- to rent a kayak so that we could explore all 71 of the surrounding Whitsunday islands. We would do this at our own pace in one day trips. So we set out early on Sunday morning, for our first excursion, with all our gear for the day (including a tasty meat pie each and some Milo bars, for energy of course). We packed one towel and no change of clothes, I mean, why would we need them? The plan was to kayak over to the islands, snorkel for a bit and then frollic around on the beach, drying off in the warm sunshine.
So at the rental place, our guide takes one look at us and obviously thinks we look like experts because he FAILED to let us know what the conditions were like out there. He hands us a 15-year old tub of flares and says "well nobody's ever had to use these, so don't be the first ones alright?" Ok. Well, actually, I'm pretty sure that somebody must have tried to use them in the past but they're so old and crusty I doubt they worked. But thanks mate. "Oh and stay away from the Beak". "The Beak?", I ask. He points to a old bleached map. I don't know what he's pointing to because the lines are so faint but tells us it's the most dangerous area on the left with strong currents and strong winds. Great. We're going right.
All packed, we set out to the right, through the harbour and I can't tell you how excited I am. The water is a perfect shade of turquoise and calm as can be. There is a slight breeze but it feels nice. We move slowly out of the harbour and make our way around the first island. It's a bit more windy and the water is deeper. It's a bit choppy too but nothing alarming. After a slightly vigorous paddle, we make it around the first island, and then the second. It's a lot more windy now and we decide the conditions are too rough to snorkel. We look ahead of us and see South Molle island. There's a beach there and it looks a lot more sheltered. We thought we would stop there and have a rest.
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| South Molle Island - Sandy Beach |
Lesson # 1: everything appears to be closer than it really is. We were paddling for ages. Then all of a sudden, we are in the middle of the channel, halfway to the island and the wind is extreme. Huge pyramid-like swells appeared out of nowhere, almost swallowing the kayak. I'm in the front, paddling as hard as I can, struggling as we crest one swell and slide down the steep back of it into another. Richard's shouting words of encouragement at me and I'm finding it hard not to panic. "Where is that crusty tub full of fireworks? Can I use them now?!" I can't help staring to my left. The Beak seems to be getting closer and closer. Awesome. Eventually I decided to just put my head down and paddle as hard as _ _ _ _ . If I can't see what's happening around me, then I can't panic.
After what felt like hours, we obviously made it to the calmer waters of South Molle island. But my body was wrecked. I had never paddled so hard in my life for such a distance so I had lost the use of my arms. We did see an amazing sea turtle feeding in the small bay. But really, all I cared about was getting out of the damn kayak.
Lesson #2: always pack a change of clothing or at least a hoodie.
It was SO cold. And we were soaking wet. The fierce wind prevented us from warming up. We hung our clothes up on trees so that they could dry. The island was desolate except for a couple of campers further inland. We took a walk to find some shelter but there wasn't any, except for a large, dark, wooden bench next to the long drop. We both lay down on it and felt the warmth on our backs. NICE. Exhausted, we passed out. Smart one. We woke up some time later, toasted.
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| Freezing cold in the sun... |
Anyways, to end this I'm just going to say that eventually we called for help and got a ride back to the harbour. We found out that the tide was going out, the wind was blowing in and it was a full moon i.e not nice for being out on the water. Kayaking is fun and everything, but I'm getting my boat license soon. The end.
