With the upcoming 2-star test drawing ever closer we took to the relaxing canal with Billy’s pockets stocked to the brim with sweets and goodies, which only got shared around Dave’s “party boat”, but……. the thought was there!
The sun was shining, Kyle’s skin was burning like only a ginger’s does and the chaos of unloading the canoes had begun. I was told then that the chances of getting wet were slim, that was wrong, you get extremely splashed when you are paddling and Noah is around. Because of this I stayed in my kagoule anyway because the water looked a lot dirtier than the lake’s water; however, it was quite straight, this was great since we had to paddle (what we believe to be) 6 miles in the sweltering heat!
Once we all had our buoyancy aids and helmets on and the boats were ready and on the water, we set off with high hopes. We were mainly hoping that the temperature would not rise much more before we got back to Sutton Cheney Wharf to have “tea and cakes” which turned into “tea, lemonade, cakes and ice creams”. The expert photographers and their four legged companion (otherwise known as Neil and Kat) walked alongside us before turning around and leaving us to fend for ourselves!
After Billy snuck through the treacherous grass at the bank we disembarked the boats and had a lunch/snack break consisting mainly of chocolate brownies and syrup flapjacks. This made Noah paddle super-fast for a couple of minutes until the party got going on the party boat. Unfortunately, it was brought to an abrupt halt when Kyle started the party favourite, “I-Spy” and “the alphabet quiz” however, it gave our comrades chance to let their headaches dissipate before the mad rush to reclaim Noah’s Ark from the gentle breeze.
The spectators cheered us along, well, they definitely hurried us up with the awful smell of yesterday’s dinner and the mouldy mud sitting near the river that had been churned up by the cow’s hooves, but I think I freaked them out when I pretended to be a cow. That is completely understandable considering my awful imitations and the fact that, according to Ian; it sounded more like a sheep than a cow. Plus, Noah’s kayak was swinging from a rope behind us from when he moved into the Party Boat. Personally, that would be enough to freak anything out!
The people on this trip were “in all shapes and sizes”, from Big Kev to the little team of Noah and Billy with everything in between; including the person that thought there were no fish in the canal (Sarah and her boat, Bessie); the main driver of the party boat (Dave); the Steven Spielberg of the trip turned out to be Adi in his florescent snot green boat; including the person who looked really suited to the area in his fisherman’s hat, Ian.
Warm weather was on the menu otherwise Simon (my dad) would not have ventured anywhere near the water with his: A: Aches and pains, B: Mrs, C: Kids, D: fear of cold or murky water without an ice-cream as compensation.
Despite some of the bad parts described the day was brilliant and I would advise anyone who hasn’t been on a river trip before to start with this one because it is an entertaining, friendly and gentle introduction to them.
By Tyler Swinburne
