It was my first day back at school and I was so excited because my class and I
were going kayaking down the Blackwater river in Lismore. The instructor was
waiting by the side of the river just past the Lismore Bridge with about 20
colourful kayaks shining in the sun. There was loads of pulling and tugging as
we tried to get our lifejackets on. I was assigned a single, which was fast but
hard to control (also I was holding the handlebar backwards and didn’t even
realize). We set off to a big cheer and all was going well as we maneuverer
ourselves along the curve of the river.
It was a great rush being carried superfast down the rapids trying to keep
upright, but we all succeeded. We were approaching the Fisherman’s Wall turn
when suddenly I crashed straight into my best friend Lisa. She
tried manoeuvring her kayak backwards but ended up swinging her oar
instead, hitting me in the face and knocking me out into the cold water with a
splash. To my horror, I almost got stuck under my boat which is one of my
worst fears. Quickly enough I was back in my boat but hanging out of it
sideways. The weight disbalance flipped my kayak again and I nearly brought
Lisa tumbling in after me when I held onto her boat. Doggy paddling in the
unknown water depth, I had to wait for the instructor to come and flip
my kayak. It was too heavy, and he couldn’t do it, so I had to hang on to the
back of his boat until the other instructor came along so they could flip it
together. (This might be a good time to mention my fear of lifejackets) While I
hung on the kayak, I was more scared of suffocation by lifejacket then
drowning, but neither of those things happened. After wedging myself up
between the instructor’s kayaks, I was safely back in my kayak and could
continue the journey. Once we got to the docking bay, I prematurely got out
thinking ‘I’m already wet’ and ended up standing in muck! *Facepalm*
On that day I learned that once you have lived through your fears, they do not
seem that scary at all.