Quad Bikes/Shark & Ray Centre/Sandboarding

 Sunday, June 9, 2013

The six of us by the shipwreck

Dagan, Sydney, & JoAnn getting ready to go.

Syd

We had a very busy very fun day.  It started early with our quad bike tour on the sand dunes.  The company drove us out to the dunes and the quad bikes.  We got our helmets, listened to safety instructions, and were off.  We drove all around.  We went up some hills and around some water.  The machines were not super powerful, so we didn't have to worry about anyone getting into trouble.  All six of us had our own quads.  We drove out to the shipwreck of the Sygna.  It was a Norwegian freighter that was washed ashore.  They cut off part of the ship and removed it, but left the stern.  Our guide told us that lots of fish live in the wreck, but so do great white sharks, so people do not scuba around it.  We had a nice ride back to the starting point and got a ride back to our car.  

Next, we were going to go Sandboarding, but it was really crowded at the beach, so we decided to come back later.  We went to two different markets.  At one, JoAnn and Dana got to try the Lions club's steak sandwiches.  These are really good.  We went back to our hotel to get our swimsuits after the market, so we could go to the Shark and Ray Centre.

We are entering the tank with the largest ray.

Dagan feeding a shark.

Sydney getting ready to feed a ray.

This was Dagan's favorite tank.

This shark felt like sandpaper.

Sydney and I feeding the sharks.

Thankfully, there were not many people at the Shark and Ray Centre.  Sydney, Dagan, and I decided to go in with the sharks and stingrays.  We chose to wear the lovely waders.  They were pretty awful, but made it easy for us to get into the water without having to put on a wet suit.  There were large tanks with all sized sharks and rays.  They had a black stingray that was 9 feet long and 600 pounds.  It was huge and came right up to you.  Our last time in that pool, the black ray cuddled Sydney.  It moved almost all the way up to her neck.  Creepy!  The sharks in this tank would swarm us waiting to be fed.  They would even nibble on our waders.  This wasn't Dagan's favorite.   He liked the next big tank that held smaller rays and a few sharks, and the tank with water to our knees.  He had the most fun feeding the sharks and rays in these tanks.  The front tank had a 9 foot shark.  It was just hanging out in the water.  Some of the sharks and rays felt smooth and others felt like sandpaper.  It was really fun to get into the water with these amazing creatures.  

Climbing up the hill

We are ready to go sandboarding!

Sydney and Dagan at the top.

Adam

Dana

After our shark and ray adventure, we went back to go sandboarding.  We rode the 4wd vehicle out to the hill.  We grabbed our boards.  It was shaped like a snowboard without the boots.  We climbed to the top of the hill and rode down with our hands behind us in the sand.  This helped with balance and  could slow us down.  Dana, Adam, Sydney, Dagan, & I went down.  JoAnn was the photographer.  Adam & Dana decided once was enough.  I went quite a few times.  Sydney went a few more times than me, and Dagan went down the most.  He especially like to crash on purpose at the bottom.  We decided sandboarding is fun, but we all like sledding on snow better.

Dagan crashing

Sydney and Kristin

At this point, we were hungry and went out for dinner.  The kids swam again when we got back to the hotel.  We will be in bed early.  We had a little too much fun today.