Ebaloo Guando

Remember back in Queenstown when I won that trip during the pub crawl? Well it was finally time to collect my prize! I awoke much earlier than expected after my night as Bluesfest the night before, and still had plenty of time before the van would come to pick me up to take me to my kayak trip. So, naturally, I watched some more Gossip Girl.
Okay, random little side rant time again. So like The Pretty Reckless is a pretty sweet band (if you couldn't tell by my scuba post [Heaven Knows is one of the Pretty Reckless' songs]) so like I've clearly Googled them before. Then when I first started watching Gossip Girl (to be honest I totally started watching it simply because I end all my posts with xoxo and that's like famous for Gossip Girl and I had never even seen any Gossip Girl until a few weeks ago, long after my xoxo endings began), I was looking at the names during the opening credits and I was like "Taylor Momsen, that seems super familiar" but not like a Blake Lively, Chace Crawford, or Leighton Meester kind of familiar (they're like super famous, or at least were when I was into teen magazines lol). Then I was on Facebook the other day, right? (I'm always on Facebook lol) & anyways The Pretty Reckless page shared one of the posts from Taylor's page or something? I don't really remember but like I was like "woah are they like the same person?" bc they totally look like the same person but I just can't picture the voices matching up and it turns out they are one in the same. So then I went to YouTube and searched for an interview with Taylor because like I said, her talking/acting voice and her singing voice do not match, like at all. & yeah she talks one way (well a little deeper than her Gossip Girl days because she was like 15/16 during GG) and sings totally different. Like it's so insanely cool but like I can't understand like how she does it. But yeah, so anyways. Back to kayaking.

So the van came and picked me up right on time to take me to the trailer they use as base. I signed in and got my awful helmet and lifejacket like ew, and paddle and waited for further instruction. There was this other group of Americans, idk where exactly they were from because they obviously weren't talking to me and I had no interest in talking to them, and they were totally annoying. Being in the Loyola group on Loyola trips, especially the one to the Bay of Islands, I've come to realize that in a group like that, unfortunately, I'm kinda the same way, but it still doesn't make it right. When I'm not in my own group of Americans (family excluded) I can't stand typical Americans and they make me so mad and ashamed to be American. Like they're just soooo annoying. Like I can't. But whatever.
Also (another random tidbit for ya) everyone here (the general NZ/OZ area) thinks I'm a kiwi. Like I don't know how they come to that conclusion because I don't have a kiwi accent and I'm always with other Americans but like everyone always asks me if I'm kiwi. Even when they know the people I'm with are American. Like what. Not sure what to think, but it is what it is lol.
But so then we finally get to go into the water. My beautiful kayak at home is an ocean kayak, but I've never taken it on the ocean. The roughest I've probably ever kayaked would be if I ever kayaked in the Chesapeake, which I'm not sure I have...so I was really excited to go kayak in the big waves. A couple groups before us didn't make it out over the waves; they tipped out and had to try again. But I was determined and we made it! No spills. Once everyone had made it past the breakers, we started paddling.
It wasn't long until we started seeing wildlife. I saw a turtle, but it disappeared back under the water too quickly for me to take a picture. But we were in search of dolphins (golfinhos in Portuguese!) so we paddled all throughout the bay and to the Pacific Ocean. A group of kayakers coming in while we were going out said there were tons of them that they had just encountered, but when we made it out there it seemed they had been chased off. So we kept paddling into the Pacific Ocean. If we had kept going, our next stop would be Chile (which is totally sick because I've always wanted to go to Chile). I spotted some off a while from our kayaks (I attempted to capture a video but they're so far away you can't see them), so the guides had us shout "Ebaloo Guando" which means "I love you, dolphin" in Aborigine in hopes that it would have them come closer. We waited a bit and when it didn't seem like they were coming, we headed back. Just as we were headed back they came closer, but being the super paddler I am, I was too far ahead and when I turned back they were gone again.
So we paddled back into the bay and then we were allowed to get off and go for a swim. Like finally. But the stupid life jacket was suffocatingly large and they wouldn't let me take it off, even though I promised I wouldn't drown. It made me want to kill someone. It was totally awful. The one guide even made fun of me and called me a turtle. Like no. That's not okay. At least I could take the stupid helmet off.
While I was attempting not to drown in my idiotic life jacket, I saw the lovely jellyfish to your right. So that was cool because I got a good picture out of it. Man, I should've had it sting the guides that wouldn't let me take off the dang life jacket. I wasn't thinking (probably because I couldn't because the life jacket was trying to decapitate me).
Half reluctant to get out of the water, half ready to get out so I could breathe again, I got back into the kayak and we headed back in and to shore. Unfortunately we didn't have as good luck coming in as we did going out and we spilled out when the wave came. But it's whatever.
We made it back in even though we had to walk in once our kayak spilled, and they gave us water and white chocolate Tim Tams. I thought Tim Tams were a New Zealand thing but I guess not. The white ones were so good; I already bought and ate a box once I got back to Auckland.
We could also go for a swim once we got back to shore, and I was so excited to get in the water without the yellow death trap on my core. Then after Tim Tams and water time, we were supposed to carry our kayaks back up to the trailer. Well on the way back I did most of the paddling and it was super difficult because I was in the front and I'm just a little girl so I made the guy that was supposed to be doing the paddling in the back carry mine. Hey you gotta do your work somehow.
In this picture, it's me in front of him dragging the kayak and it was supposed to show him dragging the kayak in the background, but I clearly wasn't at the proper angle, which I had no way of knowing since I can't actually see what I'm taking a picture of with my GoPro. But it's a good picture of me so I figured I'd post it for you all anyways, you're welcome.
I guess for being a totally free excursion it was a nice time. & I do love kayaking. & turtles, dolphins, and jellyfish. I just wish the stupid golfinhos would come closer and I could've taken off the stupid life jacket. But oh well. They drove me back to the house so I didn't have to walk so I guess it's all good.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha