As a Birthday treat, our friend Deedee and Haydn had planned for Nige and I to borrow their equipment and travel/float down the Elbow River, so as the weather forecast was good all was planned for yesterday. Since we first moved here, we have often talked about getting into some sort of water sport and were hoping to buy a kayak this summer, but obviously with all spending on hold we were really looking forward to some fresh air and relaxing on the water. We headed to theirs in the afternoon and Deedee took us to our Starting off point, a place called Sandy Beach, helped us inflate our vessel then pushed us off down the river.
NB: For those of you that have forgotten, we are still without a camera so the photos are again coming to you courtesy of Nigels' works iPhone, which for most of the pictures was inside a ziplock bag, hence the appearance of a smog/haze like entity on some of the photos!
Below is a link to a map where we have plotted our route.
Areas of the route took us into fairy deep water at times with enough current to float us down the river without having to row and I just steered with the oar out the back of the boat. There were however, times where it was quite shallow so we did have to get some momentum by rowing, to get to where the stronger current was to going again.
What with the hot summers here, on the weekend especially, lots of people head for the river, so the City is very strict on water safety. Because of this life vests are compulsary for all and the comsumption of alcohol is prohibited. We had been very good and were thankful that we had adheared to these rules as the police were out in force issuing $250 fines and stern 'tellings off' to those who didn't comply!
The journey itself took just over an hour and we had a great time. Apart from a few other groups of teens floating down in lilo's and blow-up recliner chairs it was so peaceful and the scenery was beautiful. We even got to float by some huge 'posh' houses that backed onto the river. After we'd reached our docking point, we met up with Haydn, Deedee and their two children for a fabulous barbeque with homemade burgers, salad and a gorgeous homemade Victoria sponge. I'm sure we bore you all by repeating this all the time, but you almost have to remind yourself that you're in a huge city, when you're surrounded by nature, plus even though our sky has been very hazy recently (due to the smoke from the huge forest fires in British Columbia) the sun still forced its way through for some awesome temperatures.
So another great day in Canada, thanks to such a thoughtful gift from our friends, that has definitely given us a taste for the river. We're hoping, if all goes well, to be able to buy our own equipment before the end of the summer, so we can plan an all day trip from the North of the city all the way down to the South City limits.
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