Hobie Joins the Family

The excitement this week was all about picking up our new Hobie Kayak!!

On Wednesday 17th February, we headed back to Huskisson to collect our new pride and joy. Carol had chosen a nice environmental "olive" colour, rather than the bright yellow, red or blue.  All was ready, including all the necessary safety gear, so with lots of help and encouragement from the boys at "Outdoors and Beyond", Hobie was strapped on the roof, and away we went, back to our not so great camp site at Sussex Inlet. (That's a whole story to come later).

The weather Thursday was lousy, so no launching was possible, but today, in improving weather, Hobie was launched. All 3 of us took the maiden voyage, and after a few minor rudder problems, we were off. The caravan Park is right on Sussex Inlet and has a nice sandy beach which gave us easy access for our first trip.

We were really surprised how much April loved it. She moved around and was very relaxed about the whole thing. We pedalled all the way down to the entrance of Sussex Inlet, then back to the caravan park. It took about an hour and a half. Fantastic fun.

We chose a Hobie Kayak, (almost everyone knows Hobie Cat sailing catamarans - it is the same maker) because they have a pedal version, which is so much easier on us "Recycled Adolescents". And every attention to detail has been met. You get paddles as well, but the main means of propulsion, is pedalling with the unique pedal system. We have a special lever system to easily lift the kayak onto the roof of the car, and there are wheels that let us easily get the kayak to the waters edge, without any carrying. There are so many extras on the kayak, and it is so stable on the water. We absolutely love it, and John can even use it to go fishing with it's built in tackle box and rod holder.

So look out Australia, we are now travelling by land and sea!!