This morning we went to an area called Golden Bay. There's a long strip of land called the "Farewell Spit" that I was interested in seeing. Unfortunately, it turned out to be less than stellar, at least where we went. We didn't have enough time to make it all the way out to the Farewell Spit, and we found out that even if we got to the start of the spit, it was so long that you couldn't see the end of it. Ah well, you live and you learn I guess. I did have fun when we ran into an Austrian tourist biking around the area. He didn't speak much English, so I wanted to try to speak with him in German. The only problem was, when I was trying to think of how to say something in German, I could only remember the Chinese!!! :) (You know you've been in China too long when....)
In the afternoon we went kayaking out in the same area where we were yesterday. That was really neat, but since we'd already seen the area it was kind of repetitive. Not that that was a problem, since we were in one of the most beautiful places in the world! ;) We went with a guide in a small group, which was more expensive, but they recommend that for less experienced kayakers. As it turned out, I bet we could've just rented the kayaks and gone out ourselves. Oh well.
By this time of day the tide was already out, so they had to use a tractor to take our boat out to the water! That was interesting, and kind of fun.
The water was gorgeous, again. I got sunburned, again. I think we saw another seal in the water. The guide told us about some of the wildlife he'd seen while working there, including some sharks I believe. We didn't see any of those though. ;)
This was a nice, relaxing way to enjoy the park. We were going at our own pace, but we also got to stop on one of the beaches to just hang out. While everyone else was sitting around, drying out, I got into the water and swam around a bit. It was great! I haven't been swimming in salt water in a looooooong time, so it was wonderful. Not quite as buoyant as the Dead Sea, but you could still float really easily. It was so calm too, perfect for a nice, leisurely swim.
The kayaks were kind of fun - we had to wear these "skirts" that were waterproof. You put them on and then they fit over the opening in the kayak to prevent water from getting in. If your kayak flips, they come off easily, or so our guide told us. We didn't have a chance to test that out though. ;)
On our way back, we had to walk on the beach in low tide again, but this time we had a fun surprise: STARFISH!! There were TONS of starfish in the small pools of water left behind after the tide. We had some fun playing around with them, picking them up and letting them suction on to our hands, feet, whatever. :) We also found some little crabs that were fun to play with. I picked one up - they're so small that their claws don't hurt, only tickle a little.
Tonight we ate at a nicer restaurant that was still cheap, but the food was better. It was nice to be eating out after making sandwiches all the time. We even got a discount because we had a "Top 10" membership card. That has come in *real* handy on this trip!
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