden this wave comes up over our heads and flips our kayak. The kayak is heading to shore at a rapid rate as we feel like we’re drifting away. When we get back to shore I say that’s it. We’re done. I’m not going back out there. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced and even though I know how to swim, the current is just too strong and I don’t want to do that again. One of the guys says he can paddle us out there one at a time, I say Holly can go but I’m not going. So off she goes and gets into the instructors kayak and the guy paddles back out for me. Even though I am scared beyond belief, I get in the kayak. What life without a little danger? A longer one. Oh well, no turning back now. No really, I asked about halfway out. He wasn’t turning back.
By the time we make it out past the ridiculous waves, I’m in full panic attack mode and they expect me to be able to paddle? Really? I’m having trouble breathing here. Holly is behind me going we can do this and I’m in front going, can we go back in now? Oh right, we have to go back over those waves, I think I may just float out here. To make us feel better, the instructor attaches our kayak to his so that we won’t float out to the middle of nowhere, we’re eternally grateful to this man. Although there are no breaking waves, the sea is not playing nice and gets a little rough. We were making our way to the dolphin spot when the other people in kayaks who were already there tells us the dolphins have left. They know what’s going on, they don’t want to be playing around in these rough waters either. I was really hoping we’d take their advice and leave too. No luck. The instructor was determined that we would see dolphins that day. I was determined to make it to shore alive. At that point, both goals were sketchy. We’re floating around, keeping our eyes out for dolphins and hanging onto the kayaks for dear life as the sea was just getting meaner when I started feeling slightly seasick. Ah hell. Not what I need right now. I yell back to Holly that I might end up getting sick and no sooner did she tell me to throw up outside of the kayak then I did just that. Now remember this moment because there seems to be a trend happening over the Pacific later. I am fully ready to head to shore when we all look to our right just in time to see one of the guys in our group, an experienced kayaker, as well as his partner, a non-experienced kayaker, riding on top of this incredible wave yelling “WHOOOO!” at the top of their lungs. It was magical. Our instructor nearly takes a heart attack. Oh geez, he can’t die, he’s my ticket back to shore. Once the wave riders make it back to our group they get a stern warning about not doing that again until he briefs everyone on how to do it. Turns out, that’s our ride back to shore and most people are going to flip the kayak trying to do it. Ah hell. To do this magical move you need to use a bit of your surfing skill, meaning, find a wave and start paddling to shore and that’s what Holly and I do once our turn rolls around. Once we “catch” the wave the person in front, myself, must lean back to tip the kayak up or else we will flip and the one in back, Holly, must steer us straight or else we will flip. Sounds easy enough... :S Somehow, with lots of yelling of instructions back and forth, we make it back to shore in one piece in the kayak. I have never been so happy to see land in all of my life. I literally could have kissed the sand, but I didn’t, that would be gross. We turn around to see how everyone else is doing only to see about 4 or 5 flipped kayaks and people trying to make it to shore. We just start hugging and laughing hysterically wondering how us, out of all people, managed to make it without flipping. Someone must really like us.
Once we’re all done and get our kayaks back on land and we rinse off, I retire my paddle. My sea kayaking career is officially over. I don’t want to tempt fate anymore. I’d rather waka ama any day.
