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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071 |
23rd September 2012 Kayaking - Surf Skiing: Ardeche,France Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: mainly cloudy :( Max Speed: Distance Covered: Saturday 22nd September – walk then mega vulture watching followed by travelling – hot :) It rained in the night and our over-night photographer gave up at 4 am and went home – shame because by 8 am it was glorious – not a cloud in the sky :) at the Vulture car park above St May. We walked up to see the vultures again after doing our exercises (with a few vultures flying overhead) and eating breakfast. It was quiet to start with then at 11 am at least 30 rose up from the cliffs and soared overhead :) It is amazing to watch them (watching us mainly!) There were a few photographers up there including the Italians from yesterday, who cheekily had driven right up to the cross!! Don’t know if they had bought some cheap chicken wings to tempt them in but eventually a vulture landed right in front of us and sat tearing chicken wings to pieces! He was a beautiful beast! I took lots of photos and didn’t get too depressed about my lack of specialist equipment – especially when the chicken wing king was such a poser! – It is frustrating when your poor old camera shows its limitations :( and it’s very difficult to focus on a bird in flight!!! Am thinking a dslr with at least 9 point focus and a decent 400mm lens – might have won the lottery when we get back :) We spent all morning up there and walked back for lunch. We had a rest and Mag finished her very good book :) It was very hot by then at least 26 degrees. We set off down the very bendy steep road which didn’t seem as bad on the way down as on the way up. We drove on towards the Ardeche stopping at Valreas for McD’s wifi and a Mcflurry each! Alan who runs the Forces of Nature site had disabled the cookie function on the whole site to see if it helped us and it did :) so I am now logged in and my entries are all on so I am a happy bunny. Had an e-mail from Sharon to say poor old Jess has been in hospital having a cyst the size of a grapefruit removed from her ovary. All went very well, keyhole surgery with no damage to the ovary. Luckily it has all been sorted out before she leaves on her travels. We arrived at Vallon Pont-d’Arc about 6 after a very dubious drive across a rather dull plateau preceded by some industrial stuff! Vallon was quite busy which we had expected as it is the weekend. We probably haven’t planned this too well – to arrive on the busiest days of the week! We passed lots of canoe hire places and stopped at one to get a leaflet. It was a fortunate impulse because we were instantly both of the same minds, to do the canoe trip 32km down the gorge tomorrow. Apparently the weather is supposed to crack up in a few days and if we are on the water early (we have chosen the longest trip so have to leave about 8) we will beat most of the people on the water and leave all the day trippers on the bank in Vallon! The guy at the l’Arche de Noe canoe place was very friendly and said he only had one other booking for tomorrow so didn’t think it would be too busy. We booked in, took the leaflet and left to see if we could see the famous Pont d’Arc - a natural bridge over the river Ardeche. We found it with no problem – it is only 4km along the gorge road. Had a bit of a walk there – it is quite a thing to see :) We were thinking it would be difficult to find somewhere to park for the night because it is all camp sites around here. Mag wondered if the guy at l’Arche de Noe would let us stop in his car park so we returned there and he said no problem :) It is basically a very long grassy/weedy field and absolutely perfect! We even had a couple of cats in the field. We are now in the best place to make our early start tomorrow :) Had chicken and veg mix from last night for tea. Sunday 23rd September – canoe ***** mainly cloudy :( Our big canoe day at Vallon – Pont – d’ Arc :) Set the alarm on phone for 7 and shortly after it went off we got a text from Rob saying they walked round the deepest lake in the world yesterday 20km!!! And they are off to Mongolia next :) We got up and ready and were outside the L’arche de Noe office by 8.15. The people who run it didn’t get there till about 8.30 then screeched to a halt with their 2 month old baby so I think they did well to get there by that time! The really nice guy from last night gave us all we needed and took our 52 Euros then took us round the corner in his van to where they keep the canoes. It was lucky it wasn’t far because he had just left when we realised we had left our lunch in the fridge!!! Mag walked back and got it and it only took about 10 minutes so I reckon we were on the water by 9. We had opted for the longest trip – 32km which meant we got an hour’s canoeing before the famous Pont d’Arc. The starts are staggered depending on the length of trip you have chosen so a lot of the other canoers didn’t join in until nearly at the Pont. We made sure we made the most of the time on our own, kept to the banks and cliffs to see the fish and went into lots of nooks and crannies. Over the course of the day we saw herons, choughs, ducks, dippers, grey and pied wagtails and a coypu along the bank. I also saw bee eaters (while Mag was getting the lunch from the fridge!). There was even a nudist beach but didn’t have time to stop and not really warm enough today! A lot of others just went straight down the middle and missed a lot. There were a lot of rapids ranging from very easy to really tricky! Our canoe man had told us how to tackle some of the hardest but the worst one was very fast flowing and had a huge rock in the middle. Luckily for us we saw at least 2 canoes ahead of us hit the rock sideways and capsize! We stopped and watched several more attempt the rapid in different ways ranging from walking down the shallows to going down backwards! We made the decision to keep to the left and paddled like mad first with the right then with the left and just when we thought we had it cracked we got carried a little to the right and smacked the rock right on the nose of the canoe – amazingly just when Mag thought we were definitely going in it bounced back and went to the left and we very sedately floated down the rest of the rapid facing the right way!!! We think we really handled all the rapids well and have improved enormously since our trip down the Tarn when we both went in!!! We stopped for lunch, eating half the picnic after one tricky rapid and stopped again to eat the rest while weighing up the worst rapid situation as above. The last bit of the trip is out of the gorge along a straight bit they call the canal. This brings you to a concrete beach where mini buses with canoe trailers are waiting to take you the 36 km back to Vallon Pont-d’Arc. You have to be there between 4 and 5 and we got there about 4.30 so had to wait till about 5.10 for everyone in our bus to arrive. It took about an hour to get back. We were thrilled to see 2 wild boars out of the window as we drove past!!! Our canoe man was waiting for us, offering us free drinks and the chance to buy the photo they take on the way down one of the rapids. Ours was quite good but we didn’t get it because we have so many of our own and it was 10 Euros. We even got to have a shower Opened a tin of cassoulet for tea – our first this holiday and played phase 10. What a cracking day we were out for 10 hours, 8 of those on the water. It is definitely the best way to see the Gorges of the Ardeche because some of it is unreachable by car and the walk would be a horrendous length! We were so lucky to choose L’Arche de Noe to go with because they are such lovely people and have been very friendly, helpful and welcoming, let us park free for 2 nights and have a shower all for the 52 euro price of the canoe trip! Highly recommended. Dan replied to my text saying everything is fine and that holly keeps meowing and they have to go and find her! Nothing changes at home http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3972768310279.2154244.1012660562&t ype=1&l=f605c0a128 |
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