World Adventurer and Educator
World Adventurer and Educator
I saw the biggest sea turtle of my life. As it surfaced, I thought it was an Australian Sea Lion its head was so big. It paused, gently propelled itself forward and submerged. Its carapace 1.1 metres in width and nearly 2 metres in length. It may have been a Leatherback. People waved as they were fishing, and I saw my first jelly fish. It was quite lovely, I couldn’t resist, I picked it up gently and looked at it’s beautiful blue head and tentacles …
The winds didn’t let up for four days, darn, what a terrible place to be stuck. The next morning I got up and wandered around camp. It took about ten minutes for me to lose my balance on the rocky terrain
Every muscle in my body cried out in pain, but it felt good. My mental game never failed. I used the information I had, made sound decisions, and executed them. I learnt a lot that day, mostly about planning, and back up planning. I will be much more attuned to alternate landing sites even very early into the paddle. I should know every beach I can land on from start to finish. Things can get ugly in the blink of an eye. This is what I woke up to the next morning:
Turning 90 degrees to the Southerlies, my heading was west. I thought I saw a beach on the Yarrabah side of the peninsula west of Rocky Island. My absolute concentration was on that point. I was feeling the lack of nourishment, but sheer determination took over and I increased my paddle stroke. The crosswind wasn’t easy, but I was making progress. The “beach” was getting bigger. I can do this and I can get there before dark. The sun kept going behind the clouds making it darker and hard to see, although I began to suspect my “beach” was actually light coloured sheer rock. As I got closer, my suspicions were confirmed.
It was a Ripper of a Storm and I was absolutely determined that I would NOT be sending out an SOS on my very first day paddling. This tempest would pass, just like the other one. With complete 100% focus stabilising the kayak, I stabbed my paddle into the crest of each oncoming wave and slid down the other side. What there was to do was manage each forthcoming wave. I braced against every sideswiping wave. These conditions lasted for 30 minutes, then very slightly, the rain began to ease. The swells decreased, but the wind maintained southerly at 30+ knots. After about another 15 minutes, suddenly as if a switch had been flipped, the wind became light and variable and visibility was 15-20 kilometres. The bad news was THERE WAS CAIRNS AGAIN!
It was a relatively easy paddle from Yorkies Knob to Trinity Beach. There was a rain shower which caused a rainbow right over Trinity Beach. I timed my landing in between wave sets, but this was the first time I had hauled my kayak out of the water fully loaded, Oh My! Too much stuff and it hardly moved! I didn’t beat the waves filling my cockpit, now it was really unmovable
Dear Teresa, We hope this message reaches you before you start out on your journey. Of course we would like to receive the messages of your progress, and that you are OK. We’ll also follow along on your website. So far your posts have been great, so hopefully you’ll master wordpress and beat it into submission. Our greatest hope for you is that you stay safe, travel carefully, fulfill your dream if you can, and don’t be afraid to stop if you need to. Our saying for RV’ing is “the end is nothing, the road is ALL”. You have worked very hard to get on your road; that in itself is a great accomplishment, and can be an end in itself if you need it to be. As you paddle along, let your mind wander toward what you might want to do next. Dream another dream, make another plan, or just relax and roll with the waves. Contentment should be part of your goal along with accomplishment. With our love and wishes for a great trip, Sue and Dad Thanks Dad and Sue. I wish you safe travels as well! Cheers, Teresa :)
In October 2011, I ran into a fascinating man, Mel Patterson, at this very spot. He was sitting next to his canoe, and since I talk to everyone, I strolled right up to him and said, “Hi, where did you come from?” “Oh, I just came from Darwin,” Mel replied, “and I am heading to Sydney.” “In that canoe?” “Yep.” “Oh wow, that sounds like so much fun.” “It is, it’s a great lifestyle.”