Today, while my guesthouse friends swanned around Liege (just over the Belgian border) shopping and 'doing' coffee, I decided it would be a great idea to explore the great outdoors of Maastricht. Earlier in the week I signed up for a kayaking trip on the River Maas (without really thinking about weather conditions, my limited wardrobe at the time or, for that matter, my kayaking skills...) Nonetheless, I cycled down to meet the group of other intrepid UCMers and we headed for the launching point on the river. Literally as soon as we got there it started to rain!
Exhibit A:
Despite wearing every piece of remotely suitable clothing I owned (old sneakers, 2 pairs of leggings, track pants, multitude of tops, mildy waterprood jacket & coopers cap and beanie combo to finish off the look) I got ridiculously wet early on. I teamed up with a French girl who had kayaked before and, while we struggled a bit at first (think round and round in circles or a zig zag effect) we found a rhythm eventually and were at the head or at least middle of the pack of 9 kayaks-for-two for most of the day.
Trudging to our fate!
Me and my kayak buddy
After about an hour of scenic paddling, passing the odd cow or swan, the novelty began to wear off. The UCM organisers had planned for us to paddle 11km, with the option to stop at 8km, but after travelling about 3m in the first hour that 8km mark became the sole goal! The 'pleasant' weather from the start of the day continued and we got wet from above and below while out on the water, not to mention the wind pciked up to the point that paddling full-steam meant treading water in one spot. We also ran into some tricky teeny-rapids and bigger-than-we'd-like rocks which all slowed us down. By this stage all 18 pairs of hands were frozen, noses were about to fall off, generally extremities weren't working ... except for one guy who managed to stop on the side bank for a pee! Because of my poor paddling technique, litres of water ran down my arms every time I lifted them to paddle, leaving my gloves wet enough to wring dry over the side! As the next hour dragged on the though crossed our minds that we may never make it and our group would be found as a bunch of floating popsicles by some Belgian farmer as we floated upstream!
Before the going got tough....
Finally, after about 3 hours (it was estimated to take only 2) we spotted a tiny figure on the bank ahead that turned out to be our kayak-hire-guy. Paddles were raised above heads in triumph and a surge of adrenaline propelled us all towards the bank where we flopped ashore. Wet and literally frozen we towelled off and headed for the nearest cafe where hot chocolate and soup brought life back into frozen lips and fingers. But the relief was short lived - while kayak-hire-guy dropped us back to where we started, we all still had to ride home from there!! All I can say to try and describe how cold I was by the time I got home was that it hurt to have a shower in the hot water! Not to mention the bruises on my hands from paddling and the array of stiff/strained muslces that reminded me the next day ... just how much 'fun' I'd had!
We maaaaade it!!
Mistakes: Kayaking in the Netherlands in any season other than Summer!
Mini victories: paddling 8km on a foreign river and NOT capsizing! e-Yessss!
Dutch I've learned: "Ik heet dit" = "I hate this"
"Het is heel, erg koud" = "I'ts bloody cold!!!"
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