Mondays definitely don't always have to be bad. Like this morning. One of the benefits to working in the tourism industry, especially with Loka, is that companies want you to experience their tours so that you can send business their way.
With Loka, travelers get to hop-on and hop-off of their Loka buses in different towns and cities, such as Byron Bay. If the travelers decide to stay in Byron for a few days, we will have several tours that they can book directly through Loka. This would obviously be the most convenient way for travelers to book activities, so there is a major benefit to being one of those recommended companies.
Cape Byron Kayaks is one of our Byron featured companies. Out of complete luck, I was at the right place at the right time (the Byron Bay Brewery for a work meeting at about 4 PM) last Thursday. The owner of CBK knows my bosses, and sat down to have a beer with us. She told us we all needed to come out for her kayaking tour someday soon. My bosses agreed on Monday morning, and told me to come as well.
I was excited, yet still a bit nervous, only because I had been sea rafting at Spot X and our raft tipped over twice, trapping me underneath for a few seconds each time. Plus, I have always had a bit of a fear of kayaks because I was always afraid of tipping my kayak over with my legs stuck inside, unable to escape. Luckily, I knew that sea kayaks were a bit different, and do not secure your legs inside them. You just sit on top of the kayaks, basically.
I am so glad I went this morning. We got all geared up and headed out, paddling fiercely to get beyond the breaking waves. Once we truly made it out into the ocean, it was incredibly peaceful. We kept our eyes open for whales and dolphins mainly, but even when you looked straight down in the water, you could easily see the sea bottom.
We didn't get to see turtles or whales, but we did see several dolphins up in front of our kayaks, maybe 10 meters away. It was awesome just to see the dolphins that close to us. They were diving in and out of the water very lazily,careless of the 30 kayakers gawking at them.
We even got to ride waves into the beach. My first attempt was awesome and we rode the wave straight into the beach, where TimTams, tea, and coffee awaited us. We headed back out to look for more marine life, but eventually just headed back into shore, riding waves in yet again. Our second attempt was less successful. The waves were much bigger, and I probably wasn't steering as I should have been. Our kayak tipped, but our helmets eliminated any risk of injury during the crash.
I really didn't have much of an interest in sea kayaking before this experience but I have to admit I thought it was really cool, and I would do it again for sure. And definitely with Cape Byron.
Beyond just the great experience overall, on thing that really means a lot to me is when instructors remember your name, and one of mine today kept referring to me by name, even giving me a hug at the very end, asking how my experience was. All of the instructors were truly having a good time while they were out there, which was contagious to myself and the other travelers. If you have the opportunity to go while in Byron, I highly suggest doing this tour.
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