Got off to a nice early start and it was another glorious day for paddling, the sea the deepest shade of blue and a strengthening Nor Easter. Passing Brush Island I ran into Mike and John and we had a great little chat in the
lee before resuming our paddle South. What do you know but these two old buggers launch the most massive sails I've ever seen on kayaks. Fair enough they're getting on in years, and sure they're loaded up with a week's worth
of food and camping gear, but they just sat there doing 10k an hour while I was paddling my guts out to keep up. Before long I was out of breath and needed all the help I could get so I headed out to sea where the swell was bigger. There I was, huffing and puffing and sweating like crazy, pitching myself off the lip of every wave I could get into, spray flying all over the deck trying to keep pace. Miraculously, I was keeping up, even getting ahead a bit, but then I got too hot so I had to roll, and then I got too thirsty so I had to drink, and then I started to run out of energy so I had to scoff a banana, and then I needed to pee from all the water I'd just drunk, all this while Mike and John cruised serenely on, enjoying a close view of the spectacular coastline. You know what I thought? I thought "this is not sustainable". It felt like a perfect little microcosm of today's society, straining itself to the limit, desperate to keep up, consuming huge resources, doing itself damage and getting hotter by the minute (!) when all that was needed to achieve was a bit more experience, and working more harmoniously with nature.
I'm in at Durras now, with a quick paddle to Bateman's Bay tomorrow, and a hammock in the shade awaiting.