I went for my first Canoe trip with John Fenna today and had a brilliant time - I have to say a big thanks to John :You_Rock_ !
Well although the weather wasn't the best, we made the most of it and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I turned up at John's house around 10am, a quick morning coffee and a look at some of John's new home-made leather goodies and we then got around to me being kitted out for the trip.
Kit packed and we were off, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous (Just a little!
).
We arrived at the starting point which was on the River Teifi near Cilgerran, which also was the location of a Welsh Coracle Centre.
Once parked up I took a quick photo of the river before unloading the canoes and other gear from John's van. It was a beautiful area and the river was like a mill pond which put my mind at rest for the time being.
This was the view of the river:
So canoes and gear off onto the grass and time for some more photos whilst preparing the canoes.
John gave me lesson on the different parts of the canoe then a 'How to' lesson on getting in and out without hopefully getting wet, a quick trip to the toilets before we started then we carried the canoes down to the river.
It was about 11am when we were both in our canoes, a short lesson on paddle technique and then we headed down river, I couldn't get over the peace and tranquility, no noise pollution what so ever, just the various songs of birds in the trees and the splash of fish jumping it was like we were in the middle of nowhere!
A bit of tooing and frowing on my part and then after about half an hour I began to find my place in the world of canoeing, I was actually paddling in the direction I wanted to go and even started experimenting with different strokes (not always successfully I might add!) that John was showing me.
Then came my first set of rapids, to me they were huge but to those of you with experience they were about as fast as a toilet flush!
With John's guidance I negotiated them with no trouble and felt a right plonker having found how easy they were!
A little further on and we were seeing positive sign of otters in the area, with John explaining to me how they are flourishing in this part of the world which I was happy to hear.
A little further still and a swan took defensive posture probably believing my white canoe was an intruder on its territory, it even started towards me at one point as we floated past!
We found out the probable reason a short way up ahead with another swan nesting on a small island which we left well alone.
By this time we were approaching a second set of rapids which John informed me were much more technical than the first ones, we took a quick look then turned back upstream and pulled in for lunch at a well used sight that John frequents.
A short walk around the area revealed a couple of coracles which belonged to the locals, these were the first one's I had seen and like a numpty I forgot to take photos!
Back at the site John got his hobo stove going and cooked up some bacon, which added to my cheese sandwiches went down a treat!
A couple of cups of coffee and an eccles cake treat later and we began to clear up and pack up to get back on the river.
Back in the canoes and we headed back up stream, John told me some of the history of the river and the area which was very interesting, A bit more paddling practice and on we went, I struggled a bit at first whilst I got used to paddling into the current although John was giving me loads of tips about using the natural eddies etc to help me along, then we came back to the first set of rapids which I had easily negotiated downstream but now even though John made it look easy I was paddling like a mad man and not going anywhere, which brought a little chuckle from John, then a quick 'How to' again and I was paddling like a demon with most of the water going into the back of my canoe, a bit of a sweat on and I was free of the rapids with a big smile on my face.
The rest of the time on the river was easy going and at about 2.30pm we headed back down river to the start point which we had passed earlier on.
Although I have done aIot of kayaking in the past I was elated to have successfully finished my first Canoe trip, and even happier that I had done it without getting wet, except for my feet and lower legs.
We ferried all the gear back up to the van followed by the canoes and I took some pose by the canoes photos!
We then stowed our gear and the canoes and headed back to John's place where we sighted a Red Kite being haranged by a crow over the trees and fields next to the road.
After a brew and a chat it was time for me to go home, I was gutted it was over but filled with enthusiasm to do it again, John is a great instructor and I can't wait to go back on the river with him.
All in all it was a great experience, totally different to my passed experience with kayaks.
I was amazed at how relaxing it was (Except my rapids episode!) and will definately be taking it up as a hobby.
Cheers again John your a star!
Well although the weather wasn't the best, we made the most of it and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I turned up at John's house around 10am, a quick morning coffee and a look at some of John's new home-made leather goodies and we then got around to me being kitted out for the trip.
Kit packed and we were off, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous (Just a little!
).We arrived at the starting point which was on the River Teifi near Cilgerran, which also was the location of a Welsh Coracle Centre.
Once parked up I took a quick photo of the river before unloading the canoes and other gear from John's van. It was a beautiful area and the river was like a mill pond which put my mind at rest for the time being.
This was the view of the river:
So canoes and gear off onto the grass and time for some more photos whilst preparing the canoes.
John gave me lesson on the different parts of the canoe then a 'How to' lesson on getting in and out without hopefully getting wet, a quick trip to the toilets before we started then we carried the canoes down to the river.
It was about 11am when we were both in our canoes, a short lesson on paddle technique and then we headed down river, I couldn't get over the peace and tranquility, no noise pollution what so ever, just the various songs of birds in the trees and the splash of fish jumping it was like we were in the middle of nowhere!
A bit of tooing and frowing on my part and then after about half an hour I began to find my place in the world of canoeing, I was actually paddling in the direction I wanted to go and even started experimenting with different strokes (not always successfully I might add!) that John was showing me.
Then came my first set of rapids, to me they were huge but to those of you with experience they were about as fast as a toilet flush!
With John's guidance I negotiated them with no trouble and felt a right plonker having found how easy they were!
A little further on and we were seeing positive sign of otters in the area, with John explaining to me how they are flourishing in this part of the world which I was happy to hear.
A little further still and a swan took defensive posture probably believing my white canoe was an intruder on its territory, it even started towards me at one point as we floated past!
We found out the probable reason a short way up ahead with another swan nesting on a small island which we left well alone.
By this time we were approaching a second set of rapids which John informed me were much more technical than the first ones, we took a quick look then turned back upstream and pulled in for lunch at a well used sight that John frequents.
A short walk around the area revealed a couple of coracles which belonged to the locals, these were the first one's I had seen and like a numpty I forgot to take photos!
Back at the site John got his hobo stove going and cooked up some bacon, which added to my cheese sandwiches went down a treat!
A couple of cups of coffee and an eccles cake treat later and we began to clear up and pack up to get back on the river.
Back in the canoes and we headed back up stream, John told me some of the history of the river and the area which was very interesting, A bit more paddling practice and on we went, I struggled a bit at first whilst I got used to paddling into the current although John was giving me loads of tips about using the natural eddies etc to help me along, then we came back to the first set of rapids which I had easily negotiated downstream but now even though John made it look easy I was paddling like a mad man and not going anywhere, which brought a little chuckle from John, then a quick 'How to' again and I was paddling like a demon with most of the water going into the back of my canoe, a bit of a sweat on and I was free of the rapids with a big smile on my face.
The rest of the time on the river was easy going and at about 2.30pm we headed back down river to the start point which we had passed earlier on.
Although I have done aIot of kayaking in the past I was elated to have successfully finished my first Canoe trip, and even happier that I had done it without getting wet, except for my feet and lower legs.
We ferried all the gear back up to the van followed by the canoes and I took some pose by the canoes photos!
We then stowed our gear and the canoes and headed back to John's place where we sighted a Red Kite being haranged by a crow over the trees and fields next to the road.
After a brew and a chat it was time for me to go home, I was gutted it was over but filled with enthusiasm to do it again, John is a great instructor and I can't wait to go back on the river with him.
All in all it was a great experience, totally different to my passed experience with kayaks.
I was amazed at how relaxing it was (Except my rapids episode!) and will definately be taking it up as a hobby.
Cheers again John your a star!
Maybe next time I'll wear my wetsuit!!!!!!!
