Kayaking

Kayaking

On 23rd August 2017, our year 7 and 8 students of Glenbrae School had the opportunity to go kayaking at Russell as part of our school camp. Six students from my group participated in the activity, along with my teacher, Miss Stone.

As soon as we reached the beach we changed into our kayaking clothing and put on our bright red life jackets. Afterwards, Dan taught us what to do and what not to do when you’re in a kayak boat. We then talked about how to paddle, hand placements on the paddle, how to go fast and to stop. Later on, Dan assigned us to our own kayaks and got straight into the very cold water. We paddled for a short period of time so that we could test out the skills we had learnt. Then we learnt how to raft up, which is when all kayaks get a hold of an object and link with each other.

Moments later, my group paddled around the bay, once again, practising how to direct our kayaks. Dan our Instructor and Sarah our Adventure for Good (AFG) leader, decided to let us got further and experience the beautiful sceneries. The seawater was absolutely beautiful and the sun was shining brightly in the sky but the water was really freezing.

Later on in our lesson, we had races with each other which got us very, very tired. Some of us even bumped into rocks that slightly rocked our kayaks giving us a small heart attack. At the very end of our kayak lesson, we rafted up one more time and  got the chance to walk across the kayaks and cannonball into the water. I was the last person to do it. I jumped into the deep blue sea and it was extremely cold. I  managed to get sea water in my mouth which made it hard for me to breathe. I got back into my kayak and paddled back to shore where my group and I, helped Dan load the equipment into his truck.

Miss. Stone and Sarah allowed us to have a quick swim and play around a bit. I thought it was the perfect time to practise my water survival skills, skills such as help position, huddle, sculling and treading water.  When I finished, I joined the others and played games with them. I was shivering non-stop but I was able to stay in the water for quite a while. As it was time to leave, we got out of the sea and wrapped ourselves with our towels. We got into the vans and drove back to the our Camp site.

Our kayak lesson was such fun and was very cool. I am proud that I came back alive from the kayaking lesson and also for learning several skills. I am glad that I got to practise some swimming skills and I hope that I get another opportunity to kayak again. I had an amazing experience which I will never forget.

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