Friday, 2 September 2016

Ocean Kayaking & Cheeky Monkeys 18/08/16

Jess and I checked into Cape Byron Kayaks and were each given a wet suit, life jacket, helmet and paddle.


We walked down to the beach and were given a few instructions on how to paddle in the kayaks, and how we would get out past the waves on the beach. I got in the front and Jess was behind me.

We had to paddle really hard against the waves that were breaking close to shore. We were told no matter how high the wave was just keep paddling otherwise we would capsize. Luckily we managed to break through quiet quickly without too many waves breaking in front of us.

The only downside was that I started to feel sick quite quickly. I normally get sea sick, but because I expected to be hang gliding, I hadn’t taken any tablets and didn’t have any motion sickness bands or ginger with me.

We paddled out really far, but it was difficult as the current was really strong and pushing us back to shore. We kept paddling as a group and aimed to find dolphins. After around an hour, we still hadn’t seen any. I was getting quite sick by this point, and my arms were aching, so I was not enjoying it too much.
But after around another half an hour, we spotted some whales breeching in the distance. We paddles out towards them and got really close. It was amazing! After that point we kept seeing loads of whales swimming past us and jumping out of the water. Even though I was feeling rough, I loved it!


After around 3 hours in the water I was so glad when we were told we were going back to shore. I was trying not to vomit the entire way and I wasn’t the only one. One girl was sick a few times over the side of the boat.

We had to stop just before sure so the instructors could explain how to get back into sure. We had to paddle with the waves and almost surf our way back in. As I was at the front, I had to wait until we caught a wave, lean back and raise my paddle in the air. We were one of the few pairs that didn’t capsize thank god!

I still felt like I was swaying when we got back to the beach. We took a group photo and then had to drag the kayaks back up to the van. After paddling for 3 hours, it was really difficult as my arms felt like jelly!

We got changed and had some hot chocolate and tim tams. It was exactly what we needed. We got chatting to a few people who had been part of the group and met a guy called Daniel from the UK. We arranged to meet up with a few people in Cheeky Monkeys, which is Byron Bay’s big club, for some drinks in the evening.

Jess and I popped back into her hostel so I could pick up my stuff. We then walked back through Byron Bay to Arts Factory Lodge. On the way we had a browse at some more of the shops and went to Aldi. I showed Jess round the hostel which looked really cool at night. She left to go back to Aquarias, so I had some dinner and got ready to go out. I was sharing a room with a really nice girl called Laura who was a teacher back in the UK.

I was doing my hair in the bathrooms and met a girl called Danielle who was also going to Cheeky Monkeys. We decided to go together. The hairdryer in the hostel kept cutting out so it took ages for me to do my hair. Eventually we left around 9ish and went together.


The bar was really cool and had tables with steel tops so people could dance on them. We met up with Jess but she was feeling really sick so couldn’t stay long. Daniel arrived shortly after but after a few drinks I started to feel quite ill to. Daniel and Danielle wanted to move on to another bar but I decided to go home cause I felt rough and didn’t want to ruin the next day. 

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