The real story……. Karuah River Canoe Trip one January 21st Century
Up before dawn and after a restless night of wondering if we had packed everything, Dave and I headed off, caffeine fuelled and bleary eyed to Karuah to meet our fellow adventurers for this trip, our good friends, Pete and Nicole. After completing Dave’s strategic plan of unloading canoes, reshuffling cars to end points and consuming bacon and egg rolls, we left Karuah Jetty and were on our way, leaving behind our troubles.
I have had no canoeing experience and quickly became the ‘Goldilocks’ of paddles. I finally found one that was not too long, not too heavy but just right. My paddling stroke was further improved with helpful instruction from Dave, my beloved fiancé, a voice behind me yelling comments like- “Stop whipping the water!” and “You’re not beating eggs!”. Luckily the wind was strong enough to block out further constructive advice and I paddled along oblivious to further recommendations and resisting the temptation to flick a smack of passing jellyfish into the back of the canoe.
Meanwhile, our experienced companions glided effortlessly over the water. Nic paddling with gracefulness and ease and Pete, with his enviable handcrafted wooden paddle looked like he would be more at home standing on the back of a gondola in Venice. Here, Karuah River served up warm peaceful water that gently lapped the boat and to the side, green paddocks and hills. Ahhh. This is living Barry! With the first intersection of waterways, calmness quickly gave way to slight panic for the novice with increasing swell and strong head winds. Water washing over the front of the canoe alarmed me and I started yelling “We are sinking’’. Dave, the voice from behind, reassured me that we were safe and had specialised equipment on board to bail out the water. I looked sceptically at the Blue Ribbon ice cream container and wondered when Woollies had gone into stocking lifesaving canoeing devices. Again Dave, the voice from behind was helpfully yelling at me to keep paddling and we paddled for what seemed ages (possibly covering all of 100m) before calmness prevailed again- over me and the water.
Our water view camp site offered lovely sandstone blocks for our gear, a long drop toilet (what a luxury) and a flat sandy grassy area. This was further enhanced with Pete’s latest camping devices and Nic’s beautiful gourmet cooking, portable shower and luscious smelling body soaps and lotions- a true glamper that I would travel anywhere with. Gusty winds made an entertaining display of the boys efforts to put up tarps and tents. For those of you new to paddling, the front position in the canoe comes with a list of responsibilities. Collecting firewood was apparently one of these and I happily left the men to their male bonding experience. Just to note, other responsibilities include: doing most of the paddling- video evidence supports a 5:1 front to back position stroke rate, washing up, unpacking, washing and repacking everything at the end of the trip. I suggest newbies read the fine print! Despite careful and strategic planning, the responsibility of the rear canoe paddling position- Dave, we had managed to leave our coffee behind. Seriously! Luckily our experienced gourmet companions were able to provide us with this essential! Obviously, we will be revising our checklist before next trip.
With our bellies full we were lulled off to sleep with the sounds of the lapping tide, squeaky bed mats, a drippy tent and horny mud crabs feasting on oysters. Just BLISS! At midnight Pete was reconsidering his sleeping arrangements under a tarp with sideways rain and buzzing mozzies. The next morning, we arose to low tide and exposed oyster leases we had unknowingly paddled across at high tide- Yikes!
Paddling conditions today were as promised, calm flat water, gentle breezes, cooling rain and misty mountains. I stopped for a minute- to take it all in. We could have been anywhere in the world in the beauty of that moment. For just that moment there was not a care in the world, I was surrounded by nature and those I loved. There was nothing to do (except possibly paddle) ……. just BE! This moment of AWE is what I take with me back to civilisation and draw on for inspiration during endless job lists and dealing with a pile of wet muddy camping gear. Deep breath…. Happy canoeing! You too can look forward to joining this wonderful trip so lookout for the dates to be posted.
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