Our weather has been magic lately. Blue sky days around 25 degrees Celsius (77F) and plenty of sunshine (you’d never know we were smack bang in the middle of winter). Perfect conditions for ticking off number 7 on the Daisy List; Take the canoe out and have a picnic.
Here’s my partner in crime;
And here’s the canoe, which so happens to have been part of our family for at least 20 years;
It has reputedly carried a record 8 children in one go half a kilometre down a river, had to be dragged from the bottom of a dam on more than one occasion and has provided our family, more specifically us kids, with much adventure over the years. It’s still going strong.
Nope, no plastic, high tech, high falutin’ world class standard canoe for us. Just a simple, fibreglass, old school vessel with plenty of battle scars. Please Canoe Gods, let Dad’s fibreglass patch over the giant split in the nose hold!
OK, so here was the plan;
- Pick up the canoe from Mum and Dad’s place, do our best not to get a hernia lifting it onto the roof racks of the car and strap it down such that said canoe does not, repeat, does NOT become a passenger in the front seat of any car traveling behind us.
- Unload the canoe at our destination (ie Golden Beach) and try not to look like complete tools groaning and dragging the non tech and therefore, freakin heavy, canoe with supplies to the water’s edge.
- Paddle across the passage to Bribie Island in as straight a fashion as possible, taking care to avoid all motorised water craft capable of doing a little more damage than one of Dad’s fibreglass patches can fix!
- Secure canoe, walk across the island to the surf side, find a picnic spot and crack open a bottle of wine (it’s amazing the motivation a bottle of wine can provide you know).
I am happy to say, mission accomplished. Here’s the evidence;
Although, I will add that the Canoe Gods were looking out for us because not only did Dad’s fibreglass patch hold and we weren’t taken out by a speedboat, but we managed to stay in possession of the canoe…just.
We’d dragged the thing all the way up onto the beach and started making our way across the island when Chris decided to go back, pull it further up the beach and secure it to a tree. Lucky he did as upon our return the tide had come in and the original location of the canoe was now well and truly under water.
I can just imagine the headlines; “Locals With Empty Wine Bottle Stranded on Bribie Island!” or “Old School Canoe Found Floating in Pumicestone Passage – No Sign of Occupants!” Would have made for a stellar blog post though!
Daisy List: #7. Take the Canoe Out and Have a Picnic – Done!
Related posts:
- How I Built a Daisy List & Why – Part 2 Photo by audreyjm529 In my first article (aptly named How...
- How I Built a Daisy List & Why – Part 1 Photo by Michel Filion I often get comments about my...
- How I Built a Daisy List & Why – Part 3 Photo by aussiegall Get out the tissues. I know...
- The Daisy List: #65. 3 Course Dinner for Mum and Dad Number 65 on my Daisy List was to create...
- The Daisy List: #1. Machu Picchu (Part 1) Well, given we were flying between mountain peaks on...
Looks and sounds fantastic! Well done for ticking another one off. Very jealous of the weather I must add…. over here (Ireland) it is summer and we are lucky to have weather over 20 degrees celsius on any given day!!! Yes, I did say summer by the way…
I’m soo envious. I’d love to have a day like that. And that canoe..wow, what a beast. It looks fantastic in the pictures (gotta love the way photos hide everything). Hope you practiced your J strokes
There you go Sami, working on that list – awesome!
And hey, you didn’t lose the canoe – even better – although that really WOULD have been a great story! Next time…
@Valeska
Thanks Vee. It was one of the smaller ones but it was still a shedload of fun. Seriously, the weather has been awesome. Hate to rub it in but it’s another pearler today!
@MartYn
Hey MartYn,
Yep, she’s a biggen. When it was on top of the car, we had the nose sticking right over the hood and even with that had a good portion hanging out over the back! I should have taken a pic of it. And yes, you’d be proud of me, I did practise my J strokes. Mind you, it didn’t do much because Chris paddles so hard we end up going round in circles anyway!
@Lance
Hey Lance,
Yes, I thought it was time to get onto the list again. It would have made a great story but I wouldn’t have enjoyed the “Hi Mum and Dad, we lost the canoe” part.
Yay you for ticking off one more item. I’ve got a canoe ride on my Daisy List, too, and just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Your story keeps me inspired … or maybe it’s the wine … or maybe it’s both.
@Chania Girl
Thanks CG. Yeah, it’s very cool when I get to tick another thing off the list but even cooler to actually have the experience. It was something so simple but we had such a great day. And if wine is what it takes to get you inspired, you know that’s more than fine with me! In fact, let me know when you tick the next thing off your list and I’ll have a toast over here in your honour!
What a lovely little trip, Sami! That canoe is a monster!
I just took my first midnight kayak trip, which I highly recommend…
Blogs like this make my desire to take a vacation down your way even stronger.
Thanks for sharing!
Veronica
http://www.drrussbuss.com
@Veronica
Hey Veronica,
Yep, it is a monster for sure and bloody heavy too! I’ve done a couple of moonlight canoe trips in Canada. One trip we didn’t get back till 3am! It’s great fun. Night canoing gives a whole different perspective to it.
[...] regular gatherings like picnics, BBQs, dinners, trips to the beach, high tea, [...]