Canoeing the Olifants River
Wednesday … My last full day at Gecko and the day John is leaving to go diving on the east coast for a few days. I knew John had made plans to go fishing with friends so it came as a surprise when he said we were going to do the river instead. (I told you he was awesome!) John and I had often said we were going to do the river but between weather and other plans (canoeing got bumped by flying yesterday) it just hadn’t happened yet.
We loaded up the canoe and gear and were off, travelling along the backroad toward Clanwilliam. We put in at a sandy point (see John … I can get in the canoe without getting wet or tipping it over) near the cave and paddled downstream. It was a spectacular day … beautiful blue sky, white Cumulus clouds and the perfect temperature. We drifted along exploring inlets, the riverbank and the wildlife for quite some time.
Now, the thing about canoeing is that there is always just one more bend to see around, one more inlet to explore or one more landmark to reach and today was no different. It didn’t take very long until we had paddled down the river … quite a ways.
We put ashore on a sandy strip bordered by a rocky outcropping which, of course, we immediately climbed. John had packed a picnic lunch which tasted sooooo much better on the top of that rock. We sat and enjoyed the wonderful South African sunshine for a little while before deciding to head back … upstream … a long way.
John has an amazing sense of humour and there were times we were laughing so hard I’m surprised the darned canoe didn’t tip over. I was sure that the truck and trailer would lie around each bend in the river but no such luck. Not wanting to let John show me up, I kept paddling all the time with John sitting behind me making smart remarks about me not being able to carry my luggage tomorrow … something about a lash … and that I wasn’t doing too badly for an old lady.
Finally we rounded the bend that brought the truck into view. Despite John’s smart remarks, I’m sure he was worse off than me as he did a lot more paddling than I did. I had to keep stopping because I was laughing so hard.
Again, John, always prepared, pulled out the lawn chairs and we enjoyed the last sun of the afternoon before loading up to go back to Gecko.
I know that John had planned to get away much earlier for his diving trip and I know that he delayed his departure to take me canoeing and that he gave up his fishing trip so that I would have a special last day. That’s just the way John is. He is an amazingly compassionate man (Sorry John. The cat’s out of the bag.) that takes pleasure in doing things for everyone else before himself. He is a rare find and I appreciated his sacrifice.
It was a very sad trip back to Gecko as I realized that I was going to have to say my goodbyes to John and I didn’t have the slightest idea how to begin to thank him for all of the kindnesses he had shown me. Suffice it to say that he will be missed.
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Morag