Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hi Everyone
We are so excited today as we have just been kayaking with wild dolphins! I know! How cool is that!
I was very nervous about the whole thing as, you may or may not know, the sea is not my thing. As we arrived at the beach my heart was pounding...i was terrified...especially as the gold coast is famous for surfing and it does not take a genius to work out that there is going to be massive waves! So after we were life jacketed up and had out little tuition bit we were ready to hit the waves. I was so scared as we got into the kayak but i was determined not to let the sea get the better of me...besides how often do you get to see a dolphin? Not that often in your life!
So when we got in i could see the famous massive waves breaking in front of me...were we crazy? People ride these waves in...they do not paddle over them. every wave seemed to crash just as it got to us and everytime i found myself feeling more and more scared!
After we finally got over the waves and into open water...suprisingly i relaxed a little as the wind was in our favour and helped us paddle to our goal...the most easterly point of OZ. Cape Byron. The journey was not too bad...still very scary but bearable. It was then after we had crossed the first, of what was to be many small bays... that we saw the fins! Oh my god...was this like some kind of terrible Jaws movie...at least they had some kind of proper boat to give them a chance! What chance do we stand in a canoe?!
Of course...no great white...not here at least. It was a pod of dolphins! As much as you know that you are going to see dolphins...a little part of you still thinks...what if?!
The dolphins were about 50m in the distance and we could see their fins and occasionally a littl part of their head. Our instructor had told us not to go to them...they are far more likly to come to you as they are nosey little b*****s. So we just sat tight....but i guess the dolphins had seen it all before! None came over! A little disappointed, we continued and headed still for the cape.
The Instructor signaled at me...what was i doing?...what had i done?...He still continued pointing at me! Or was it me?... i soon realised it was the big turtle swimming alongside me that he was pointing at! WOW DUDE CRUSH...On the EAC! (If you have never seen nemo...shame on you!) It bobbed at the surface for a few moments and then headed back down to the reef underneath us! This was a bonus...dolphins and turtle. How cool.
We then..after about 2 hours...went ashore to have tea and tim tam biscuits and we chatted about the dolphins appearence and the turtle.
Getting ashore was no where near as easy as I had thought it would be. It was horrible and wet. A big wave had caught us unaware and capsized the boat...and much to my fear...we were in the sea. Luckily it was not deep and we were about to walk in with our oars and our Kayak. I was very proud of myself that I did not panic and still managed to hold the oar...which lee lost.
After our tea we again launched back off of the beach...through the surf and surfers and we were off. This time we knew we had a struggle as we had to get back against the wind. We got round past the first bay and....back came the pod of dolphins. This time they were slightly closer and we kept trying to count..but losing count as the dolphins played about in the bay. We then reaslised that there were at least 9 fins and they were swimming playfully together.
Our instructor said to wait as sometimes in a big group...some curious ones will come and explore us. So we waited and waited...and we lost sight of them. It was really sad. We had seen the dolphins and were really pleased and excited that we saw them...but they just did not want to play with us today.
We started to slowly paddle away...and then suddenly...we saw them. They had been under our kayak. Two dolphins were within touching distance of us. We watched them swim up and down again. It was AMAZING! The dophins were right here next to us! They after about 5 mins swam away..but probably one of the most surreal 5 mins in our lives.
We then struggled back against the wind...which was knackering! When we finally got out (again...tumbled out by the waves!) It was a very amazing feeling of what we had acomplished in the three and a half hours.
The photos we got are a little disappointing as the camera was not very good. But you can see the dolphins! Thats the important thing!
So Today is the day after and we had to get the film developed...like a little kid we couldn't wait! So i have put them on.
An amazing experience....but today bad effect on the body. Both of us cannot move, we ache everywhere!!!
Love you all.
Deano...like 5 days till i see you...wahoo! SO excited!
P.S Happy Birthday tomorrow!
Love Kirsty and Lee xxx
- comments