The first day of my kayak lifeguard course has gone well. My stomach, back and legs are all slightly stiff, rather than just my arms and shoulders, evidence that I'm mastering the new strokes we practised correctly.

It was the first time I'd left Emma (awake) for more than 2 hours since her birth - it felt really odd! Despite Mikey being quite unwell Brendan coped brilliantly! Probably too well - I won't feel too nervous about leaving them again in the future :)

Right now I should be practising various knots for towing people and stuff like that. Instead I've been Googling the Blue Blubber Jellyfish and am relieved to find it's harmless. There were thousands of them all around us today with either our paddles bouncing off them or them bouncing off our kayaks. A big thing on tomorrow's timetable is practising "wet exits" (where you roll your kayak upside down and then exit from there by doing a forward roll under water) and rescues. Apparently we need to keep practising the rescues until the rescuer is good at them - as the others have even less experience than me I'm expecting to spend a fair amount of time floundering about in Cabbage Tree Creek mouth in a panic. At least now I know I only have to worry about the bull sharks...

Should I survive I'll report back tomorrow! In the meantime I'm off to rest my aching body