Sept 23 - Kayaks and Cheeky Monkeys

Today contained more excitement than previous days down under. We headed over to the main beach area shortly before 1 for sea kayaking. They gave us the option to have wetsuits or not, so we said ahhh we're Canadian, we can tough it out. Only one girl got a wetsuit, actually, so it was more peer pressure than toughness. Regardless, we donned faded life jackets and red helmets that look like mountain climber helmets and grabbed a paddle each. Our guide gave us some paddling and maneuvering tips and we jogged down to the beach and selected our kayak. They were 2-person kayaks made of heavy-duty plastic. We launched from shore and got to paddling, hammering into waves and fighting the current as we went out to sea. As a group, we paddled out a few KMs to a reef area to hopefully see marine life. Caught a glimpse of a dolphin jumping out of a wave. We hung around to see a pod of dolphins that were apparently around but after a while there wasn't any sightings, so we paddled over to a beach for tea and tim tams. After a delightful Aussie snack, we went back out to find dolphins again. The morning tour had seen a bunch of dolphins and a whale, but the wind had picked up and there were bigger waves for our session, so it wasn't ideal conditions. As we were heading back in, another kayak group spotted a whale, so we turned around and went over, saw a bit of it, then it left so we went back in to finish the kayaking, riding waves in along the way like surfers.

We de-geared and thanked the guides and then me and B headed back to the ocean as the rain started. Spent a couple hours jumping waves in the water until my legs were burning from working against the current and riptide then walked back to town. Grabbed a couple packs of ichiban noodles for supper, opting for the cheap option instead of quality. Mistakes help me learn.

The meal ended up not sitting well, but after dinner we headed over to the famous Cheeky Monkeys for the promise of a meal and a beer for $5. Took their free shuttle into the bar in town and entered their drinking establishment. Tonight featured a wet t-shirt contest, which is a standard of any fine establishment. Got in and ordered a chicken carbonara with a beer, and was informed that they had enough people inside so you don't get a drink with your meal now. FALSE ADVERTISING! I said, but the chick didn't hear and/or care. Oh well. Grabbed a pint of Toohey's beer at happy hour price of $5 (Wow, what a deal!). Turns out regular price is significantly more. Happy hour price for a Corona was $9.50. Decent margins, I would say. Had a couple pints while chatting with our British roomie Andy, and a Dutch gal Christianne that we met earlier at the hostel. The wet t-shirt contest happened, but we were at a table at the back and everyone crowded the semi closed-off room with the stage, so we heard the contest, but weren't privy to any of it's sights. After we had a couple pints, we went for another and despite it being well before the midnight hapy hour special cut-off, prices had jumped up arbitrarily. It's like Mexico in that bar, just promise anything and don't deliver and say too bad if you ask why it's not as promised. Overall, still a good night though.