Day 16

Today was another pretty long day. We left the camp ground where we're staying later than normal and arrived at a kayaking touring company. There they got us fitted out in two person kayaks and got us out to sea. They got us into the water at the huge sand flat. It was this huge expanse of beach and a few puddles and birds. Apparently at high tide it all got covered up. It was very cool, especially coming back when the tides were higher and there were tons of newly formed temporary islands. The kayaks' design was really neat. I sat in back and got to control a rudder with feet peddles. My partner and I got our rhythm down pretty quick.

My bow.

We paddled 4 miles around the coast. Unfortunately we didn't see much wildlife, just some birds. Apparently the other group saw 15 baby seals. We stopped at a little secluded beach for lunch.

There were these beaches everywhere

These tiny little mussels covered the rocks completely

 Then the groups switched. The other half of our class kayaked back and we hiked the 3 hour trail the came in on. The trail was relatively level and very pretty. The interesting part was there was a very steep incline to get on the trail, and then it stayed pretty flat a hundred feet on the side of a mountain. The trail clung to the very steep side, winding with the mountains. I hike the majority of the time on my own, singing and appreciating nature. The trail led through really thick ferns and rainforests, and through sparse beech forests and over grassy areas. There would occasionally be side trails leading to more secluded beaches.

We got back and took showers before heading off to a group dinner. We ate at Hot Mama, which had excellent pizza. I got seafood and spicy pizza and it was delicious. Then a group went to the grocery store and headed back to the accommodations. A pretty big group went out for karaoke, but I was trouble staying awake at dinner, so I'm heading to bed soon. I'm really enjoying the trip, but they sure are keeping us busy.

We learned about honeydew on our hike yesterday, and I just wanted to share some of that information. There is an insect that burrows into the bark of beech trees here. The Scale Insect, as it's called, lives in the tree eating sap. However, its digestion can't keep up with the saps fast flow, so the majority of the sap comes out undigested from the tail end of the insect. So what end ups happening is a beech tree will be covered with little hairs, and at the end of each one will be a little bead of pure sugar. Our wonderful guide taught us how we can eat the little tear without getting a mouthful of tree bark. Its really good, actually, and I've been seeking out particularly large beads of sap all week.

Don't mind me while I lick this tree.

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