You heard that right. I went kayaking. I’ll give you some background, last year my boyfriend (as seen in the photo above) started volunteering for some local Naval Cadets or something and bought himself a kayak after a few good days boating with them.

He’s been on at me for about a year to join him and go kayaking, but my fear of falling in and I also didn’t want to spend loads of money on a kayak that could be spent elsewhere (food, alcohol, clothes…). But, this year I had a change of heart and wanted to get out on the water.

My main motivation was to change up what we do together as a couple, spend more time with Reece where I wouldn’t be able otherwise, and also spend more time in the sun.

Most of my life currently is spent sat in an office with windows that don’t open on the top floor of a block of offices. It started to drive me crazy that the only “fresh” air I get through the day is from the fan which we have in the office. I wanted to get out more.

So, I bought myself a kayak: the Intex Challenger K1 Kayak from Amazon. It’s a fairly decent kayak, you inflate it using the pump provided and get on your way. Everything you need (apart from a buoyancy aid) comes in with the kayak: you get a storage bag; pump to inflate the kayak; inflatable seat; inflatable prop for inside the kayak; and a paddle which comes apart for easy storage.

We launched from Salhouse Broad, which isn’t too far from where I live. There was a small launching fee and we had to put a deposit down on a pair of buoyancy aids which we did get back. I spent about 3 hours on the water in total.

I first just paddled around in the “safe” area of the mouth at Salhouse Broad beach, but then braved the open waters of the River Bure. We headed away from Wroxham towards Horning as the big-boat traffic was lighter in this direction. After a few moments worrying about the waves produced by the other boats passing, we returned to Salhouse just in time for the ice cream man on his boat (YES!).

I had a scoop of Cornish vanilla while sitting on the water at Salhouse. What a day. Reece was very impressed by the ice cream boat. Balancing my ice cream to paddle away was difficult, I didn’t want to put it between my thighs because it was melting due to the heat, so I balanced the cone in my shoe in the front netting of my kayak.

It was quite a good experience and I will definitely be going again. I’d like to launch from other areas (maybe Riverside) and see how far I get. I’ll also be buying my own buoyancy aid, so I can get one which actually fits properly and I don’t have to rent one wherever I go.