Canoeing in Kangaroo Valley

Yesterday I went Canoeing in the Kangaroo Valley with 5 of the girls from The Bible Talks (the trip I was invited to here).

It was a fun filled adventure, with quite a few silly moments. The aim was to be at Ali & Karyn's by 8.30am ... I was the last to arrive at 8.45. Then we had to work out who was going in who's car ... How to choose? Hair colour of course - so Sam, Fiona and Sharon went off in one car, leaving the blonde's in the other car.

First stop was Kenso cafe for coffee - it was an early start and we needed our caffeine boost before heading down the M5 to Kangaroo Valley. By all reports one car chatted the whole way while in the other car at least one passenger caught up on some sleep. Delayed a little by the road works near Mittagong, we arrived in Kangaroo Valley a little after 11.30am along with lots of others keen for a day of paddling. The weather was fantastic - sunny and warm, but not overbearing. We were hopeful that the predicted possible thunderstorm or late afternoon showers would not eventuate.

So with the money paid and instructions to get down to the river, we set off. Left out of the driveway then right at the first street, which would turn into a dirt road for about 4kms. When not far down the road we saw a sign saying 'no access, private property' we were concerned but not alarmed, we'd followed the directions. After contemplating turning back because this must be the wrong way, we forged ahead continuing up the road... until we came to a gate equipped with security camera's having arrived at someone's house. So we turned around and headed back down the narrow road while phoning for directions. Yes, we had turned onto the first street on the right as instructed, but we actually needed to turn into the second street on the right! Eventually we found the right street and headed to find our canoes.

We had a quick snack to fortify us before heading out on to the water. Karyn & Fiona in one canoe, Sharon & Sam in another with Ali & I in the third. We managed to find our rhythm and paddled out enjoying the beautiful valley, spotting birds and ducks. Sharon took lots of photos (that I'll post soon). There were some rumblings of thunder in the distance, but it still looked quire fine. A bit after 1pm we spotted somewhere on the shore to pull up for lunch - Sam predicted that it would start to rain in about an hour. Karyn, Fiona, Ali and I made it on to the shore, but Sharon & Sam decided to stay in the canoe near the shore to eat. We had a lovely picnic lunch and ate far too much as we played 2 truths and a lie. Who would have thought that one of us was questioned by the police about a murder in Nepal or that another had auditioned for Nida?

As we tried to reload everything into the canoe's to paddle back, the thunder was closing in and the rain began to fall. About to head off, we were warned by someone on the bank that the storm was close and if the lightning was less than 14 seconds apart to get to the shore or else we could be in trouble. So we set off to paddle back down the river. Ali & I decided to swap places in the canoe - a move that was to prove to be a bit of a disaster as we literally zig-zagged our way back down the river, with me unable to get the steering right from the back. It provided lots of amusement for Karyn & Fiona who thought we were trying out some new technique!

Eventually we made it back to shore. Trying to get the canoe out of the water I managed to break my blue flip-flop, then let go of the canoe and have to wade into the water to rescue it. In attempting to pull it out of the water, it had to go under a rope and for some reason it didn't occur to me that I could go over the rope and pull the canoe under, so I went down and pulled the canoe under the rope with me.

Not ready for the adventure to end, we headed into Kangaroo Valley in search of the fudge shop. We turned up just after the power had gone out and so were unable to have a nice warm drink. So it was off to Berry before taking the coast road home. After running in to some of the second year MTC girls, we sat down for coffees, smoothies and cake in a lovely Berry cafe. They had experienced a black out as well, but the power had come back on by the time we arrived. With a discussion about whether the bathroom was in fact quite pleasing or really rather ordinary, we headed for home along the South Coast. We didn't make it to the coast road near Wollongong - it was raining pretty steadily by that point anyway.

It was a great day - lots of laughs and fun.

Photo's from Kangaroo Valley Canoe's website