Ross-
To
Monmouth
Paddle and Wild Camping.
Shall we go? What shall we do? Will it rain? Oh questions, questions questions,,,,,,
YES we decided we will go and then,,,,,slice,,,,,, blood and a deep cut!!!!!!
Nothing is going to stop us a bandage and an attractive glove for water proofing and we’re off.
It was a late start but before we knew it three intrepid explorers we had arrived
at Ross-
We unloaded the gear, two explorers started stowing and securing the gear while the other went to drop off our trusty stead so that he would be waiting for us at our final destination.
Our leader back safe with us we were secure and ready to begin.
We got onto the water and the real adventure began. We started to paddle as the evening sun shone and sparkled on the river, the river also started to creep into our boat. With a slight adjustment to our load, to prevent the tent getting wet we continued on our way nothing was going to stop our adventure.
As we paddled along this peaceful stretch of river we were invited to share in the natural beauty of our surroundings. Ducks with their ducklings swimming along. Swans with their fluffy silver cygnets secure between them and geese with their goslings all swimming along allowing us to share their space.
Our sights set on finding the perfect campsite we travelled on towards Goodrich castle and just below it we found our home for the night.
With camp set up and boats out of sight i took a moment to sit and ponder. The countryside we have around us goes by largely unnoticed but if we just stop and take our time we can uncover the magic it holds. That is just what i felt we had done by finding this peaceful spot, we had uncovered just a little bit of magic.
The delicious smell of burgers filled the air around us and their taste soon stimulated our taste buds. Cooking and eating in the outdoors just cant be beaten. Washing up completed with the help from some grass and leaves, this is wild camping you know, we were ready for activity two... Fire lighting!
I chose to take a back seat with this one and let the boys have their play. It was far more entertaining this way!
After a prolonged period of time (well it wasn’t that long really) we had a lovely camp fire to keep us warm and to dry Jimmy's socks!
The evening passed and we snuggled down in our tents to listen to the sounds of the wild and eventually sleep.
In the morning there were bacon rolls to keep us going and as we broke camp i felt a little sad to be leaving this peacefully place.
We paddled down to meet the group from SBDCC and enjoyed the paddle towards Symonds Yat.
There were many paddlers sharing the river with us along with many more ducklings and cygnets. Jimmy even took time out to repair his well loved sculpture.
After lunch we continued to Splat Rock and yes Jimmy did it again! We continued on and after seeing an otter scurrying along the bank , amazing, we arrived at the rapids.
After much playing on the rapids(Jimmy) we said our farewells to the SBDCC group and set off on the last leg of our adventure. The rapids were ace in the open canoe, Jimmy and I rose high above the wave and made a big splash accompanied by our shrieks of joy.
The rest of the journey was picturesque with a few exciting rides along the way. It was over all too soon and we arrived in Monmouth a little too early for my liking.
The adventure had been incredible, the journey amazing, wild camping simply magical all that was left was to start planning the next adventure.......
