So if you remember back in December we had an awesome adventure on the Shipwreck trail. BUT we missed out on doing the paddle leg due to epic winds... we had to be shuttled in and out from the Lilypad hut. Well in February we got to go back up the coast, do the paddle and officially complete the trail!
We started out girls with the girls and I had an awesome paddle partner! We had 8kms to go upriver but the wind was at our backs which was much more important than the current. We made pretty good headway. And then it got harder to paddle all of a sudden...
Those darned boys snuck up on us from behind and tied themselves to our canoe! We were giving them quite a nice tow! We paddled for about and hour and then stopped for lunch on the banks of the river. It was a little too chilly to swim, but the sun was out and the day was getting nicer by the hour.
After lunch we switched it up and I got to paddle with Ted for a while. Our 2 canoes had a blast racing each other up the river, which was getting narrower and narrower!
Finally it got a little too narrow. We had hit the take out point. We walk from here! We schlepped all our stuff instead of slack-packing this time, but it was only 4k's to the shelter and only one night so our packs weren't too heavy.
And it was my birthday! Couldn't think of a better place to spend it. We had ostrich k'bobs, grilled veggies and some really nice wine (well the adults did anyway...)
That night we walked to the game blind by the dam to see what creatures were around. This guy met us in the road!
Hello there! Giraffes scare me. Did you know that most lions will not hunt them because they can kill a lion with one kick to the head? Yeah... tough giraffes. When I see them in the wild I'm like "nice giraffe.... sweet giraffe..." as I back sloowly away!
My camping project... because you always have to make something you forgot to bring. We had no fire tongs. One piece of supple wood, a well-placed stone, some hair elastics and voila! Tongs baby!
Family pic before leaving. We were sad to go knowing we probably won't see this place again. We had an awesome morning and nice breakfast in the trees.
And Teddy found the bone he forgot to take with him last time! Cool souvenir of the Shipwreck trail... He looked like a character from Jurassic Park hiking out with that thing!
On our way back to the river we saw a big herd of Zebra that stampeded away. And then we came around the corner and saw this guy sitting on the trail!
Well hello there! He was nice enough to get up and stroll out of our way. You always want to be careful when you have to get around big grazers. Those horns are for real!
The wind was heading right at us on our way out and we had to stop to take frequent rests. We made it more than halfway and stopped for lunch and a nice swim.
The last 2 k's were nuts! We were paddling as hard as we possibly could and barely moving forward the wind was so strong!! Finally we hit a sand bar and Jeff and I jumped out and we just towed the canoes the last half a kilometer up the river. It was easier than paddling! Whatever works right? What a great way to spend the weekend though... such a nice paddle and it was great to finish the trail!
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