Liselotte warned us that today would be the longest day, and that we might face headwinds. This makes it sound a lot easier than it actually was, so it was a good thing it was Thom's turn to tandem with Ria and I shared a kayak with John.
Almost immediately after launching we faced straight into what felt like a hurricane, or at least way more wind than the photos of happy kayakers on glassy water featured on the website. The first day we covered 8km; today it was closer to 24, and it was hard going. Jason and Matt did incredibly well, and Kieran and Ron improved significantly. John and I had a wonderful time paddling together - we have similar stroke speeds and both like to hug the shore where the water is infintesimally calmer.
Much of the day was spent in the main channel of Sognefjord, which is wide and stunningly beautiful, deep and dark, and, at least on this day, a cauldron of waves. We regularly got nailed with heavy waves, and were absolutely drenched much of the day. Towards the end of the day, Liselotte hitched Thom and Ria's kayaks to hers with a tow rope and gave them a much-deserved hand through the headwind and the steep waves. Thom paddled hard all day. It is more than twice as hard to paddle a tandem without a true partner than with, given the poor angle the person in the rear has with the boat, the inability to take any breaks, and the difficulty of overcoming inertia alone.
That night we camped on a narrow peninsula, in a field I called Entre les Deux Mers, that was romantically beautiful in a breath-taking way.
The social dynamics of the group have evolved significantly. Jason, who greeted us so cheerfully, turns out to be quite quiet and observant but not very chatty. Matt, wearer of the oddly provocative t-shirt, spends most of his time harassing Ria, which is a poorly disguised attempt to hide the fact that he actually kind of likes her. John is the narrator of the group, which is great because he has great powers of observation and spots things that are interesting, beautiful, or unusual. Ron and Kieran have a beautiful grandfather-grandson relationship that the rest of us wish we could have had with our grandfathers. And Liselotte is professional, calm, and an absolute font of information about this region of Norway. We all truly appreciate her guiding, and are in awe that she can paddle hard all day, then make an amazing dinner for all of us, wake before the rest of us and make a hot breakfast, and remain cheerful and look freshly showered each day. It is a mystery, since the rest of us are decaying noticeably.
Night Entre les Deux Mers started early as we were all knackered after this long, hard day. I think we were all asleep by eight. Our tents were near each other, and some time in the middle of the night I awoke and could hear snoring from all the tents, and found the sound to be oddly soothing and comforting.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment