Boats Ahoy!

The water is officially our new favourite place, so two weekends ago we headed out early to a little area right across from Darling Harbour, called Lavender Bay, for our first kayak excursion! We found our guide, Patrick, under a bridge where he keeps his kayaks in a large storage unit. Though rain threatened we actually got through the 3 hours without a single drop, and even had a little bit of sunshine.

Our paddle began with a quick lesson about our gear and how to get in and out of the kayak: both on land and hypothetically if we were to tip in the water (luckily we never had to practice it in real life!). Kayaking gear is pretty simple. We each wore a neoprene bib-like garment, which fit over the hole in the kayak to protect us from getting soaked by waves or from water dripping down the paddle; a life jacket was a must, and finally a paddle. Kayak paddles have two paddles on them, one on each end. Kurtis and I were in one kayak, Patrick and a lady in another, and a young couple in the third kayak. The lady came with her partner, but unfortunately he weighed too much and could not join us. According to Patrick, about 90% of people over 100 kilograms tip over in the water, so he now has a weight restriction.

Patrick is passionate about all things boats - especially boats in Sydney! As we paddled around he told us the story of how the boats were built, who owned them now and how they came to be anchored in Lavender Bay. The boats were really neat to see, even for someone who is not boat crazy, especially from such a unique vantage point. We paddled around a peninsula and into the next bay where our guide wanted to show us something, as long as we promised to keep it a secret...

Well, I am not good at keeping secrets, so I will let you in on it: After pulling up on a tiny beach we climbed up a hill through trees and pine needles, Patrick leading the way. Eventually we came to a large rocky ledge, and to our surprise, Patrick got down on his hands and knees and crawled under it! He invited us to follow, and we did. Underneath the rock, he explained to us the different layers of the earth. One layer was white clay. He told us how the Aboriginals over one hundred years ago would take the white clay in their mouths and mix it with saliva to form a kind of paste. They would then place their hands on a surface, like a rock, and spit out the clay paste at and around their hand. When they were done they would take their hand away, and what was left, was an imprint of their hand. Aboriginal graffiti! The he told us that we could only look, but not touch, as he pointed up in the crevice of the ledge. Sure enough, there were handprints surrounded by white spatters of clay paste! Patrick once brought an Aboriginal leader to the very same place, and the leader authenticated the handprints as being over one hundred years old! It was very cool to be shown such a secret, and while I have shared the story, I will never tell where it was!

Back at the kayaks, we continued our paddle. From this area we had great views of Sydney City, the Sydney Tower, the bridge and the famous Opera House. It was amazing to be out in the middle of Port Jackson, just centimeters from the water. We asked Patrick if he thought a shark would ever attack a kayak. He didn't seem to think so, and we decided not to think about it anymore.

Kayaking is peaceful and relaxing, but quite an arm workout, even with 2 people paddling! There were a few times when we had to paddle though waves, and it required a lot of core stability to keep from tipping over, which was tiring. Needless to say, after the fun, scenic 2-hour paddle, we were ready for a snack and a nap, and that is exactly what we did!