CYHA News

Slumming it!

Our usual Whitsun week in Scotland was replaced by a luxury villa in the South of France – complete with pool. Exchanging icy drizzle for blazing sunshine, and porridge for pain-au-cholcolat, we celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee from Gordes in Provence. When we weren’t eating or relaxing by the pool, we managed to fit in a couple of decent walks. Scrambling through gorges and over peaks, some of the more intrepid even took to the water.

It was a tremendously successful week. Many thanks to Cress for organising it all and to Nick for the morning croissant run.

 Ali

Welcome to France!

We shot to Lille on the Eurostar in 80mins. There we created a pile of luggage which we manned by turns while exploring and sampling pain-au-chocolat and coffee. Then the TGV took us to Avignon in 4hrs.

Our first afternoon in France was marred by the half-hour queue at Avis car-rental followed by an hour at Carrefour. Dave P got preferred customer treatment, so he and Cressida went toute-de-suite to the villa having handed over the shopping list to the rest of us! When Nick discovered that Carrefour have a bar at the checkouts he was mollified.

So some tired and slightly stressed hostellers arrived towards sundown at Villa Wysteria. Within moments Cynthia, Chris and I had ineradicable grins as we explored our new temporary home. Roses in bloom, a pool, huge light lounge/diner/kitchen, and on the terrace a table laid for 14 with candles. Welcome to France!  We grinners were just the ones who express ourselves so openly – everyone was happier.

White Water Adventure

In the heat of Provence, the idea of  “drifting down the river on the current for 8km” in kayaks proved irresistible.

On arrival at Fontaine de Vaucluse there was some anxiety and some excitement among the group seeing the fast-running but clear river, and green kayaks.

There are 3 "barrages" on the river where you disembark and the man will help to get the kayak over. The 3^rd one is jokingly called the 'shute de mort' where you need to make sure you go into it straight. This was beginning to sound more ‘interesting’ than drifting downriver..!

Straightaway they started throwing kayaks into the river and we were off, in doubles and singles, scrambling in and being pushed off into the current.

"Oi! My one's faulty – there's water coming in!" said Doug. We all had wet bottoms from the off because of the design of the beginner canoes. Bah!

Miss X, a complete beginner, was struggling in the current, going in circles, in reverse, and into bushes on the banks. Chris came to help her.

Nick & I came alongside the man and followed the other doubles down a ladder on the other side, picked up our kayak passed down from above, and attempted to relaunch ourselves without getting our trainers wet. We shuffled over the concrete towards the gap where we suddenly shot down into the white water pouring over the weir. I was getting distinctly unimpressed with the safety measures. We weren't getting much guidance on how to avoid a cold dip (or worse) but it was fun!

Miss X was a nervous wreck as she shot into the white water. With no control over her craft she drifted into an eddy and, to Christine’s horror, floated back towards to weir outflow. Chris could see the man on the dam looking alarmed. Fortunately she got free of being dragged into a "stopper" and we all set out to follow the others ahead downriver. Still struggling to master the paddle and avoid hazards like overhead branches, we made haphazard progress. Suddenly we were in rapids, getting freshly wet bottoms again!

We swapped Miss X to the front of the double while I took her solo kayak. It was a struggle in the current but with Chris’s help we managed it.

At barrage no.2, instead of a ladder and smooth concrete, there were boulders and a pallet which we had to scramble over. The water was very shallow. I remembered Chris saying "clench buttocks, think light" and attempted to lay full-length along the canoe. It seemed to work.

After all this excitement it was nice to just paddle gently along for a while. Chris, Sarah, Jim, Jonathan and I were enjoying the sunshine and pretty river. All too soon I saw ahead a couple of double canoes manoeuvring for the 'shute de mort'! I was drifting towards it and my manoeuvring was not very successful. I rolled over the edge, scraped along a log, and dropped into the pool! As I nosedived a wave came over the bow and doused my shoes. Shucks!

                              Lorna