Phillip Island - Kayak

I went kayaking for the first time and I now have a new favorite outdoor activity.

I arrived and discovered that it would just be me, one other lady, and our guide. I love small groups, so I was very pleased with this. The lady and I used a double kayak - me in front (the engine) and her in the back steering and assisting the engine. Before taking off we had a quick and simple safety lesson. One portion of it was talking about the piece that holds you into the kayak and keeps you from getting soaked. Stewart (our guide) called it a skirt. On this skirt was a strap named, the holy moly crap strap, which you pull should you fall out of the kayak or the kayak tip over to disconnect you from the kayak so you can come out from under it and back to the surface. In another portion of the safety lesson Stewart asked, "Should something happen and the kayak tip over or something like that, once you check yourself and you find that you are okay, what is the next thing you should do?" There was a moment of silence and then I said, "Check on the other person?" And he was ecstatic that I got that right! He said we wouldn't believe how many people get that answer wrong - husbands and wives especially.

We launched off from Woolamai Beach and headed towards rocks and cliffs. I was delightfully surprised to find that kayaking is actually quite easy. You don't have to force your paddle through the water, it just kind of goes. And sitting in the kayak is actually quite comfortable. I've never been out in the open water and been so close to the surface of the water. I'm usually in a boat or something, so this was quite a different experience. My 2 favorite parts of the trip were the extremely tall vertical cliffs we kayaked out to. There were fractures in the rock that created caves and we kayaked into the start of the opening of the biggest one. The cliffs were a great reddish color and made me feel so very small. Unfortunately because of the waves we weren't able to take our phones/cameras out to this portion of the tour, so the views and memories will just have to stay in my head. My 2nd favorite part of the trip was this secluded beach near an old granite quarry. Once on shore we took out the snacks, our phones, and cameras and we had a bite to eat and snapped some pictures. Now that we were past the hardest part of the kayaking trip we could have our phones and cameras on the kayak with us without ruining them so I was able to capture my first kayaking experience. Our tour guide was so personable and knew a lot about kayaking and the area. Because there were only 2 of us and our guide we got to chat about our jobs, other experiences, etc. We did 8.5ks in 3 hours. The experience as a whole was all new, fairly calm, and entirely beautiful and I can't wait to kayak again!!