Paddling in Spain.
I had wanted to go to Spain for a long time. I had been studying Spanish for 2 years
and thought it was about time I put some of it to practice. A good time to get away
came along and with the kids busy for a few days doing their own thing I booked four
days away in Barcelona for just Nicky and myself. I knew there were loads of things
to see and do there but four days without paddling, I wasn't sure if I could go that
long. Then to my rescue came the Sutton Bingham Challenge! There it was in black
and white "Paddle outside the UK" the perfect excuse! I checked out various different
excursions on the internet and found a company called Spanish Trails. Their day trip
paddling along the Costa Brava sounded fantastic and enough to make any”Pirate” green
with envy. I had the venue , the guide and the opportunity now all I had to do was
sell the idea to Nicky! But as always Nicky's enthusiasm to join me on another adventure
overwhelmed me and two Emails later the day paddling was booked!
Tuesday came and although we were both really tired from the two previous days walking
around Barcelona and Montserrat sightseeing we dragged ourselves out of bed quite
early and made our way to the steps of the Correos Building (post office) on the
edge of the gothic quarter of Barcelona. Here we met two Americans who also were
paddling with us and our guide for the day Saskia.
We had to travel for just under
an hour and a half to get to the beach where we would launch. This trip gave us the
opportunity to get to know each other a bit better. One of the Americans, Isabelle,
had just returned from six weeks at Kayaking camp in North Carolina. I was very jealous
as I looked at the photos on her phone. Not only six weeks paddling on a white water
river but here she is this fourteen year old girl dropping off a fifteen foot waterfall
wow! I suddenly felt humbled as her mother told us they have sea kayaks at her parent’s
house where they go in the summer. Saskia, our guide was born in Germany but had
lived all over Europe and was multilingual. A quick snooze later and we arrived at
the beach. A beautiful cove with high cliffs either side white sand and crystal clear
water.
We sorted our gear all grabbed a large bottle of water and headed across the beach to where Alex, a weathered Spaniard who has obviously spent many years either on the beach or on the sea, was preparing our kayaks.
Ok “sit ons” they may be but remember the "Sutton Bingham Challenge" and all those
different boats we have to try, well at least we can cross two things of our list
now!
We had a quick safety brief and got on the water. As we paddled away from the
sand the sea six feet deep, now eight, now twelve feet deep and still we could sea
the bottom crystal clear. The weather, although it had threatened to be miserable,
had taken kindly to us and was perfect blue sky, bright sunshine and a very gentle
breeze.
The sea was tranquil and as we paddled out of the cove we could see the Pyronesse
Mountains in the distance marking the boarder between Spain and France.
We paddled
along in awe of the amazing colours and different rock formations that made the rugged
coast line. We stopped and investigated every cave we came across with the enthusiasm
of excited children.
I could easily imagine the real pirates hiding out in the caves and stashing their loot in them until the coast was clear. These images made only more real by the sound of the bats squeaking in the dark areas of the rock ceiling. The sunlight, forced through under the sea, gave the water a clear blue glow which in places lit up the caves.
We continued on rock hopping and exploring the coastal caves. Saskia told us that it wasn’t far until we reached the small cove which was her first choice for our lunch break but she had a couple of other places to show us. The first was a doorway through the rock. It was like a massive version of Durdle Door or even maybe how Durdle Door looked thousands of years ago before the forces of nature had eroded it away to its current form. After giving way to a couple of motor cruisers we paddled through the tunnel and found ourselves in another cove full of yet more caves to explore. Saskia guided us to the mouth of a small cave and explained to us that this cave was narrow to start with but then opens into a cavern at the end. We took it in turns and set off each alone. The start of the cave was very low and in order for us to get through comfortably we had to time our entrance with the rise and fall of the waves. I got into the mouth of the cave and went as far as I could without hitting my head then as the water height dropped I quickly pulled myself through the lower section. Using my hands to pull against the rock wall, as the passage was too narrow to use my paddle, I made my way through the darkness to the cavern at the end.
In the cavern , apart from the shimmer of light like a distant torch from the caves mouth, it was pitch black and quite daunting. My imagination was running wild and all those films I’ve seen where monsters come out of the dark came to mind but I pushed them to one side and concentrated on turning my boat around. By now my eyes were becoming accustomed to the dark and I was able to make out the shape of the cavern. It was amazing to think that just a few meters away was the wide expanse of the ocean and sky yet in this cavern I could have been miles underground. Claustrophobia creeping over me and knowing that pot holing was not my thing I made my way to the passage and after waiting for the right water height I pulled myself back out and into the sunlight again.
After we had all been into the cave and I had finished my conversation with a Spanish man on a boat we headed in the direction of lunch. The first cove we went in was very crowded with people on motor cruisers sunbathing, snorkelling and swimming so after a short discussion we headed around the corner to dining beach number two. This beach was even more crowded and there wasn’t enough room for us to even land our boats so begrudgingly we headed back to the first beach and hoped that some of the people had left. They hadn’t but we made our way to the beach and pulled our boats up to keep them safe .We were all feeling grateful to be able to straighten our legs again.
On the beach we sat on our buoyancy aids and from a large dry bag Saskia unpacked a veritable feast of ham and cheese baguettes, crisps, biscuits, bananas and the most delicious and juiciest peaches I have every tasted. We consumed the lunch to the almost deafening sound of the grasshoppers (I can’t remember what they called them) that lived in the trees surrounding the cove.
After lunch we had a go at snorkelling in the cove. It was amazing to swim around and actually be able to swim with the small fish. We played around for about half an hour and then headed back in to the others. Lunch stuff all packed away in the dry bag and boats relaunched we started our return paddle.
I’m not sure if the tide had changed or the weather out to sea but the waves were definitely bigger on the paddle back. The wide sit on kayaks were fairly stable and we battled our way back to the mouth of the beach from where we had launched. The mood was definitely quieter now as we all realised the trip was coming to an end.
The company had been great, the views spectacular and the adventure one I will never forget.