Paddling

Jen and I spent yesterday with Robin, one of the Guiders I met when I came up to Canberra for the weekend camp, and her partner Paul. Robin and Paul are both originally Americans, but they have been traveling the globe for a number of years now and have spent the past few years living in Australia. So it was kinda fun to be able to commiserate with fellow "foreigners" who are also enjoying living in - and learning about - OZ. Robin and Paul are both outdoor enthusiasts and they invited us to go kayaking with them on Lake Ginninderra, one of two man-made lakes here in the city. How could we refuse?

In the morning they picked us up to take us to the local farmer's market, which was supposed to be quite good. Unfortunately, because it's the week between Christmas and New Year's, the market wasn't open! We had to settle for a mall of grocery stores, instead. Robin and Paul had also invited us over for dinner, so between the four of us we picked up salmon steaks, prawns (they're not called shrimp here!), veggies and fruit. Jen and I then headed back to Nikki's house to finish our laundry (I had finally figured out how to use the washing machine early in the morning, ha ha!). In the afternoon we headed over to Robin's place so we could help load the boats and go paddling!

Vicky/Kirsten/Erica/Tara/anyone else who's reading this who's helped load canoes at Woolsey - you'll appreciate this! We got three whitewater kayaks and a racing kayak on top of a Toyota Prius. I must admit I was a little worried that some of the boats were going to fall off, but we made it out to the lake in one piece, and then off we went. (There is no way we could have put any boats on the car that Jen and I are driving... but seriously, that car needs its own blog entry, so I'll have to tell you more later.) When we first settled on who was going to paddle which boat, Jen had chosen the purple kayak, leaving me with the yellow one. (Her logic went something like this: she was wearing a purple PFD, I was wearing a yellow PFD, and it was important for our PFD's to match our boats.) Unfortunately, I couldn't wedge my butt into the seat of the yellow kayak - it was too narrow! (I think this may be one of the reasons I prefer canoeing...) So in the end we had to swap kayaks, and I'm pretty sure I got the better boat.

The boats we were paddling were whitewater kayaks, so they wanted to turn in circles a lot. Both Jen and I really struggled for the first little while to get the boats to go straight. I was surprised at how much faster I was going then Jen - I mean, really, she's just as strong or stronger than I am, and just as good a paddler! Turns out that her kayak was really, really tippy... and the lake that we were paddling in was more than a little on the slimy side. She was taking it easy because she didn't want to dump. I don't blame her! I would've traded boats with her for the return journey except for the bit where my butt wouldn't fit in her boat.

Really, I'm pretty sure we did just as much floating along, staring at the scenery, as we did actual paddling. But it sure was nice to be out in boats, under a bright blue sky. Paul is a whitewater kayaker, and he spent a good chunk of the time doing all these fun flips, cartwheels, and other tricks, in his little red trick boat. Robin was trying out her new racing kayak, which apparently was even tippier than the boat Jen was in, so she didn't stay still for long! On the far end of the lake, there were these tall metal cylinders sticking up out of the water. They looked a bit like giant pipes from a giant organ. Turns out they were chimes - and if you rammed your boat into the bottom of one of the cylinders, the whole thing would rock and the chimes would sound! So you can bet we had some fun with that! I can only imagine what the chimes must sound like on a really windy day. When we'd reached the far end of the lake, we pulled the boats out onto a dock and walked, barefoot, over a bridge to a local pub and had a drink. The pavement was HOT so I was glad we found seats in the shade! Then it was back into the kayaks for the paddle back to the car.

When we got back to Robin and Paul's house, we took turns showering and putting together the various bits of dinner. And then after dinner, Robin and Paul introduced us to a fun board game. I couldn't tell you its name (although I'm pretty sure I've played it before) because they'd picked it up in Germany and of course all the cards etc. were in German! The basic premise of the game was to try and build settlements, roads, and cities, to gather resources, and to prevent your rivals (the other players) from doing the same. The rules were complex, but once we had the hang of it, we really go going! Jen won the game, but not without a fight from the rest of us. We've been invited back for a re-match later next week before we leave for Melbourne.

So once again, we got home really late, waaaay past our bedtime, and have slept in this morning! I gotta go though - we're going to a didgeridoo demonstration at the museum in a couple of hours. Have a great day!