First Kayak Lesson

Hey,

I finally got into the water yesterday, with my first beginner lesson with Sydney Harbour Kayaks down at the Spit, Sydney. They offer 'free' lessons - which really are free if you take your own kayak. Otherwise, you just pay for kayak rental.

There were only 4 of us, which was ideal - myself, my 12 year old daughter Lydia and 2 ladies who had just bought themselves kayaks.

We had a great instructor, Saul, who gave a well planned, informative and really enjoyable 3 hour lesson. We were given plenty of additional water, rests, some on shore time, and most of the instruction was just off the beach which was reassuring for a novice. He also took us across the water to the opposite side of that area, which had another beach.

This did mean crossing the busy boating channel and we had to group together for safety, have a good look and then paddle across - a bit like crossing a road! The area has lots of beautiful big boats moored up and so there's a fair amount of boating traffic moving around.

The setting there is just fantastic, it was a glorious, sunny blue sky day and yet again I was enthralled by the resident pelicans down there.

After the lesson, Lydia decided to get out and wait on the beach whilst I practiced the various strokes I had learned and took a few more pictures.

When the boys came back from cricket, we loaded up the kayaks on the roof of the tank (aka Prado), looking forward to fish and chips at Harry's. But disappointingly, it had closed. So we settled for take away fish and chips from the Italian bistro, and it was perfect sitting on the steps by the beach, just enjoying the view as we ate.

A perfect Sydneysider's Saturday morning. Roll on lots more like that!

Sue