Upper Umkomaas

Long weekends are like gold in a working man's life and I wasn't going to let this once go without some kind of trip. Unfortunately most people already had plans and could not make it. So in the end it was just Laura, Bryden and Myself heading down from JHB and Mike meeting us there from Umkomaas.

We drove down on Saturday morning as to avoid the late night drive, it didn't however help us avoid the traffic. Fortunately as the traffic started to get bad we turned off to Bulwer where we were met with heavy mist and put our Saturday paddling plans to bed. Our plan was to go and paddle either the Umzumkulu waterfall section or the Umko section below Lundies. I decided to go check out the waterfall section as I hadn't ever been there. After a lot of driving we found the put in on Stoke's farm, where a new camp site is being built, which, when finished will be great for paddlers.
As there was only two of us keen and we never knew the section and the weather was getting dodge we gave paddling the full section a miss. I paddled the first drop on the section which is a nice easy 3 metre waterfall right at the putin. I ran it twice although at this low level it's a piece of cake.

3Metre on waterfall section

We headed back to the Nip Inn at Bulwer where we were staying after a few close encounters with goats in the mist. The weather was really getting horrid and we opted for staying in a bungalow instead of camping. Maybe I am getting soft in my old age but a soft dry bed was great.

Mike met us there first thing in the morning and after many sorrys we piled into my bakkie and headed for the putin. The water was... drum roll.... low. Horribly low, well maybe not horribly but about as low as you would like to run it in a croc. I headed back to the Nip Inn and sorted out the drive round. We headed off and paddled the endless flat before the first gorge. This section has a nice set of rapids after an hour or so into the trip. It starts off with a largish one and is then fairly continuous with smaller grade 3 odd rapids before an nice technical one. At this low level not too many problems where encountered except for getting the croc stuck on the odd rock.

Mike and me surfing a small wave

After the gorge the river flattens out and with nothing more than the odd wave train. Just about half way and when you are least expecting it there is a somewhat nasty drop at the bottom of an innocuous wave train. The croc gave this one a miss and Mike and I ran it. I went first, I over boofed, was pushed up against the wall and went over. Not too much off a problem as the channel is quite deep, just a little narrow. Mike's run was better although he also hit the wall.

My run down the narrow drop

We camped shortly after this rapid and got ready of a wet night. Mike and Bryden made an awesome fire, which with coffee, raised our spirits. Thankfully we had decided to take tents which made the night a whole lot more comfy as it rained on add off all night.
What the rain did not do was increase the level, so we headed off slowly down the river. The river goes into another smaller gorge again. There are a few nice rapids. There was one which was just too bony get the croc down, so Bryden paddle half of it and we lined it down the rest. Mike and I ran it with out too much difficulty.
After the gorge there is one small natural weir, avoid the left as the suck back is bad but at low levels you can run it pretty much dead centre. From here on the river flattens out a lot and it is a bit of a haul to the tale out. The heavens opened as we reached the first bridge, it was decided to get out there and deal with a crappy take out. Mike and I hitched a lift from a very generous truck driver. We landed up going through a road block and had to plead with the officers as to why there where 4 of us in the front of the cab. After much chatting we were let off and did the rest of the drive round.

Great trip, great river, more water would have been nice but what can you do.
Thanks okes for a killer trip, pitty more people didn't come. This is a great section for explorers trips, nice rapids, not too much flat and fairly easy logistics.
All photos by Laura Manley

8 days, 2 rivers, 3 surfs and 2 broken paddles

Dave, Chris and I had planned to head down to the Bivane river to marshal the iThala challenge canoe race. The Bivane is full of nice grade 3 and 4 rapids in one of most beautiful gorges around. The later part of the river flows past the iThala game reserve and you can see some great stuff during the paddle.
Work however threw a bit of a spanner in the works, I was to be going to Durban the week after the race. With little time we organised lifts for Dave and Chris with Rob and Andy Mac who where paddling the canoe race, thanks guys! So we headed down on early Friday afternoon and arrived at Bivane dam shortly after sunset. We chatted to the guys organising the martials and headed off to bed as we had to be on the river at 5am the next morning.
Basically we had to get on the river early, paddle down to our martialling points, once the sweeps past paddle the remainder of the river. Well easier said than done as the section is 42km long and my point was 18km from the start, so I was expecting quite a haul. Too my surprise we got to our points very quickly, this due to the fact that the river flows well on the upper section with the best rapids. We read and ran most of the rapids which was great fun and at times was made interesting by the early morning sun in your eyes. I really enjoyed the paddle down, chatting to the other martails, who were a great group of guys.
I bid fairwell to Chris and Dave at my rapid who were to be stationed at the next big rapid, which is the biggest on the river.
Unbeknown to me but Chris had broken his indestructible Riot paddle at my rapid. I had the spare but he decided to paddle to his rapid and wait for me there. There where a few interesting rapids between and I'm sure he had an interesting time.
I met Dave at Chris at big drop, where, after scouting the drop all ran it. Chris was feeling a little apprehensive, understandably after breaking a paddle, but still ran the drop nicely.

From big drop to the end the river starts to flatten out a big with far less big rapids. We hauled down to the Pongola confluence where we where instructed to get out.

After some rather unpleasant admin to get out boats and lifts sorted out I bid fair well to Chris, Dave and Philip and headed down to Durban. Unfortunately I got there too late to paddle on the Sunday. I was working there so never had much time to paddle but in the afternoons I headed down to the beach to play in the surf. The surf was rather small but trashy non the less as all the waves were dumping. I still had a great time even though I'm rather crap when it comes to surf kayaking.

I left Durban on Friday and headed up to Clarens, I was hoping I could paddle in Natal but alas there was no water around. I was to meet up with Ernie and Dave Joyce to paddle the Ash on Sat morning which left Friday night free for me to chill. There as a massive party going down at the backpackers so rather than paying R100 to be kept up all night I chose to head to the end of town and sleep there.

I tried to sort out the permits before the other guys got there but there was some issue and we could not get them. Rather unimpressed we headed to the river and up in at bridge and paddled the rest of the section.

The Coast of Contradictions

The Coast of Contradictions

Only at the ocean, at the locks of Mother Nature’s temperamental tresses, can I get in touch with my emotions. Maybe it’s the consistency and cadence, of the ebb and flow, or the balance of trough and crest, such a magical metaphor, an eternal statement of truth, balance and beauty, the making of dreams. It’s believed by many that life originated from water, the salty depths of Neptune’s palace. Maybe this is the reason human beings who are in their means; migrate towards the palace each year. I feel an umbilical pull towards her, a yearning each year to be in her awesome presence, to prostrate on her golden shore, to greet her waves, to indulge in her breath. Mine is an infatuation, a passionate vogue.

I’m on my yearly migration to my summer grazing spot, the coast of contradictions. As my herd travels, we make stops every three hours to graze and refresh ourselves before we undertake our journey once again. I come from a grumbling herd of animals; the first hour we spend together of the journey, is longer than we’ve spent together in the last six months or so. Once again our alpha male and female are vying for the spot of group leader. The herd juniors taking key from the elders, start brawling, our animalistic instincts are inherited, and the genes of violence, pettiness and animalism win once again. In the eternal debate between nature and nurture, nature earns a brownie point.

Whenever I am a guest at Neptune’s citadel, I have an odd superstitious ritual. I walk towards her my hands at my sides, slightly apart. I walk straight towards the ocean’s bosom, without flinching at the cool water. It’s something deeply religious for me, deeply spiritual for me. I feel like it’s my connection with a power, power so awesome it causes this closed system of Life to occur. A Power of balance and majesty. It replaces the space of common ritualistic religion with a sort of connection. A sort of inner understanding of my place, my life in comparison to the world, the wild wind of change and destiny we call home, we call life.

I have arrived at the summer migration grounds, and it is time for us to adorn ourselves to attract mates, summer is the time when most human mating occurs. Many of the older members of the herd mate their original mates, but this fact is not really what interests me. It is the young members of the herd who are in search of their mates that are a matter of interest to me. The males seemed to have caught on to a mating trend of shedding most of their fur, but that of the tops of their heads. This fur they style in upward sorts. They also cover their eyes with dark reflective material. They tend to dress in small coverings in various designs made of synthetic material which cover the body from the bottom of the waist to various lengths around the knee. The females remove all fur except for that on the tops of their heads; they dress in odd outfits that cover their breasts and crotch area (which resemble 3 triangular shapes of material). They often were these outfits in bright colors to attract the male eye. The males often do mock physical activities to attract females, while females chatter in loud high pitched chants to attract male attention.

It is solely at the ocean that I can become in touch with my emotions. I seem to just let them build up, and the ocean seems to iron out all the tensions and stresses. I think it’s probably the reliability of the ocean and her waves that attracts me, unlike the land of metamorphosis, the raging rat race of existence. My tears flow easily when I’m at the ocean, when the waves wash over me, cleaning my soul. It is at the ocean I question myself, it is at my yearly migration I’m able to put myself into perspective. I felt like I was a jarhead in the Iraqi war, a distant nobody fighting a battle that I knew was worthless. I felt like I was a mere spectator in my life, a bystander a forgotten face at the meandering mall of life. What have I achieved for my life? What do I have to show? I question, I seek through the silky sand for answers to my philosophy. And like the exfoliating properties of the sand, I break away from the dead emotion; I shed the old to reveal a new me, a new beginning, a new chapter.

Take a trip to the coast of contradictions next holiday season, and after you graze and herd, take leave from the mundane. Take a lonely trip down to Neptune’s palace and other then the wonders of Mother Nature’s luminescent tresses, you might just find yourself.

Just some weird, abstract, random food for thought,
Peace
hoosain khan

P.S. anyone interested in the Otto Trail?

Where did the weekends go?

As this blog hasn't been updated in a while, due to exams I suppose, I thought I would add a few words about the paddling I have done of late.

Dave and I went to the Ash about a month ago, unfortunately my clutch gave in when we got to Bethlehem. We got it fixed in the morning an managed to catch the other lads about half way down. We joined them and paddled from the Grade 5 to the end. It was a great little paddle none the less, was good to get the dust off the paddle. The Ash is a great "step test" river.

Dave and I went to the Fish river at the end of September for the annual canoe marathon. Despite previous bets involving lots of beer, Chris did not race. I say he is a girl, but it was mostly due to the fact that we had recently become homeless. I race, it was long and fun but the other reason why we went down was for the Fish rodeo. Scott and Craig from Life by Water organised a rodeo after the event. The fish rodeo used to be an annual event coinciding with the race for water. There had not been a rodeo in the last few years, so hats off to Scotty and Craig for getting it going again. I'm sure it will grow and become an annual event again.

Dave and I entered the Intermediate rodeo. I, due to the lack in resolution of the scoring chart, won with Dave coming second it was really close though. I sure Dave and I pretty much had equal runs. Andrew Pollock took the honours in the main event, with some great clean chartwheels. I'm not going to harp on too much about the event, please read about it here.


The weekend after Fish Chris and I headed to the Vaal for the weekend. Unfortunately it wasn't at a great level, the chute was washing out and the wave wasn't quite working. None the less we played hard in the wave even though it was super flushy. Chris worked on his spins tried out the new Fluid Nemesis. We camped at rocky ridge after the biggest storm in the world in a tent that wasn't quite waterproof.
Dave, Chevonne, Don, Liam, Sam and Rob joined us on the Sunday for a river run. The river had dropped even more and was fairly uneventful. The chute was really nice and I had a good play when we got there.


So it rained a quite a lot, Adrian mailed me a said we were off to Deepdale Gorge on the Umkomaas. Sweet, I was so keen. We left JHB at midnight since Dave Joyce had a dinner to go to. A long drive saw us get to Highover at around 7am. Dave from Highover helped us out with shuttle and we putin just below deepdale falls.
What an awesome river, long technical rapids, beautiful vistas and not a person in site.
You can read more about the trip on Adrian's site

Dog brown wings

The Vaal dam outflow was increase slightly last week. Which meant there was sufficient water to make the section below Parys good.

Only Don and I went down, both of us kayaking. Don is fairly new to kayaking and the Vaal at this level is a good introduction. Since I was a bit sick and don had turned into a tank the night before we left rather late (well past 10) and arrived at Parys even later. After the mandatory shopping for food and checking out the locals. I found the most amazing pie, I had to buy it and take it home for Chris. He was excited.

Anyway, back to paddling. As we got there too late to run the river we headed to Gatsien. Don squeezed himself into the stubby we headed down theatre to Gatsien.
So Don started off ok hitting a few rolls (he had never rolled before) and then headed off to the current. He worked on a few eddy turns and peel ins. Basic moves but you find out quickly that working the currents in a lot harder than bombing down a river.
When attempting one eddy turn Don went over and lost his paddle. At first I thought he had seen me further down stream and was swimming toward me (still in his boat). Shit I was so impressed. So it turned out he was just have a bit of a doggy paddle session under the boat. None the less he held on long enough and got to my boat in time to not swim.

I hit the chute a couple of times, wasn't feeling too hot. It was a great level though, with Vroom and Brendan displaying some moves.

After staring at woman wearing a pillow case, complete with pillow, we headed up and run the chute. Don went over and after a bit of doggy paddling popped and swam. Don then learn the ever important lessons of kayaking. Paddles do in fact float down stream if you let them go, boat with little floatation are damn heavy and the vaal bugs suck the sweat of a dead mans balls.

All in all it was a pretty successful day, I was impressed with Don's persistence and I hope to see more WEES kayakers on the water.

Onseepkans round two, this time in winter

So running a WEES trip while working is apparently more of a mission that I expected. None the less a slightly disorganised trip left JHB early Saturday morning. We left a little later than expected as some guy decided that the back of a landrover is almost exactly the same as open road, he was wrong… badly wrong.

Other than that the drive was rather uneventful, with the mandatory progressively increasingly dodgy conversation. Yes, I chose a shit lunch spot, but my decision was badly effected by 1994 pop music, yes That’s right Monster hits 2. We pulled into a little campsite in Koimoes on a wine farm, where I offered to sell one off the staff members’ wine. My Afrikaans is not so hot apparently, Glen’s is. Reading this you are you may realise that my English ain’t good either.

We left early for the putin, and got there with sufficient time to squeeze in the drive round before nightfall. Chevonne managed to spin her car out on one of the corners during the drive, thankfully nothing was damaged too badly and the drive could go on. Back at the put in we packed the mountain of stuff into the six crocs and one kayak. Chris, Nick, Don, Glen and myself headed up a mountain to take in the landscape, putting shoes on fist would have been a good idea as I cut my foot nicely…. It’s still infected…. I might have to have my foot cut off.

Typical scenery on this part of the Orange

We paddled a couple of km’s before setting up camp in a nice little spot. I somehow managed to get hammered off very little whiskey and the rest of the night was a bit of a blur. I passed out in Dave’s bivvy with a croc over my head to cast a shadow over the bright full moon.

Mondays paddle is the most challenging in terms of navigations, the river is widely channel and one must avoid a going left into a serious gorge, which, at high level could kill you and this level make your day rather unpleasant. Somehow we managed to not go right enough, requiring a portage over a small island to get into the correct channel. It is a bit of a long slog from here to the “rapids” but everyone made it. The water was too low to make life very exciting at little falls. It was a bit of a scrape to get down.

Scouting the channels

We got lot Richie falls latish of a long days paddle, and brought out the best lunch ever. Random-can-day, which, was embraced well… thankfully. What Chris did was buy whole bunch of random cans, then take the labels off. The cans included; tinned meat balls, brussel sprouts, jam, treat, green beans, curry to name but a few. The second can of meat chunks did go down too well, wander what it really was?

Relaxing around the one of Glen's fires

That evening we all drank and Don entertained us with the most amazing party trip I have ever seen. Hopefully he will do it again sometime

To get the boats and gear down to the water requires a bit of a scramble and the lowering of the some gear. I set up a b-lay and lowered the boats. We paddled up the gorge a little to see the falls, even with little water they are still impressive. I would love to come to this section with a full river.

Looking up the gorge

The biggest rapid on the section followed shortly, big bunny, which I suppose live up to it’s name. At this level is quite bony and getting the crocs down was a bit of a mission. Next up in Dolly Parton, not difficult at all but not particularly pleasant. There is a poorly placed rock to get a croc stuck on, which wouldn’t be too bad if it wasn’t for the massive siphon down the left. Most made it okay, except for Don. Don got it a little too sideways and began to wrap. I was in the eddy behind them and got Luke to clamber onto the rock and push Don and the boat off this “Backward sideways wrap” he did however do such and efficient job of getting Don off the rock that he forgot to get back in the boat. Luke now stranded on the rock was looking a little puzzled as to how he was going to get back to Don. I reassured him, since he was looking very river man, that he should just stay on the rock and be safety guy. Luke embraced this job and gently pushed the remaining boats off the rock thus avoiding them the same fate. He once again however forgot to jump on the last boat, leaving him high and dry in the middle of the river. I told him to jump into the river and swim for it, which he did and hastily ordered Chris to give him a buddy rescue. A move he was supper keen on ever since Dave has shown it in the safety talk.

The rest of the river is largely flat, so be paddled on slowly. I got out the kayak and into the barge and plodded the heavy ass boat down the river. We camped early and made some fantastic food.

Coldest campsite in the world

The next day was a long one, as I wanted to make distance. The reason why it ended up being so long was down to the lack of campsites. We started looking for one at 4pm and only found one well after 5. The one campsite we did find, which looked amazing from far away turned out to be “Super Rock City”. Not a single bit of flat land, with senses of humour starting to fail Nick found a nice spot on a island in the middle of the river.

The forth day on the river was short and we paddled to till be found and nice campsite. Much of the ground was made thanks to the strong tail wind, I erected Chris’ tarp as a sail. All of a sudden the slow barge was transformed into a speed machine, well kind of. Later all the boats joined, we made a large sail and covered the large expanse of what water with ease.

We made camp and a few of headed up the closest mountain, at first sat there and drank, then someone threw a stone. It was like a switch was turned on, as all hell broke loose. I think that particular bit of mountain is a lot lower than when we started.

The last day on the river was short and sweet, we made it to the take out easily this time. Nick and I were determine to find the bergie toilet we has stumbled on last trip. With the aid of the GPS and some keen navigation we found it, what a find.

We packed up and headed off, hoping to stay at Augrabies falls, however it was full. Chris had spotted a backpackers some distance back and we headed off to Kalahari adventure centre, this was to be the scene of much debortury. I was being grumpy tired guy so you’ll have to get the full account of what happened from someone else.

Craziness about to start

We headed to Augrabies the next morning for breakfast and to check on the falls. Dave, Chris, Kerry, Sarah and I headed off to find Neus falls. We found it after getting lost in a maze of irrigation channels. Neus is an awesome place, and I’m sure with more water would could be an awesome time. With the low level and only one boat it wasn’t really much of and option. There was one nice line and a really dodgy drop, which would hurt a lot if you got it wrong. We gave it a miss but I will be back one day when there is more water.

Main drop at Neus falls

We headed off stopped just outside Upington for and overnight stop and a braai, then headed off home.

What a great trip, thanks to everyone who came and helped out.

Sweet

Neil

Highveld croc wave

I headed to the croc wave yesterday for a play. It was a little lonely as I never had any company but it's a fairly safe wave to play at on your own.

For those who have never been to the croc wave before it is really it quite sweet, especially once you get the hang of it. It is small, not much more that 2 meters wide, flushy and shallow. I guess I'm not making it sound too awesome, but it has has a few positives, firstly it is not that far, only 40km from the center of jhb. Secondly it is proper park and play, you don't get tired walking. And while it is flushy, it does make you use correct technique. No blast into spins on this wave or you will flush. Once you get it down you can do four or five spin before getting dizzy and trying something else. I battle to throw ends but am getting better, as you need to elevate spins more than throw vertical ends. I've watched Luke Longridge get a few ends, but he works that wave like a pro.

Chris and I in the river left eddy

I'm sure if you move a few rocks around we could improve the wave a bit, Luke has already improved the eddy service by cleaning out the eddies a bit.

I don't have any photos as my camera wasn't working yesterday, I'll post some in time. If anyone is keen for a play on this wave left me know, it works all winter.

There is also a small wier (+-1m) were you can practice boofing without much consequence. Provided you go on the left and not when the water high.

Sweet

Me in the wave

Dave surfing

Wenches Trip (26-29/30 April)

Finally, after 6 years of threatening to organize one, I did... 12 years after the last wenches paddling trip. So off we went to the Orange River, looking for good times, not so much the hectic river and massifff rapids.

Pre-river
We left jhb around 17h30 in good spirits after fighting off all the boys who wanted to come along on the trip. The dinner stop in Potch saw much shinanigans as we relieved our youth on jumping castles and jungle gyms. This is also where serious injury #1 occurred... Chevonne grazed her elbow. A few hours, and much loudly-sung Bryan Adams, we found the campsite near the Groot Gat in Kimberley, at around 1am.

Day 1
We got on the river pretty late because we faffed about a bit and had to treat serious injury #2 belonging to Nikki who stabbed herself while pumping the boat. Drive round was assisted by the owner of the Caltex Garage by the put in (where we normally sleep on Beginners).

Turns out I should have checked the weather report, because a cold front arrived just in time for our paddle. We paddled into the worst headwind you could possibly imagine and I'm not joking when I say that the waves were in fact breaking in the faces of the front paddlers. When we stopped to rest we had to get out the boat and hold it else we would float upstream and undo in seconds what had taken plenty of minutes to accomplish. At one stage it was better to have someone pulling the boat from the front was more productive than having a lazy captain... so we did that for a while, until I thought it would be fun to get my foot stuck in rocks and bruise and swell up... serious injury #3.

We stopped for lunch and Lis became proud owner of serious injury #4 when she tried to slice off her finger to put on her sandwich. We pushed on down to the old wagon bridge, and there was some fairly festive rapids just above there. Ok, mostly rapiiiiids, but one just before the bridge which was good times. At 4.30 we'd decided we'd had enough of the wind and made camp on the left bank. Crabs and Nikki made a much welcome fire and we all huddled round and then the most delicious food evooor was made (think by crabs again) with potatoes, creamed corn, and sausages. Then we spooned and tried to sleep...


Day 2
Woke up with frost everywhere... I was so cold I couldn't even sleep, so got up and made fire and thawed a little. Thanks to the cold we took our time in getting going while we waited for the sun. The wind had died down a little and we made good time getting to Hell's Gate, which we decided to run, but probably wasn't the best idea in the world.



Lunch was tuna mayo, which I discovered (as a non-tuna-eater) can be made to taste awesome with plenty of black pepper. We paddled the rest of thunder alley without too much excitement, save a girly scream upon being splashed by one of our seeming hardcore team members... no names mentioned.

We set up camp at Slypsteen (where we normally take out for beginners) and someone made comment about the strange water mark about 1m from the water level, so we pulled it above there just in case. Then we made fire, food and warm obs and the evening went a little pearshaped for some of our members... Crabs had a tc, Nikki got a burning log thrown on her lap and there was much singing and shinanigans.

Day 3
This is where it all went pearshaped... We found the quickest cure for a hangover is to lose a boat! We woke up, started the fire, then someone went to the boat for a crogan paddle... there was no boat!!! The water had risen 2,5m and carried it, and all the safety equipment off into the night. We found out later that this rise is caused by plenty of irrigation during the day being switched off at night and plus lots of upstream rain.

After long silent minutes, we split off into 2 groups... Lisa, Chevonne & I went looking for the boat and Sarah & Nikki walked out to fetch the car. I made no good plan for if we found the boat. We took food, maps, medical kit, the cellphone and warm gear to look for the boat. We found it about 5km downstream still with all its gear inside... God bless the flatness that is the Orange. To say we were happy would be an understatement! I went in search of signal to contact the others, but found none. We unwittingly abandoned our plan and paddled downstream to the take out, which we thought was about 8km downstream.

We had lunch just before where we thought the take out was and had another look see at the maps. When we got to the place the maps suggested the car should be we didn't stop because it did not in the slightest resemble where Lis had left the car. So we kept going, starting to doubt my map-reading skills. Eventually the decision was made that we had no idea where we were and possibly had missed the take out and needed to ask for directions... but there was no one to ask.

We got signal at 3.30 and spoke to Soekie and she said they had figured out what we were doing and were already waiting for us at the take out... but neither group knew we'd missed the take out already. We then lost signal again.

At 5.30 we found the first signs of life and went with our maps to ask for directions... the conversation between 2 second language afrikaans speakers is not an intelligent one. We eventually ascertained that there was a bridge "om die draai", and according to our maps could only be one bridge (the one with a weir in front of it incidentally). So we relayed this info to Soekie and Nikki when we got signal again and paddled off "om die draai". An hour later, that seemed further than expected. We were determined to paddle as long as daylight allowed and then walk to somewhere with light, even if we weren't that close to the bridge. In the last few rays of sunlight we saw the lights of an operational pump house and decided to paddle there and get help. Then Soekie phoned from the bridge to say they'd spotted us through binoculars and to keep coming and take out on the left bank. Before we had a chance to ask them to catch us before the weir (which we would definitely miss in the dark) we lost the phone to the Orange... not a high point for us.

When we thought we were as close to the weir as we could be, we took out in the thorn trees and walked towards the bridge. We found Soekie and Nikki and they said they would shine headlights well above the weir to indicate the take out. We paddled off, and the fishing lines just in front of the take out did not improve the mood much as we had to disentangle ourselves and get past them.

So after 35km and 10 hours of paddling, we were on dry land again and happy, though frikkin tired.

We got back to jhb around 5am and all in one piece.

Despite it being a bugger up, we were all very lucky and it can be called epic only because we got out of jail free.

Thanks to everyone involved
Here's to the next one...

Ash Kayaking Again - this time with Jack Daniels (and a few other dodgy characters...).

So we went to the Ash again, this time joining some other kayakers down in Clarens in a last-minute trip sort of fashion... Neil and I met Grant Morstead at his place at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, had a quick coffee, picked up Jared and were on our way. We had a lightning-quick, massive breakfast at Wimpy Bethlehem and joined up with Adrian, Wihan, Marius, Carl and Theuns at the road to bridge rapid (which some people call Fish Pond Rapid, and which Morsie calls Butthole-Surfer Rapid).

So, we got on the water sometime after 10 I think, with breakfast straining at the cag seals. We took it really slow, taking lots of photos and scouting the bigger stuff for the benefit of those who hadn't seen it before. I hadn't seen anything below the waterfall before, and it was pretty cool to finally paddle the whole stretch.

The top section went well, with a few quick rolls at Alles. Bridge as always was a little intimidating, and I decided to walk it after swimming in the eddy above (the branch I was hanging on to broke - I decided it was a bad omen). Neil and Adrian ran it without too much trouble, with Wihan and Grant getting a bit surfed in the bottom hole and swimming out.


The middle section is pretty flat, with a few small wavetrains and a straightforward drop after the weir (which we portaged). After the second bridge there is a nice drop called "big suprise" (int he photos below), and then some smallish rapids before "The Grade 5".

The Grade 5 is a particularly shit rapid, and requires a portage. It's fairly continuous above it, so knowing where it is is pretty useful... Carl ended up going for a swim here, luckily bewteen a few of us we managed to get his boat and paddle to the bank before the rapid. Directly after this is the slalom rapid where Nationals #2 was, which then leads into the 2-metre waterfall. Wihan and Adrian both ran it on the left, Grant also ran it but managed to get pushed far left into the trees below - luckily close to the bank so Neil and I managed to stabilise his boat so he could get out. Directly after the falls is a rapid with two big holes, apparently one is quite a muncher.

After the waterfall most of the difficult rapids are over, with a few drops and an awesome, slide-like weir. This weir is pretty easy to run (all that ran it went down the right to avoid the big wave on the left, but I don't think it would keep a boat long, might thump you a bit though). There's a pretty interesting rapid below this as well, with some big holes at higher levels. Seemed to be easier to skirt the holes on the right, as there was a tree on the left which Wihan managed to catch his deck on... You don't want to go too far right though either. Two drops follow the weir, one is a bit of a shelf, boofed on the left, and the other has a nice glassy wave at the top and a meaty-ass hole on the right at the bottom.

All in all a really fun stretch, there's a lot of boily flat which gets a bit old, especially in the middle section. And it rained a bit on Saturday as well, which wasn't all that pleasant (good opportunity to play the "I have a dry-cag haha" game though...). Overall I found the cold water easier to deal with after an hour or so though, I defintitely didn't think about it as much as I normally do when we've only paddled short sections.

In the evening many beers were drunk, and Jared had to participate in an initiation ceremony (it was his first time kayaking on a river) which involved much Jack Daniels (straight, with coke, and even with ice-cream). He also had to wear a helmet all night. Good Fun. We retired to the backpackers, had a bit of a fire, and a well-earned sleep.

We woke up to a miserable day, and there was a significant lack of enthusiasm about getting ona freezing cold river, in the freezing cold... Luckily it warmed up, and a slightly dimished group of 5 kayakers went for another run down the whole section. Everything went a lot faster, we stopped less to scout and take photos. As a result we finished the whole section in just over 3 hours (it had taken us over 6 the previous day). Everybody ran bridge, Jared rolled impressively a few times but got beaten in the bottom hole and swam (the only swim of the trip). Neil did an awesome last minute roll to miss getting beaten on the shelf, and I managed to go over before the middle drop (I was going for a kickflip of course...) by looking too far ahead.

Adrian and Wihan were the only takers for the waterfall, and the water seemed to be pushing a lot more forcefully towards the trees. Wihan got pushed quite far left and just managed to miss the main branches, Adrian saved a flip with high brace and got washed into a branch. Neil and I helped him maneuver his boat round to below the trees so he could ferry out inot the rapid again... I think a saw might be in order here...

The rest of the trip seemed to fly by - amazing the difference good weather can make - and before we knew it we were eating Nando's on our way home. Good times. Doing this longer stretch of the Ash defintitely makes it a more worthwhile trip, especially for kayaking.

Thanks to Adrian Tregoning for some of the pics.

The Chute v2.0

So we went to the chute again on the Easter Weekend... I had to fetch my seat from a dodgy place in Germiston in the morning, so we only left at about lunchtime. However, we still managed to get to the hole in time for Neil to do a few cartwheels, me to paddle like a girl, and also to see some great boobs... We walked back up in the dusk, chatting about pornography at the top of our voices, until we saw a wedding party on the lawn at Stonehenge waiting for the bride... oops.

We squatted (no, "camped for free", not actually squatted) at the 24hr MTB race, which was a little like trying to get some sleep at Oppikoppi, but not too bad. We watched a bit of Cricket at Finnegans, which sucked. At least the burgers were good.

The next day the hole was a little deserted, with only Ernie and Blake joining us for half an hour or so.... and definitely no fantastic boobs. The level was also a bit lower making it slightly more shitty to get in, and making the wave a little smaller but slightly more retentive. Neil did some good cartwheels and I did a few amazing Atomic-Turtles (like a phonics tortis but bigger and better). We took lots of footage to help the learning curve, and managed to almost amazingly cock up transferring a peli-case from the rock to the bank...

Oh, and there was also a commercial trip with a retarded kid - a little annoying but pretty funny (as always) to watch the clients swim the rapid...

We eventually (quite quickly actually) got too tired to paddle, and left for Jo'burg. The end.

Gatsien Chute

Daav and I haven't play in the Chute for some time now, but with the water as low as it is at the moment we where left with little option. The water had come up a bit to 15cumec which made it possible to play in the Chute, when the water is lower (below 10 cumecs) it really isn't worth while. The last time the played in the Chute we both found it almost impossible to get in and when in impossible to do anything. There is also a nicely placed rock on surfers right which has claimed faces and paddles.
This time round I was pleasantly surprised, it wasn't too difficult to get in (once you know how) and when in it was possible to spin and go for ends. I spent some time working on a cartwheel in the Chute with the help of Hugh while Dave and Laura worked on squirts and eddy line moves in the current below.

Laura going for a squirt

Dave later hoped in Hugh's prototype large Nemesis and gave it a spin in the Chute. This new Fluid playboat looks awesome, it seems much faster than the Fluid and with harder edges give more control. Dave also said it is more stable on ends, I tried but being way too light for the boat never came close to getting it vertical. It 's a sweet boat though, can't wait to try out the medium.

Hugh and the large Fluid Nemesis

I spent some more time in the Chute working on ends, I nailed one cartwheel but the rest generally ended up in me being upside down. Dave swam onto the rock about the chute and got some awesome photos and video. Marius, many will remember from Bivane, was there. This kid is really looking good, I'm sure in a few years he will be an awesome paddler.
Our paddle was short lived because Laura and I had to head back to JHB early. I'm sure we will be spending a lot more time at the chute this year as it is often at this level throughout winter.

Neil initiating a cartwheel and landing up in a "I hate myself" bow stall

Marius styling

Ash kayaking

The one great thing about the Ash is that no matter how much is doesn't rain everywhere else the Ash will always have water. This year has been particularly bad on rain, with all the river low and dusty we decided to head off to the Ash.
the trip list was as follows: Dave, James, Chris, Laura, Dale, Willem and myself all in kayaks. Dale and Willem are new to kayaking, having only kayaked the Vaal at low water before, although Dale has done many canoe marathons.
We headed down on Saturday morning bright and early, well not bright but damn early, stopping in Parys to get a boat for Dale at Whitewater Training. All kitted up for what was to be a cold paddle, Dale and Willem having never been on the Ash before were unsure of what to expect and looked unjustifiably nervous.
The paddle from the dam down to the first drop is short and gives you little time prepare yourself for what is to come. Dave and I ran the drop first eddying out below and waited for everyone else. Chris, Laura and Dale all made it ok, they all made me laugh as the punched though the hole they all that the same "Damn this is cold, gaping for air" expression on their faces. Willem ran the drop well but got caught up in an eddy line and went over, he missed three rolls and I was almost positive he was going for a swim but on the third roll he made it, super impressive stuff especially in such cold water. The rest of the run was fairly uneventful, we ran all the rapids carefully and everyone came to terms with the numerous boils and eddy lines.
We scouted Allesgevinden and Allesverloren just to make sure everyone was okay with the lines before we ran it. Chris and Laura ran it well, Willem, Dale and James came down next. James hit a great line for Dale to follow and the both made it, Willem got a little sideways and went over. I was impressed how determined he was to roll, unfortunately he go pushed up against a rock with a hole just before it which made it almost impossible for him to roll and he swam. Not the worst swim in the world but a cold one none the less.

Dale and James down Alles

Dale hitting the line down Alles


Willem lining up the drop

I was keen on doing Bridge (or Fish pond) rapid, so I convinced the others to come help run safety. I supposed there was no backing out once I had got everyone down there. I checked my line and nervously got into my boat, although this rapid isn't that big it can hurt you if you cock it up. It hit the wave before the second drop a little to far right and landed up further right than I would have liked for the drop. As I hit the boils below my paddle was pulled out of my left hand and I went over, lucky I rolled up quickly and was able to do the rest upright. I didn't quite get the ferry right before the rock shelf and hit the hole at the bottom in the centre. I thought I was going to the pounded but managed to get through, good times!

Neil wishing he was half a metre left

Neil upside down

About to hit the rock shelf

We headed back to the car ate lunch, napped and headed up for another run. Being a little later the water seemed to be just that little bit colder and there was a slight edge in the air. Willem went over once or twice and had a few swims. This time we headed straight down Alles, Laura and Willem walked not too confident or warm after some swimming.

We headed back to town, made the most food ever and looked for a pub. After half and hour we where still looking for the pub, eventually we had walked right across town and found nice little pub where we had a few beers and watched some of the cricket.

The Sunday plan was to run a bit of the longer section, however with new paddlers and time pressure the full section was off the cards. The plan was to paddle to the second bridge, so Chris, Dale and Dave set off to do drive round. They took quite a while, so James and I entertained ourselves by watching a log get trashed in the weir at the put in. Apparently Chris hit a rock quite hard and bent his rim so they had to change a tire on the way.

The paddle went according to plan until Alles, which at the lower level made a quite sticky hole at the first drop. I went down and sat in the top eddy after which James, Chris and Laura came down. I could see that the hole was sticky by the way it almost stopped Chris in a Y. Laura came down and hit it right in the center, the stickiest bit. It surfed her back and flipped her over, she swam and made it to the bank before the second drop. Unfortunately her boat went over the second drop and got pinned. It came out by its self but damaged the hull. The Ash river often causes a bit of carnage. So Laura and James stayed at bridge and the rest paddle off to the cars. The second section has far fewer rapids that the first, with only a few wave trains, a nice drop, a weir and a nasty broken down dam wall.

I was keen on running the first drop of the last section so I paddled down while Dave, Chris, Dale and Willem walked there to run safety. I saw and eddy just above the drop which I new I could easily make, as I got closer I noticed it had a fence blocking it. Not good times! I managed to duck under it and scout the rapid, but was relieved that I didn't get washed down it without anyone watching. I ran the left line, went a little further left that I would have liked but was okay. We headed back to the cars and did drive round.

Note: The construction of a hydro electric channel is being started on this section. We left a car there with the guard. Please contact the farmer before doing so, he is reasonable but doesn't like random people walking over his land without being told about it.

We picked up Laura and James, had some lunch and headed off home. It was a great trip, thanks to everyone who came and Chevonne for helping out with the organisation even though she didn't come.

Beginners hike: Marble baths, Injisuthi

The plan was to go to Marble baths cave in the Injisuthi area, Drakensberg. We (Kemba, Will, Hoosain, Willem and I) would leave early, sail through the traffic (no traffic on a friday afternoon, never!), get there, set up camp for the night and turn in early... Lets just say that didn't exactly happen...

What I thought would be a relatively simple drive, but possibly a bit of a challenging hike turned out to be exactly the opposite: the 30 - odd Km road to the Injisuthi campsite turned out to be one big car-swallowing pothole for the rather low Camry we were in, and therefore it took us a long time to get through. We got to the entrance to the reserve at about 11pm, and, (not surprisingly) the gate was locked. So I ran all the way up some tiny hill in the hope of getting some signal, found signal and proceeded to wake up the Injisuthi reception person so they could radio the guard to come and let us in. However, when I came back from my mission, the guard had already opened for us... Good way of making new friends at the camp...

So we got there in the end. However, the rest of the weekend went by so effortlessly, that getting there almost seemed to be the most challenging part of the weekend. The route was easy to follow, and not very difficult. The weather turned out to be sunny and a little hot, but no rain. There was one part where I thought we were lost, though. There was this thick mass of vegetation on the path, and millions of baboon paths going off in all directions. Well, I took one of those paths, thinking it was the right path... Turned out it wasn't, but we found our way back to the main path eventually. We found the cave easily, and then all headed down to the baths after lunch, where the boys had lots of fun swimming in the pools. I was looking for lizards, and therefore didn't swim... I consumed a fair amount of OBS during supper, (no-one else was, so I had to make up for them...), and consequently was very happy when I got to bed.

On the walk back, a rather large puffadder decided Kemba was a threat, and so struck at her. She wasnt bitten luckily, and the snake, which must have been quite scared moved off quickly. The incident left a few shaken people, me included, as a snake bite, especially from a puffadder would not have been good times.

Anyway, we got back safely. The 'Berg was absolutely beautiful, the water tasted lovely, and all in all, it was a really good weekend.

Cheese

Blyde Fest

So it turns out that getting from Wits to the other side of Benoni, whilst not requiring a passport, does take the better part of 2 hours on Friday evenings. Inevitably we got to the Blyde Canyon Adventure Centre around midnight with only a few drunk kayakers from Benoni (strangely) around to greet us. The plan had initially been for Dexter, Crabs and I to waste away Saturday while Neil competed in the kayak race on the Upper Blyde. A haphazard last minute rearrangement saw Dexter and I tagging along in a croc with the kayak race and Crabs getting the short straw - which I still feel bad about - and staying in camp.

The 4am start was over-rated and the 2 hour drive was pretty hectic, but the view and the crystal clear water was well worth the lack of sleep - anyone who's been to that part of the country knows what I'm talking about. One of the highlights for me was drinking straight from the river with no gippo-strings attached, very refreashing after the sludge in the Vaal and most Natal rivers.

The kayak race was a timed sprint (on two occasions a head-to-head race) down three of the larger rapids on the stretch and the rest of the river was just tripped. Neil represented Explorers well, even though he brought a medium red knife (read: flirt) to a gun fight. Although it could've been worse... he could've been Luke in the large flirt. Mark and I thought we'd embarrass ourselves rather and took a few swims, Mark felt it neccessary to increase his number of swims. I particularly enjoyed the swim above the waterfall... thanks Mark. But the kayakers seemed to enjoy the relatively informal format of racing and good times seem to be had by all... although, the guy who worked in the hole below curtain falls seems to have a strange sense of good times because he went back for more.

That night descended into a boozed haze and much abuse was hurled in Explorers direction as the video of the day was watched and the full extent of the carnage revealed. Next morning we nursed our heads and bumbled down the lower blyde, which couldn't really compare with the spectacular canyon of the day before... at least this time we had Crabs with us.

Amazing weekend, hopefully have a bigger contingent at next year's event...

Snoo

Went to the X-fest and came back with “balls” on my shirt

I suppose a general lack of kayakers in explorers meant that only Dave, Justin and myself headed down to Underberg for the Thrombi X-fest. We left a little later than planned mostly due to the powers of the room, which upset me mostly because I had been at work and not in the room. We arrived at the X-Fest late into the night thanks to some interesting navigating in the mist and rain, with the most featured road in the world providing some extra entertainment. We put up the tent had a beer and went to bed.

Our breakfast plan of pronutro went to pot thanks to some awesome bacon and eggs rolls for sale, I’m sure everyone at the festival has egg on the pants. After a fair amount of fannying about Dave and I decided to enter the kayak sprint race, a little worried that we had never seen the river before. Luckily we paddled the section over which the sprint race was being held Philip Classens and Adrian Vroom. This included two of the bigger rapids on the section: “Slot machine” and “Super tube”. With no major chaos we our minds were put at ease.

Previously this race had a Le Mans start format, this year an interesting start ramp had been built barely wide enough to fit three boats never mind four. Dave was put up against a three other paddlers in creek boats and never really had a chance. He managed to cock-up the run somewhat needing to roll at least half a dozen times. My race was more competitive as there were only two other paddlers both in play boats. I cocked it up right from the start getting off the ramp late and hence playing catch up. I cocked it up more by getting flipped at the bottom of slot machine. At the end I was getting creamed. There was one more twist in the tail however for Dave and I, the race was longer than the section we paddled in the morning and included one more drop. Both of us took horrible lines and needed to roll at the bottom but all was good.

Justin and I entered the croc race expecting to kick as….well we never. There were some pro canoeists in our group, this wasn’t all bad as we go to drink beer sooner. I went to bed early and Justin kept on drinking beer so I’ll have to let him account for what happened.

Then next day Dave and I ran the river down to the falls with Adrian T, Luke and Vroom. What an awesome section of river lots of big drops and long rapids with short pools. We got to the falls without incident, Adrian T and Luke ran the falls while the rest started the long walk out the gorge.

Thrombi X-Fest

ok - so Neil beat me to the post... oh well, was such an awesome event it deserves two posts. Wrote this a few days ago, was going to add pictures but won't bother now seeing as Neil has put some in. By the way - if you're wondering about the "balls on chests" thing - just have a look at the t-shirt sometime...

We went to Thrombi, and came back with "balls" on our chests...

So Justin, Neil and I headed down the dreaded N3 on Friday afternoon, towards the Umzimkulu River and the Thrombi X-Fest ("Thrombi" is a section of the Umzimkulu known as Thrombosis Gorge, near Underberg). Luckily Neil's car held up on the long drive (thanks Neil's Car) and we arrived at the campsite after getting lost (well, we weren't really lost but we didn't really know where we were going...) via Underberg. It was drizzling and miserable, so after a quick erection (of the tent) and a beer we retired to the dryness for some kip. Justin didn't have faith in my old school Vango tent, and claimed that he got a little wet in the night - I told him to stop peeing in his sleeping bag.

We woke up to a fantastic breakfast of bacon, egg, bread, all mushed together and dehydrated to make the wonder food we all know and love as Pronutro. After staring at the box for a while we went down to the tent and got real bacon and egg rolls - no brainer really, especially when you have no bowls or spoons, and the long life milk looks like Crogan punched it in the face.

We entered the kayak race, after fannying about a bit, and tried to join up with a trip to the waterfall. We ended up missing this trip, but ran the race section with Phillip and Vroom. Only three rapids really: Tonsils, Slot Machine and Supertube. Tonsils was just a drop into a hole really, slot machine was a little more tricky with a lead in and then a nice twisty hole to sort you out at the bottom. Supertube is probably the biggest rapid on the stretch, with a tricky lead in rapid (stay right or middle right), ending in a blind drop into a "supertube" to the left. At this level we went just left of the indicator wave at the top of the drop - great rapid. From here it's a relatively easy walk back to the field at the start.

We then did the race, after being informed that there was no more "lemans start", instead all 3/4 kayakers in each heat would have to slide down a dodgy looking contraption on river left, into a pool about a foot deep... hmmmm. Anyway, no-one broke an arm or anything (not on the slide anyway). I was a spectacular last in my heat (although I was the only playboat in a field of much faster creekers - but I would have been last anyway). There was a bit of a suprise at he end, when it wasn't - the end that is. After finishing supertubes we were beckoned from downriver towards the "new" finish, which included a small drop and a massive one. Running the last rapid (and finding out it was a 3 metre drop) before the finish completely tired and completely blind was pretty interesting.

Pictures, and more article to follow later...

Buffalo: Fugitives Drift - Buffelshoek

After the planned trip to the Malibamatso River (in Lesotho) didn't happen due to lack of water, a few of us decided to go paddle anyway. After frantically arranging a lift at the last minute with Adrian and Vroom, we all set off towards a pub in Vryheid (where Robin and Ronnie had been since luchtime...). I was in the back of Vroom's bakkie - and with no window to the cab, was kept company by a six-pack of BL and Adrians photo album. There were murmurings of paddling Buffalo, I thought we were paddling Bivane (which would have been similar to Mali - read: easier than Buffalo). Turns out that all the paddlers that had not pulled out were pretty keen on Buffalo, and where all much better kayakers than me... hmmm. So, a little apprehensive about the paddling a big river the next day, I was keen for an early night. Of course, this meant that we stayed at the pub till midnight (with many rubber arms being twisted) and eventually ended up sleeping in the garden of the waitress that had been serving us...

The next morning we were woken with a tray of coffee (look out for "Natalie's Backpackers", opening soon in Vryheid) and promises of breakfast. We gracefully declined (didn't want to take advantage after all)
and headed off towards the river, with a stop in Dundee for breakfast and pink Gorillas.

The river was steepish, and high volume (100-150 cumecs) - very pushy water. I started to regret overpacking my boat, and was enviously eyeing out Robin's Expedition Solo. The first few rapids provided a nice warm up - were very long but the lines were pretty obvious and there weren't really any retentive holes around. Soon though, we came upon this rapid:

Philip had ended up on the right, and opted to walk around the massive pourover ("because there was no-one there to throwbag him"). Vroom and Adrian ran a less intimidating (but still tricky) line down the left. Another steep, fast drop finished off this rapid (see more photos on my gallery - unfortunately this was the only place I got my camera out). Robin decided early on to walk around this rapid, and rather than fanny about deciding whether to run it or not, I joined him. I put in in a side stream and bumbled down to the bottom of the rapid.



Somwhere along the line (near the beginning) we all dropped into a massive hole while running a seemingly "innoccent" looking (but still massive) wavetrain-type rapid. The wave-hole was about 2-3 metres high and spanned the river, so there was no way around it. It backlooped all of us I think, but luckily wasn't very retentive. Good times.

It's been a while since I paddled with a nose-plug, but the amount of rolling I was doing in this very dirty river made it a neccessity for my dodgy sinuses. As the day wore on I started bonking a little, and the rolls started getting a little sluggish. I hadn't done any real paddling in about 3 months due to a rotator cuff injury, and was feeling the effects of my not-fitness. The river was also testing my read-and-run abilities, with some quick ferries around massive holes and dodgy creases a requirement every now and then.

A serious learning experience, made better by being in the company of some good paddlers.

The next day a few of us pulled soft and paddled the commercial section, declining the offer to paddle the slightly more difficult Rorke's Drift - Fugitive's Drift section. I'm sorry to have missed it - but it's not going anywhere...

Lots more info and photos on Adrian Tregoning's Site.

Upper Blyde

Daav and I headed up to the Blyde river in Limpopo last weekend. The original plan was to paddle with Hugh, which didn't happen. Instead we crashed at Chris Huddle's place and bumed along on a Blyde river adventures commercial trip.

The drive into the canyon is a long one but well worth it. The scenery and river is awesome, a cool clear river flow though the third largest canyon in the world. But the rapids make it even better. The run starts of fairly easy with a few smallish drops and bony rapids. I made a meal of Island rapid by getting broached half way down, but I sorted it out with a little shoulder contact on the many rocks below.
After the lunch stop about 6km down the river starts to get really good, with lots of low volume drops and steep rapids.
Just as it starts to get late you meet up with the dam and catch a ferry across what would be a long hall into a head wind.

Good times, awesome river and looking forward to the Blyde fest.