Everyone up and in much better form! Lots of choices today:

1. Surfing lesson on the beach in the morning (included) – yes please

2. Kayaking in the Afternoon (extra) – yes please

3. Skydiving (extra)- been there got the t-shirt – no thank you

4. Lighthouse walk 1.5-2 hrs up and back – I didn’t do this as I felt I saw enough of it from the water when we were kayaking, however, I am sure the views were lovely from up there, some of the guys fancied doing sunrise at 5.30 am ie go up in an Uber then walk back not sure if they actually did this.

First up, Surfing, our main instructed is Jimmy who rocks up in a bus that looks an feels like it arrived there in the 70’s along with Jimmy all we were missing were a few spliffs! Assisted by a lovely young Kiwi called Sam. We called our boards and head to the beach, 2×2 ie 2 people carrying 2 boards, we start our lesson by limbering up and then Jimmy explains how we should approach getting up on the boards. Oh dear Lord this is not going to be a pretty sight if I ever get to my feet! Yoga definitely would support this activity and I feel repetition of the movement and muscle memory would play a huge part in being successful doing this.

There is a delay in us getting in the water – the life guards are getting everyone out of the water as A GREAT WHITE, yes as in SHARK has been spotted in the waters by the drone! Jimmy reassures us that the sharks are not interested in eating people and normally they just bite you and when they realise they have made an error ie you are not on their menu they just let go of you! Okie dokie well that is reassuring isn’t it! Also, we will be in waters that are too shallow and close to the beach for the sharks liking, however, where the more experienced surfers are is a little more of a risk and some of them just stay out and make their own decisions. The guards went into the water to get people out, there is a siren and I would say if that goes off the waters clear of everyone immediately as that means things are really serious. Jimmy goes by his gut feeling which he says all surfers have. OK!

Anyway, approximately a 30 min delay and we are in the water, it is a tough walk out with the board each time, and I start by just getting used to catching the waves and broadly body boarding in, thinking though what I need to do to get up. Jimmy supports me through the first time I get up on the board and honestly once I was up I felt relatively secure. I managed to get up on my own a second time which really really pleased me, honestly I was shocked that I managed it, like most things confidence plays a huge part and being clear on what you need to do.

A quick lunch and on to the second event of the day: Kayaking! Andrea and I decide to be Kayaking buddies, helmets and life jackets on off we go carrying/trailing our kayaks out to the water, I am exhausted already! A quick instruction which was broadly, paddle like hell until you are over the crashing waves, if you don’t want to get dumped out! We paddled out past the most easterly point of the Australian mainland where you can see the Julian Rocks Marine Reserve. The surfer’s here are catching incredible waves, however, way way to close to the rocks for my liking, I am sure they know what they are doing, it just looked really dangerous. Looking up is the Cape Byron Lighthouse, and we can see the people trekking up to it and it turns out they can see us as Kit & Jay were able to say they saw us.

We saw some dolphins while we were out and thankfully no whales today or sharks! Apparently, it is only female dolphins that live in these waters, young male pups are put out at around 3 months old, the playful males only pop into to mate and then they are off again. The local indigenous women came here to have their babies in the waters along with the dolphins and so this is a very sacred place for them.

In a moments lapse of concentration, and after deciding we wouldn’t go in for a swim as we were both concerned how we would ever get back in, we capsized, I take full responsibility for it, neither of us have a clue how we managed it, well oh my goodness, number 1 neither of us could get the kayak to turn over again, and number 2 neither of us could get ourselves back in the kayak, after some able support of the guides we made it back in, thank goodness no-one witnessed such a sight bar the guides.

We are shown Zak Effron and Matt Damon’s (currently under construction) holiday homes here and you can see why they have chosen it.

Time to negotiate ourselves back on land which we did pretty well bar being unceremoniously dumped out by one of the female guides just as we came into land! A Tim tam was offered and suddenly all was well with the world again. The dragging of the kayak back up was tough.

We were thinking of staying at the beach, however, there were limited options for shade and Andrea was feeling a bit off, we worked out she hadn’t drank enough and was probably a bit dehydrated, this was resolved by a large bottle of Peligrino water and an ice cream, we just walked back slowly to the hotel and got in the pool to cool down, I have caught the sun today just with being out on the water so much, I dread to think how bad it would be if I hadn’t factor 50 on.

Curve Ball:

Robert, one of the guys on our tour has not been well overnight and has got a positive Covid test, adding a bit of chaos to Derek the tour guides life and some issues within the group as there is some varying views on Covid, how it is dealt with and behaviours. Thankfully, as Andrea pointed out G-Adventures are Canadian owned (which I didn’t know) and so they deal with Covid under Canadian rules not the Australian ones ie 5 days isolation and so Rob must remain at Byron, he is feeling pretty ill by all accounts, so is not fit to travel anywhere. I would be in such a state if I was being left behind. How to get medical help if really sick, how to get supplies whilst isolating and I would be so worried about how on earth I was going to get myself to Sydney and home. Plus the disappointment of what I would be missing out on. Poor Robert. I am so thankful that I got my booster approx a month before I travelled (thanks to Eve) and am hopeful I dodge this nasty bullet.

Dinner at the Balcony, whilst the prawn starter was lovely (shared), oysters on the go, I took a pass, my main course was so full of garlic I couldn’t eat it, the cold red Malbec went down very nicely 🙂

Aine, one of the girls has decided to share my room as luckily I have a spare bed in my room (with her mask on all night bless her) rather than to share with her room buddy who has been at the highest exposure from Robert. There is no other vacant rooms. Most of the accommodation is fully booked around here.

We are leaving tomorrow to go to Port McQuarie. I am hoping to meet up with Deborah, one of the ladies I me on my Tasmanian trip, I had emailed her to confirm, however, as a duty of care I have made her aware of this latest Covid carry on and plan to do a test when I get to the Port for two reasons, my own re-assurance and before I meet Deborah as I feel its just not fair to do otherwise.

Derek had hoped to get us away at 8am, however, he has had to get alternative accommodation for Robert and we now leave at 10am. I wonder what tomorrow will bring, fingers crossed no-one else goes down with this.