Does holding your breath reduce weight?

At breakfast, the question of all questions had to be clarified again, "what are we doing today?". Luckily we have Lindy.

She tells us so many stories and gives us tips. Here in Kangaroo Valley, there's not much, but the waterfalls are amazing, as the Australians would say.

There are still 2 waterfalls to visit, the Belmore Falls and the Carrington Falls. Lindy has sorted the falls into her personal "amazing falls" ranking for us. In first place are the Carrington Falls, followed by the Belmore Falls, and lastly the Fitzroy Falls. Her tip for the Carrington Falls: before, get an Australian specialty from the bakery, the Lamington (a cake with chocolate on it), and enjoy it while looking at the Falls.

Whether we can confirm her ranking, we'll find out later.

First, we want to be active. So far, only our legs have been trained, and we want to change that today. And what's the best way to do that - right, with lifting beer glasses. But today we wanted to do something different. We're going kayaking. 2 hours on the Kangaroo Valley River. Perfect for biceps, triceps, neck and shoulder muscles, and the back. Everyone who paddled with us will surely remember these muscle groups.

So we went into the store, rented a kayak, received a life vest and a boat.

and received a short briefing on the route, with the note that there is not as much water in some places as usual. We started under the oldest suspension bridge in Australia, the Hampden Bridge from 1898.

Do you know how heavy a kayak is? Really heavy.

At the beginning, we carried the kayak more than we paddled on the river.

We were often more gondoliers than paddlers. Sometimes making forward jerking motions helped to get us unstuck again, sometimes holding our breath, sucking in our stomachs and pushing our butts up did the trick. That way, all muscle groups were put to use. But sometimes carrying was the only solution. Most places were not that problematic, there were small pebble areas where we could walk somewhat.

But one spot really challenged us.

We had to push, pull, and curse our way over the rocks.

After about 1/3 of the distance, we made it, and now we only had to paddle and didn't have to constantly discuss which way was the right way.

Just paddling, and preferably in the same rhythm. After a short, friendly instruction from my teammate, I eventually figured out how to steer as well. 

And we almost always went straight, whenever we could. 

The last 2 kilometers were against the wind and under time pressure, because we had to be at the meeting point by 3:00 PM. With a 10-minute delay, we made it. Conclusion: a broken fingernail, a blister on the left thumb, wet shoes, socks, pants, and sleeves, lots of discussions and fun, and probably sore muscles tomorrow.

Now we still have to check the rankings. First stop, the Carrington Falls. Lindy had already warned us that the access to the waterfall has been blocked for 2 years due to construction work. But we were simply supposed to go around the barrier, that's what everyone does. As good role models who follow the rules, we of course did that too.

.... and it was awesome.

Definitely more beautiful than the Fitzroy Falls. By the way, the cake was delicious.

After an adventurous drive on gravel roads and crossing a river

 we reach the Belmore Falls.

We can confirm Lindy's ranking 100%.

Unfortunately, we missed the "wine and cheese time" with our hosts today. So we'll have to have steaks and beer at the pub.