I've always thought that kayaking looked like heaps of fun, but been terrified to do it. Up until I started swimming, my upper body strength was pretty much non existent. It's still nowhere near where I'd like it to be, but I'm working on that. The other reasons kayaking terrified me was because my balance is like, even more non existent than my upper body strength, so I was sure I'd be flipping the kayak ever 5 minutes. And as much as I love swimming, I love doing it in a pool, far far far away from dolphins and the like.
It was two people to a kayak, so Pat and I went in one, and Maya and John went in another. John, being the athlete that he is, had their kayak off and running in no time. Him and Maya looked like they'd been kayaking all their lives, so I can't really say I blame John for disowning Pat and I...
The strongest rower was meant to sit in the back as they are responsible for steering, so our guides told me to get in the front and Pat in the back of the kayak. Which we did, for about 1 second. As soon as I got in, I tipped us over. Suddenly our guides thought I'd be better off in the back. This did nothing to appease my fear that we would capsize in the middle of the ocean.
We were instructed to row out to the buoy, then stop and wait for instructions on how to kayak. OK, sure, except... how do we get TO THE BUOY?!?!? With John yelling instructions at us, Pat and I set off on our ocean misadventure. With no concept of steering, we completely missed the buoy, nearly got ran over by a large boat, completely missed the instructions on how to kayak, and nearly gave one of our guides a coronary. The younger, more laid back guide was instructed to "get those people under control," as Pat and I headed straight for the big rocks we were meant to stay far, far away from.
With a heroic amount of over steering, we managed to avoid the death and/or serious injury we seemed so keen on finding when we first set out. The total trip was probably about 4km, but I reckon Pat and I paddled a good 6km. It was, without a doubt, the best workout of my life! My arms were pumped and I felt like there was nothing I couldn't do if I set my mind to it (except possibly open my right hand, which was claw shaped from gripping onto the oar for dear life for about a week). Kayaking has become my motivation to kick my fitness drive into high gear this year. I'm going to get myself a full gym membership and make the rowing machine my new BFF.
Now, there was some significance to the place we kayaked to, but I have no idea what it is because the scenic route didn't come with a tour guide. Something to do with a burial ground for a big Hawaiian war over women's rights. I'm sure I would have found it all very fascinating. We stopped at a rocky ledge where the kayaks were tethered together and anchored. Here we had an hour to do some snorkeling, grab a snack, jump off a cliff, and do some exploring. All that was asked was that we not swim into the big jagged rocks where the big waves were crashing in. Fortunately, outside of a kayak, I am not completely navigation impaired. When I told this to our more serious guide he cracked a smile, and I knew all was forgiven. Our guide also taught us a signal to let him know that we were OK, a signal which I'm pretty sure the four of us will use with each other for the rest of our lives.
We put on our snorkel masks and hopped out of our kayaks and checked out the fishies. The water was a lot deeper here than where Maya and I had snorkeled a couple of days before, and the water was also a lot choppier. This meant that we got pushed around with the waves a lot more, as did the fish, which were plentiful.
After a bit of snorkeling we climbed up onto the rocks, had a snack, and wandered around. Our laid back guide took us to see an eel, and then helped Maya and Pat to jump off a cliff. When landing, you were meant to have your legs straight out beneath you. Guess who mastered that and who landed ass first? I opted for not jumping off a cliff.
Then it was time to climb back into our kayaks, which, with some help, I managed to do without tipping us over. We headed back, this time with Pat and I managing to stay far away from the dangerous rocks... so far away that we were much further out than everyone else, going over massive swells, with me completely petrified that a whale would pop up beside us to say 'Hi!' We stopped at a sea cave that normally the tour goes into, but they didn't go in this time. I'm guessing because the ocean was a bit rougher than usual. It was at the sea cave that Pat and I learned how to do a U-turn, thereby making the rest of our trip much, much easier! We even managed to nail our landing, with me paddling solo.
Once we got back to shore, we dropped the parents off at Costco and headed over to Subway for lunch, where we put the 'No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem' philosophy to test. Home Depot also did not require the wearing of clothing.
That afternoon Mary took Pat, Maya and I back to Mauna Kea Beach where there were some serious waves happening! The three of us swam out into the ocean and bobbed up and down on the massive swells for awhile, until Maya got the idea that we ride in on the waves.
It took us a few tries to get it right, but soon Maya and I were body surfing some pretty decent waves into shore. It was a ridiculous amount of fun! And completely addictive. We'd make our way out to where we thought the waves would break, then watch for the biggest swells, start paddling, and enjoy the ride. Sometimes we soar high on the top of a crest, and sometimes we got sucked under into the rip. I know I did a fair few under water somersaults and was very thankful I've mastered the art of not breathing in whilst under water. Pat came in to join us, and we rode the waves until our knees bled and we were completely exhausted.
I started out our body surfing expedition with my hat and my sunnies on. But doing underwater somersaults meant having to remember not to breath in, figure out how to get my feet on the ground so I could stand up, AND hold on to my hat and sunnies. After one particularly rough somersault I managed to grab hold of my hat before it was lost to the rip, only to surface and realize I was no longer wearing my awesome new sunnies! I shuffled around in the water for a bit in hopes of finding them, and at one point I thought I had found them, but when I reached over to pick them up, I was knocked over by an incoming wave. I figured my sunnies were lost to Davey Jones' Locker, made my peace with it, and went back out. I even saw them again as I was riding in on another big wave, but the tide was too strong for that to give me much hope of finding them again.
But then, in comes Patrick, walking through the water all looking like Jesus, when what does he step on? My sunnies! There was much hugging and high fiving when he pulled them up out of the ocean, thereby christening them my miracle sunnies. I put them safely away with the rest of our stuff on the beach before surfing any more waves. Thank goodness for Pat and his ability to find things with his feet!
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