A Paddle Back…20/06/2012

A Paddle Back…20/06/2012 Sometimes the past catches up and you get to revisit it. With a forecast that scuppered the plans for fishing, an erroneous forecast as it turned out, I rescheduled my day to meet up with someone I’d not spent any time with for sixteen years. A paddler now resident on the Shetland Islands it seemed a great opportunity to have a catch-up coffee in the café we used to frequent before heading onto the river and paddling upstream to another old haunt. So, we met up in the town centre, walked to the café, told each other how they’d not changed since half a lifetime ago, reminisced and then walked around the town finding old places that had changed before parking up and walking down to the launch, stopping for a chat with another old friend from back then. The weather was perfect; blue sky, cloudless, sunny and warm with enough wind to keep us from roasting. With the Chatham leant out and myself in the Scupper we headed upstream for the forty minute paddle to the Lock Inn at Geldeston, the scene of many good nights and a couple of sessions fishing. We passed a memorable stretch of riverbank, laughing, and continued on our way idling along and chatting. The paddle seemed to go really quickly with minimum effort and, pulling the kayaks onto the bank we went in to get a couple of drinks; a real ale pub I had to go for the locally brewed orange wheat beer, drunk outside on a bench in the sun. Even after all this time we’re still a pair of delinquents. It was too short. We made the decision to paddle the upper stretch, the unnavigable part that only ever sees paddlecraft. The water is clearer here, the weed growth and fish visible and without a moments silence and our fair share of laughter we soon reached the weir and mill pools at Ellingham. Portaging across for another mile up towards Mettingham was a possibility but instead we chose to turn back, once again pulling in at the Locks for refreshment. We launched again and within minutes I had a phone call asking where I was and why I’d not done anything in the house and why I wasn’t back yet and what had to be done and blah blah blah…my excuse of it being such a beautiful day and the following two forecast to be shit cut no ice as it was my third day on the water in a row…but hey, I’d done the hoovering yesterday, tidied up, washed up, made dinner and then gone to bed before a night shift; I’d been home long enough this morning to repair the two wing mirrors smashed on her car overnight and have a bath so none of the mess was mine anyway. As you can imagine I really gave a shit. Reaching the launch point once again we loaded up and parted company for the time being, hopeful of another paddle before the holiday is over; all I had to do now was go home and make dinner before crashing out for four hours (after twenty one on coffee) and starting the next shift. I wouldn’t have had it any other way!