Well, what can I say. It would appear that I have somewhat neglected this blog over the past few months – it has been three and half months since my last post! I am sure you will be glad to hear that this is not because I have fallen off the face of the earth or picked up an allergy to typing. I have been very busy clocking up the miles in my car travelling over a rather large chunk of the country. Since my last post I have visited Plymouth in the south-west, Brighton in the south-east, Frinton-on-Sea in the east and Birmingham in the north. Partly because of all this travelling, and partly due to a lack of water, my paddling since returning from Norway at the start of August has been limited. From 9th August through to the end of October, I only managed three weir sessions at either Chertsey and Boulters – a slight difference from three sessions per week I was managing earlier in the year!
Over the August bank holiday weekend one of those three sessions occurred when I took an old friend, Sam, to Boulters. I paddled with Sam when I first started kayaking but he has only been in a kayak once in the last seven years so this was going to be fun. He was quite nervous at first and required some assistance in launching into the river (a sneaky shove from behind helped with this) and then before he practice his roll (a sneaky shove proved worthwhile here too). His roll worked first time which meant he had no excuse not to go and play in the feature. It was great to be able to spend the day on the water with Sam and this is something I hope we can repeat again soon.
Sam deciding to go for a play
Me attempting a carthwheel
Going for a cartwheel
More photos are available at http://photos.andywicks.com/BoultersBankHoliday
Whilst I have not been paddling Lindsay has been introducing me to the delights that Sussex, and Brighton in particular, has to offer. At the start of November we spent an enjoyable day in Lewes where we had a wander around the old castle and were treated to fabulous views across the county. We were even treated to a dragonfly who perched right in front of us and let me take some photos.
Lewes Castle
The view from the top of Lewes Castle
A very trusting dragonfly
More photos are available at http://photos.andywicks.com/SussexInduction
To compliment our visit to London Zoo in July, we paid a visit to Whipsnade Zoo. We were yet again fortunate with the weather and managed to see all the animals we wanted to – even managing to fit in a picnic amongst the free-roaming Wallabies.
A very relaxed lemur
Baby elephant
A free-roaming wallaby where we ate lunch
Lindsay and I
More photos are available at http://photos.andywicks.com/WhipsnadeZoo
Back in Sussex, Lindsay took me for a walk around Devil’s Dyke. The wind was up which enticed many para-gliders to the top the steep sided hill. At times the sky above their launch site looked like it was filled with a swarm of insects!
Swarm of para-gliders
More para-gliders
Atmospheric sky
At the end of October I even managed to was able to introduce Lindsay to some of the beauty that the south-west has to offer when we paid a visit to Wellington for the weekend. We enjoyed a nice walk around Wellington Monument and savoured the views across the Quantock Hills to the Bristol Channel.
Wellington Monument
The autumnal view back to the car park
The start of November proved to be a bit of a turning point as since then I have managed to get out in my boat an average of once per week, starting with a chilly session at Chertsey on 7th November, Dartmoor for the Upper Tavy and Upper Dart on 14th November, Hambleden on 19th November, Hurley on 28th November and then Dartmoor again for the annual Gene17 Adventure Paddler Weekend over 5th and 6th December.
The session at Chertsey – my first in over a month – was my first cold-water session of the season. Luckily I had purchased my new drysuit (Typhoon Multisport 3) so I was kept toasty and warm, with the exception of my head. I seemed to spend a lot of time upside down and this lead to frequent cases of ‘icecream-head’! It was only a short session but it broke me back into cold-water paddling.
The day on Dartmoor was fitted in as part of a weekend visit back to see my family in Somerset. It rained heavily on the Friday which meant we were looking at high levels for the Saturday. Driving down the M5 on Saturday morning and seeing a considerable number of fields underwater indicated that some of the higher water runs became possible. Meeting at the Dartmoor Lodge for coffee and breakfast a plan for the day was hatched. We were to head across to the other side of the moor to tackle the Upper Tavy from Hill Bridge to Harford Bridge. I had done this run once before back in July 2008, but the advantage this time was that we had multiple cars – I wouldn’t have to run the three mile shuttle! From here we headed back across the moor to run the Upper Dart, hoping that we had left it long enough to drop down to a more sensible level. The run down the upper was thoroughly enjoyable and at a level which I had only done once before – back on the Gene17 APWE in 2007. When we got off we discovered that the river had risen and then fallen 6 inches whilst we on it, with the slab still well covered when we paddled onto it.
On 19th November, I had taken a day of holiday from work for my first Hurley session of the season. Unfortunately I arrived in the car park to find a couple of paddlers returning from the weir who informed me that the weir had dropped to one gate just a few minutes previously. My first session would have to wait. Instead we all headed up to Hambleden for some fast and bouncy surfing. The long lay off from surfing – my last session was back at the start of June – made itself felt after only a few rides as the muscles in my abdomen started to complain. After about an hour and a half my body was complaining too much so I headed home.
The following weekend was spent in Poole with Lindsay. This enabled us to take some time out from all the running around and just relax and enjoy ourselves. Following along from our visits to London and Whipsnade Zoos we made a visit to Monkey World. Here we were able to see Chimpanzees, Gibbons and Orang-utangs amongst others.
Chimpanzee
A chilly Orang-utang
Siamang Gibbons
More photos are available at http://photos.andywicks.com/MonkeyWorld
The last weekend in November was to be spent on a visit to Frinton-on-Sea with Lindsay to see my Grandparents. Linsday was not able to meet me until 11am on the Saturday so I seized the opportunity for a visit to Hurley. I managed to get on the water in time to see the sun rise above the horizon into the clear blue sky, whilst surfing a near-perfect three-gate Hurley, before heading home in time to be ready to head off as soon as Lindsay arrived. I could not think of a better way to start a weekend!