Saturday morning and we’re up early to pack and tidy the
house. We’re leaving Austria today and
moving on to Slovenia. I’ve been waiting
almost 12 months for this; I know I loved Slovenia last year and I’m so happy
this year to have Keith with me. First
things first though we have a last few hours to spend in Austria, we have kit
ready and cars packed, we’re in our ‘underlayers’ for paddling and we head down
to take a look at the Isel. The levels
have dropped and we hope it will look good to paddle.
We head down to the get ons, but both that we look at still
look quite big and some rain over night has topped up the levels. As an unknown quantity, we decide it’s not
worth it, and we have one last activity we can do before we go, so we get
changed out of paddle kit. We head in to
Lienz and go to the Osttirodler! The
Osttirodler is a mountain roller coaster.
It’s a ski lift up to the top, then you get in a little ‘toboggan’ on
some roller coster tracks, there’s a lever on it, you push forward to release and go
faster or bring it back to apply the brakes so you control how fast you
go. It was super fun for just over
£10.
Then we’re on the road to Slovenia. Just a couple of hours driving and we’re through
Italy, past the Dolomites and then driving up the Soca valley. The river is a beautiful, crystal clear
water, a slight blue or darker blue depending on the depth, but you can see the
rocks on the river bed until it gets extremely deep, and even then it’s still a
tiny bit transparent. I’m very excited
to be back. We stop off at a quiet get
in to have a spot of lunch and then head to a get on where we will paddle from.
We are paddling from Zmuklica to Cezsoca at the Prijon shop. It’s a section I remember from last
year. I know that it starts straight into
some rapids that I found testing last year, but at least this year I know what
I’m getting myself in to!! The walk in
from the car park is quite long so Rob and Matt take a couple of boats down
while we wait for Keith and Brian to do the shuttle, when they get back there’s
less to carry down then. By the time we
all get down and get the last of our kit on we’re all ready for a helmet full
of cold water to cool down!
 |
| The water is so clear, this hardly looks deep enough to paddle but it's plenty deep! |
The boys have a little play in the wave where the gorge
comes out into the pool where we get on and then we head on down river. Knowing I enjoyed this section before and being
able to remember parts as we paddle through them really helps. The get on rapid looks almost easy and my
nerves barely surface all he way down. We
stop and play at a few nice waves (I do some ferry glides and S-turns in the
flow further down the flow while the boys play in the ‘meat’ of the waves), we
stop at a big eddy where we can jump off the rocks to cool down, and I take an
opportunity to lead a short section before we finish too. I’m back in my happy place with paddling here
and I just know the week is going to be amazing!!!
Keith seems to be really enjoying it too and I’m so glad to
see him so happy on the water. He’s had
some tough times with head games over the last 12 months or so, and there’s
been very little I can do to help other than to encourage him to go paddling
with his buddies who are of a similar level and he feels good paddling
with. Keith also has a new boat, a new
new boat this time. He tried a similar
one and liked it and was keen to get back to try this model, the steeze. He was unsure whether to spend the money on a
new boat as they are a little pricey, but I told him if it makes him enjoy his
paddling again, it will be worth every penny.
He’s been comparing all his boats to his old super hero since he got rid
of the last one of those, but this one he didn’t make a single comparison and
loved it. It was the right thing to do. In just over a week he started seeming keen to
get on the water again and his spirits were more lifted for this trip too. It really is great to see him enjoy it all
fully again.
We’re soon at the get off, we get changed and while Keith and
Brian shuttle to get Keith’s car, Rob Matt and I have a little splash at the
beach here and enjoy the sunshine. The
atmosphere here is just so relaxing.
Once shuttle is done Rob and Keith go to get some shopping, Matt Brian
and I load the van with boats and kit and head over to the house. It feels like returning home and it’s not
long before Rob and Matt are back too. The
cars unpacked, I show Keith round briefly before he has to head off again. Chucky arrives today, he has flown in to
Trieste and is getting a train to Udine where Keith will collect him and bring
him back in time for Dinner. I wish we
could spend some time enjoying the house straight away, but we have all week
and it’s given me time to write up this blog!
Rob, Matt, Brian and I have all had some time chatting,
enjoying the scenery on the shaded balcony that will be our dining area. The guys have all told me how well I seem to
be paddling and I note that today I actually felt good about it too. There were a couple of places where it was a
little technical and I didn’t feel anxious about any of it. This week is going to be amazing!
So, Rob is cooking dinner and we’ve all got some bits of
washing to do and we all need a shower aswell, it’s hotter here than Osttirol. I can’t wait to tell you all about our
paddling through the week, and any other activities we get up to aswell!!!
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