Page 39 - Waterfall City Issue 11 November 2024

Monday is our first day on the water, Tristan is captaining especially for the shout-out. And the first of many
and the heavens open. By the time kids. “You must be more careful!” lessons over the coming days. No 1, try
we get to camp, everyone is soaked not to look like you are drowning. No 2,
thanks to item 11 on the kit list – the I smile, “I’m ok,” I shout back. Barely, I pack ample snacks and then pack extra
all-important raincoat – comfortably think, as we have just circumnavigated on top of that.
packed at the bottom of our dry bag. the Doctor’s Rooms – the biggest
A rocky start to our much-anticipated rapids on our section of the Orange Not that you need them unless you are
trip. But the Gravity team jump into River and not to be trifled with. I my kids. Aaron, Trystan and Michael are
action, put up a gazebo, light a fire, thought me and Wingman M had as talented in the bush kitchen as they
and feed us. Top points to them. The done pretty well, but apparently, are on the water, and we dine like kings.
kids, ranging in ages from eight to 12, to bystanders, what I thought was Breakfast is a mix of fresh fruit, yoghurt,
seem unbothered by the rain and set masterfully gliding over the rapids, eggs and bacon. Lunch is cauliflower
up camp in the wet sand to see who looked more like two shipwrecked salad with a secret recipe mayo (which
can build the largest sandcastle. After women swirling round and round and we never got out of them), couscous,
a few sips of someone’s brandewyn, the teetering very close to peril. cold meats, Greek salads, and more.
grownups are perkier too. We collapse Everything is freshly prepared and
into bed slightly damp that night, It’s the first of many nervous shout-outs delicious, with no tools other than a
smelling like smoke and with sand in from my sons over the next five days. pan, a knife and a fire. Dinners consist
our teeth. Naturally, some are more worried than of roast lamb, gourmet pasta, chops,
others. stir-fry and other tantalising dishes that
“Mom, you almost fell off your boat,” have us scrambling for more. We even
yells Luke, my eldest. He looks smug on “Mom, have you got any more snacks?” enjoy dessert every night, so they have
the sturdy five-seater boat that Guide This was the second most popular researched us well.

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