We met at Brockdish on Friday at 9 am. There were six intrepid explorers, Adrian (Leader), Mark, John, Lorraine, Jeff and David, and four canoes. We unloaded and packed all the gear and then shuttled the cars to Geldeston Marina, the end point, assisted by Helen. Thanks to Helen for bringing the drivers back to the start. We left about 10.30 and encountered our first obstacle a few hundred yards down the river. A new tree had fallen down, so it was out with the saws and we eventually managed to get all the canoes through. The river was quite full and so the going was good, except for a patch of weed which looked like we were canoeing through grass. We had to portage the canoes four times on the first day, but working together as a team we managed to get them all through. There was a fifth portage but we managed to canoe around that one. At the longest portage we stopped for a rest and had our lunch.
We reached the campsite at about 4 pm having paddled and pulled for about 15 km. Fortunately the campsite was in the grounds of the Black Swan and we had a table booked for 6.30. They were very kind and made no charge for the camping. Adrian did not manage to finish his mucky duck burger!
We set out on Saturday at 9.30 and it was an easier day with only three portages. We met another obstacle, a large tree trunk, which was laying so close to the water that the canoes would only just go under. We had to lay flat in the canoe to get under the tree. Another interest was the chute, which was moving fairly fast and not as bumpy as usual. It was very pretty with walled sides and the castle surrounding it. We did the bungay loop which had some faster bits where the river narrowed and the inevitable low hanging branches but by now we were getting good at ducking! We paddled about 14.5 km that day, arriving at the campsite about 2.30 pm. We were all pretty tired and about 5 pm we went to find fish and chips and a few beers in Bungay.
We all turned in at 8.30 pm!
On Sunday we left at 9.30 am and Mark swapped with David to try his hand in one of the single canoes. He thoroughly enjoyed this but decided it was more exhausting than paddling with Adrian, so he swapped back. This trip was easier going as the river was wider, but there were still three portages, two easy ones and the last one was pretty tricky. We had to unload all the gear and carry the gear and canoes over a five bar gate and across a field to get to a safe place to relaunch. Once again teamwork was the key. Adrian even managed to get Lorraine over the fisherman’s style, not designed for midgets, which avoided a climb over the five bar gate.
We had been very lucky with the weather over the whole trip but knew that bad weather was on its way. We pushed on to Geddleston arriving just before 1 pm and having paddled 11.5 km. The rain was just starting but we managed to load the gear into the cars without getting too wet. Then we headed for Sunday lunch at the Wherry Inn and the rain really came down. The lunch was very good although the unexpected crash of the dresser falling off did add a bit of excitement.
We would all like to thank Adrian for organising the trip which was thoroughly enjoyable, fantastic fun and a great experience for all the participants.
Lorraine & John Holliday
