Day 192 Canoe Paddle

We were birdwatching at breakfast today as all the little garden birds put in an appearance.  We finally spotted the wren that has been waking us together with blue & great tits, robin and dunnock, a tree creeper and, a first for us - red legged partridge! Who needs a bird hide when we have a caravan!


Today we had the most magical  canoe trip.  We were taken by minibus to the launch spot upstream at a small place called Buxton.  The river was just a small creek here at the beginning of its journey to Wroxham and beyond.  We were just going as far as Cotishall which took us about two and a half hours which included pulling over for lunch.  Initially we had some difficulty in going straight but it really didn't matter.  There was a very gentle current and reeds on either side separating us from the bank and adjacent fields and woodlands.  We were surrounded by butterflies and damsel flies with the odd big dragonfly. The only sound was the birds, after we had passed the two weed cutting boats which were rather noisy.  We passed under two road bridges but otherwise there was no road noise and at times we had complete silence.  It was wonderful! I was glad the portage we had to do around a weir was very short but disappointed when we reached the designated landing spot near to where we had parked the car. It was surprisingly tiring though as we both fell asleep when we got back to the van!  Here's the photos.