The not so famous five of Adrian, Roger, Darryl, Dan and Andy  gathered at the start point in Tonbridge with an unusually full car park, due to a park run that was taking place. There was a parking warden present handing out fines, we spotted Adrian chatting to him and convinced him successfully that he didn't need to pay for parking as he was just dropping off his boat. 

We started the trip just after a troop of Scouts with about 7 Canadian canoes who were going to the same location, with a nights camping in between. Adrian was on his own in his Candian, Roger in his canoe, fresh with newly applied gaffer tape. Dan in his orange river boat, which is Adrian's favourite colour. Darryl and Andy were in hired river boats. 

The conditions were perfect, as usual the BBC weather reporting dark red danger on their map, you won't survive message but that wasn't the case. It was medium cloud and a nice breeze along the river. We arrived at the first weir and as most times the shute was shut due to low water. After the portage we continued merrily on our way. 

We carried along and stopped for lunch at the 3rd weir. One of us had decided it would be good to freeze a bottle of lemonade so it was still cold for the journey and would keep their food cold. Unfortunately much to everyone's amusement it was still solid ice when we stopped. You had to be there.

As we began to leave the lunch site the flotilla of scout boats turned up. Their leaders were contemplating whether or not it was safe for the troop to go down the shute graded 3. I heard their leader say "let's watch the professionals", luckily Adrian was first on hand and of course descended it impeccably.

All the scout boats followed without fault, the kids were clearly having a great time. 

We carried on in front of the scouts who had kindly let us go first. We got to the 4th weir which we always forget is coming up and then on to the final big weir, which is only graded a 3 but should frankly be a 7. We all got down safely although Rogers canoe was beginning to show some signs of distress with loose tape beginning to depart the hull. We carried on to the end of paddle at Tea Pot Island, where unfortunately we had some bad news. The ice cream shop was shut. Fortunately we were able to pull Adrian out of his disappointment for the drive home.

So a great day, we learnt lots. Adrian is a diplomat, who knew! And although Roger's canoe was much lighter than when it started the day you can build back better with gaffer tape. And we should always check if the ice cream shop is open.

This day was less about the paddling and more about the experience of being together and the laughs we had along the way. We all got through it relatively dry, with some wobbles on shutes but everyone stayed the right side up. 

Cheers Andy

Photos Supplied: Dan