Rob and I rose this morning around 7.30am and got the kettle
on. I’m feeling tired again, and my body
clock has clearly settled back to normal as I could quite happily have gone back
to sleep. I did a short session of
pilates, and then when Matt and Clare emerged we all had breakfast together and
discussed the plan for the day. We are
doing a long paddle today which covers about 4 sections of river at Grade 1-2,
which is from Napoleonov Most to Volkanski Most. It’s already hot and there are very few
clouds in the sky. Shortie Cag weather!
We packed the cars and put my boat back on (as I hadn’t
paddled yesterday it went in the garage to save the others driving round with
it all day) and after some faff, we headed down to Napoleonov. We quickly got boats off and kit out. We didn’t get fully kitted up as it would
take around 45 minutes to run the shuttle.
Clare and I stayed with the kit and enjoyed some shade while we waited,
we got our boats down the steep steps and just started kitting up as the boys
got back. It’s another gentle get in for
a gentle day, and we all did the helmet full of water to cool ourselves down!
Pootling off down the river I’m feeling great again, happily
in the middle of my comfort zone. The
first couple of rapids get my heart beating a little faster and provide a small
adrenaline rush, and I have a little ‘woop’ at the bottom of them! At one set of rapids the boys choose a far
right line in, they go down with just a couple of scrapes over rocks. The water is flowing but a good number of the
rapids get a little shallow at low water.
Clare goes to follow and is a little to one side of the line Rob and
Matt took, so she gets stuck and spun on a few rocks as she goes. It’s not a big deal, and she works her way
down quite fine, but I turn around and paddle back a little to take another
look at the far left line. I’m sure
there is more water there. It looks
clear and Rob is in an eddy half way down the exit of the rapid, so I go for
it. This is the first time I’ve looked
and picked a COMPLETELY different line to others in the group. It makes me a little nervous, but I’m fairly
sure of my choice and I’m sure Rob would be shouting/signalling if this was a
bad one. I was right, there was more
water, a couple of bigger rocks to get round and as I reach Rob he signals for
me to go to the right side of the big tree trunk he is sat by. It’s creating a bit of a stopper to the left
which wouldn’t be unmanageable, but the line is much nicer to the right of it. Feeling pretty proud of myself but trying to
make sure smugness doesn’t take over, as we all know that pride comes before a
fall!
We stop at a nice little eddy with a beach and have a swim,
Rob has picked this one as he saw some rocks with a deep bit of water next to
them that we could jump in and cool down! We all take a few turns jumping in before we
move on again.
Further on a little way I take the lead, and again lead a
fair bit of the river from now on. We
discuss the line options as we approach a few of the rapids and I’m starting to
learn more about what to look out for.
At one section it was looking good to go to the left of an island until
we got a little closer, we changed our minds and headed round to the right and
I found a lovely line through. Starting
to feel pleased with myself and guess what...?
I had made my first leading mistake.
The others had a got caught on some shallow water and lost a little time
in scooting round the top of the island to get over to the right line, and I
hadn’t checked back on them so I’d got a fair distance ahead. Lesson learnt, don’t forget to check the
group more often. I practice this more
at the remaining rapids and I have to pick places to turn round strategically. Although this is grade two, which I am quite
happy paddling forwards, I wouldn’t yet want to be going down them backwards!
We came across some really nice grade two sections, a really
good grade two. Each one had an
element to it that required a little thought, but it was within my capabilities,
and the sections were short enough that dealing with them one at a time made
them fairly easy. My challenge added
here was picking a line that was suitable for the whole group to follow. At one point I heard ‘JESUS CHRIST’ being
called behind me, I looked round and Clare was headed for a sizeable rock. Having just gone past it I knew that the
water was pushing you away from it, and although she will have felt like she
was going to hit it, with a little forward paddling she would get round it
easily (which she did).
Another stop at a beach to stretch our legs a little, and we
get moving again. Clare and I are
getting a little tired and we have all noted we are feeling cooler. There are a few clouds blocking the sun and
the water and air temperature has dropped just enough to notice. There is quite a long section of flat but as
you will have guessed by now we don’t mind to much as the scenery is
spectacular. I feel like I’m repeating
myself on that point a lot, but really and truly it is a beautiful place. We pass over a few deep holes in the river
bed and the water goes from crystal clear to sky blue and then to a deep dark
blue, and here is about the only place where you can’t see the rocks and sand
of the river bed. Even in places where
the river is well over a paddle deep you can see straight down, and some of the
rocks we float over/past are like pieces of art, the river is an exclusive art
gallery reserved for those who venture down it.
When we make it to the end we are all a little tired as some
reasonable effort has been needed, mostly on the flat sections. It’s 3pm but instead of fitting in more
paddling, today is the day we have decided to visit Slap Kozjak. We bundle in to Matt’s car to shuttle back,
swap to Robs car (Matt’s car now has 4 boats and is full with 4 lots of wet
river kit, so we leave it at the put in) and after lunch we go to the car park for Slap Kozjak
in Rob’s car. It’s a bit of a walk from
the car park to the waterfall, but as we head further in to the trees it gets a
little cooler, and we pass through and round some WW1 tunnels which is quite
interesting to see. It gets cooler and cooler
as we walk up the track along the river, that looks more and more like a fairy
tale setting as we go, and when we reach the fall, in a hole worn by the river
such that the sun never reaches there to warm it, we see Slap Kozjak. Wow... I know I’m saying it again, but it’s
just stunning... we set our bags down and get changed; we are going for a swim
in the pool under the waterfall.
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| My fairy rock stack :) |
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| Otona - viewed from the bridge on the way back |
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| Love locks on the bridge |
We have to scoot off quickly even though we could all have
lingered longer, despite not feeling a few fingers and toes at this point,
because we need some supplies for dinner and there isn’t long until the shops shut. Back at the house we have dinner
and chat, it’s getting late already so I need to get to writing this before it
gets too late and I get behind again.
Matt, Rob and Clare all drift away to bed. I will be going shortly but not before I add
photos to this post!!!
PS – Tomorrow’s Plan.... Zip Wires, and some Grade 3 water for
me!!!
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