Social paddle group outing

 At the beginning of last year, I started the Kingfisher Social Paddle Group. The focus of this group is to offer monthly paddling outings to people with their own kayaks - primarily recreational paddlers - to explore the waterways between Mossel Bay and Knysna. Each month I schedule a paddle, publishing the location and details on the Group's Facebook page and Whatsapp and Telegram groups.

The outings are usually on the 3rd or 4th Sunday of the month - depending on the weather forecast and my availability. With volunteering at MUT next weekend, I schedule the May paddle for this weekend. Earlier in the week, I saw that the weather forecast looked solid for rain on Sunday (today) so I moved the day to Saturday.

It proved to be a good call. We had spectacular conditions for our small group as we explored the Karatara River, Ruigtevlei and the Hoogekraal River. The reflections of mountains, trees, kayaks and paddlers in the water were beautiful.

Birdlife was good too with sightings of a kingfisher (saw the flash of blue but didn't get a close look), two Knysna turacos, a fish eagle, purple herons, loads of cormorants and other waterbirds. 

These outings are a pleasure to organise. We've got a great group of regulars and others who drop in when available. Logistics are as easy as maybe making a call and then putting out info on where and when. Then people just rock up with their kayaks and we enjoy the outing together.

As we move into the winter months, which are cold and dark early, I'm planning to schedule the outings for Saturday lunchtime so that we can paddle-and-picnic. This will see us nicely through June, July, August and even September until the sun and warmth returns.

Scenery on the Hoogekraal River.

Paddling across Ruigtevlei

Louis (left), Joan (centre), Stan (right).

Emerging from the Karatara River into Ruigetvlei

An easy put-in from a bridge over the Karatara River.

After yesterday's paddle, I headed out with my mom to drive the Robinson Pass, which links Hartenbos with Oudtshoorn. We made a stop at the Eight Bells Inn for scones and tea. This was a belated Mother's Day outing as last weekend it was rainy and my mom was sick-as-a-dog with a bad cough. We had a super drive - with the dogs - and a beautiful afternoon together.