Finally, we’re completing the river wye journey. This has been a very tough challenge, and a very demanding one.
Today we had to do the final leg of the journey from Monmouth to Chepstow where the river meets the sea.
Today we had to do the final leg of the journey from Monmouth to Chepstow where the river meets the sea.
After yesterdays amazing paddle down the River Wye, I wanted to go kayaking again so dad chose a place called Resolven Canal in Glyn Neath.
We went and picked up the kayak from our stores along with the other kit that we needed and headed off down the road. I had my I-pad with me so I played on minecraft whilst dad drove.
After a short drive we reached the start of the canal. The water was a lot calmer than yesterday and I felt more confident because of that. We drove to the drop off point and took the kayak off the roof. I carried the paddles and kit bag and dad took the kayak.
At the waters edge we put the kayak in and I climbed in as dad held it and then he got in to. I had my sports camera mounted to the front of the kayak filming the trip so that was good. Maybe I’ll put a video up soon.
We started paddling and went past some old walls and then past a building which had canoes outside that people could rent. The building sold drinks and ice cream, so I asked if we could have one on the way back later to which dad said of course.
The canal was well kept and had little growth in it initially. After a while we reached a lock gate .We paddled into the lock and it had really high walls. We were not allowed to close the gates so we had to portage the kayak around the lock. Dad carried it and I took the paddles and kit bag. Once we got passed this first bit, there was a broken floating drill type machine in the canal that we got back into the river next to.
We carried on paddling up this stretch of the canal but all too soon this ended as well. Again we carried everything past this lock and onto the final stretch. This part was good initially but soon filled up with overgrowth. We went under several bridges and also across a viaduct (I found out that this is a bridge that carries water). Once over this the canal ended up very overgrown and we couldn’t paddle on any further. As such, we turned around and paddled back down the canal .
It was really good fun, we did about six miles and I loved it. I wasn’t scared or worried today as it felt a lot safer than yesterday.
After the paddling we had our ice creams and a can of coke before we headed to the marina where our yacht is. I didn’t want to go out on the yacht so we played in the marina and I used a net to try and catch some fish swimming around the yacht. I didn’t succeed, but it was lots of fun.
We then headed back home, even though I didn’t want to. A really fun day with my dad, doing the things I love to do.
What a fantastic day! This was meant to be our day two from the adventure we started over Easter, but because I was ill we had to have a break and have now picked up the challenge again.
We took our tandem kayak for this leg of the adventure and after putting it on the roof of dad’s van, we drove to the start of this leg of the adventure which was at Glasbury.
There is a lovely pebble beach along the side of the rive, just at the main river bridge. We got the kayak off the roof of the van and I carried the paddles and our kit and food in the waterproof dry bag and dad carried the kayak. At the waters edge, dad reminded me of how to hold the paddle and the right way to do it, we then loaded all the kit into the kayak and dad jumped in and off we went.
We glided under the Glasbury bridge without any incidents and all around us were tourists and groups that were in Canadian canoes all heading down the river.
We passed an island on our left as two other canoes started to go the wrong way, they corrected themselves and we paddled past.
The river meandered around this way and that, at places it was shallow and other places it was deep. Dad told me that we could tell when the river was deep and shallow by the way the water moved on the surface. The flatter and calmer looking the water the deeper it was, and the choppier it was, the shallower it was with obstacles under neath causing the choppiness.
At one point there were two women in another canoe and they asked us directions so we told them to take the easiest line through the obstacles and to get out on the right hand side at the Hay on wye bridge.
After a few miles we came to a natural weir in the river and a few people were on a pebble beach looking at it, dad guided us into the right hand end of it which was quite rough and we shot through it. The water rushed over the front of the kayak and splashed into my lap. I was little scared but I enjoyed it a lot.
After we shot through that a few canoes came through it behind us and one of them capsized and the people in it were suddenly in the water screaming. Looking back at them, I was glad it was them and not me lol.
After another short while we came into Hay on Wye. A lot of people were getting out here but we paddled on. It was shallow in places, but we managed to get through it without getting wet.
After another few miles we saw the ruins of Clifford castle on the right which used to be an important castle on the border between England and Wales.
After passing the castle, we paddled on enjoying the lovely sunshine beating down on us and I splashed dad with the water on my paddles, although I pretended it was by accident so dad didn’t splash me back me haha.
After 10 more minutes, we reached a small hamlet called Whitney on Wye and saw the a wooden toll bridge. The stanchions were made of timber and the bit the cars drove on was also made of timber. Just before it was a place to get out and get ice creams, but we kept paddling.
Just after the toll bridge we came to to a pub called the Boat Inn and some low level rapids, They were fun and easy to paddle through. I paddled and dad steered, I liked the rapids as they were fun and made the journey more exciting.
I was tired at this point so we stopped and had a break on a pebble beach, enjoying a sandwich and a drink whilst I explored some washed up trees on the beach.
We had passed several little islands in the river but the river narrowed after a short while and there was an Island which we passed on our right and the channel led into a series of fast and fun rapids leading to the bridge at Bredwardine.
Dad lined us up and I paddled hard and it was over in about 10 seconds, but it was bumping and splashy. The river carried on a bit faster for five or so minutes and then it eased up and we were back to normal speed.
Just after this we saw a large reddish coloured cliff which I liked and dad told me it was called Brombury Scar and was red because it was sandstone. I knew that sandstone is a soft stone made of compressed sand.
We kept paddling, taking it in turns to paddle, sometimes I would paddle and sometimes dad would whilst I rested.
I saw my first heron in a river – it was pretty huge, it looked like a pterodactyl. I also saw a black kite which was also large and had a lovely v shaped tail feathers, which is how I knew it was a kite. Dad thought it might be a red kite but I told him it was a black kite because of the white and black markings under its wings.
Just before we reached the end of the river at Bycross, we saw another ruined bridge across the river.
This was a lovely day and I felt nervous and a tiny a bit scared at the start because of the waves. But by the end of the day I was pleased with my achievement but I was tired.
We then had to wait for a bus to take us back to the start where we had left the van so we left the kayak on the edge of the river and took our bags with us on the bus. Whilst we were waiting for the but I had a lovely ice cream which I told dad I deserved and bought myself a small fishing net for trying to catch tiddlers with.
We got back home late and I was tired. My Mamgu (editors note: Welsh for grandmother), had made us a roast chicken dinner so dad and I ate that before watching Barcelona and Juventus in the Champions League final before I went to bed exhausted.
After spending a bit of time getting my yacht ready to sail, having the mast raised, having the Genoa sail repaired and adapted to fit on the roller reefing system I have on the fore sail of my yacht, it was time to take it out into the ocean.
My dad, uncle and grandpops came with me as well as my niece. There was a lot of us going out.
We got to the yacht at 10am, sorted everything out on board and by 1030am we were heading through the Marina for the lock. The first obstacle was the swing bridge so we radioed through and asked the marina to open the swing bridge and also to ask permission to go into the lock. We were given permission and we watched the bridge swing open. The lock was on what is known as free flow, so both gates were open and we were able to motor through and into the Tawe river.
Once into the Tawe we had to go through the lock into the sea. It was busy because the day was beautiful and as such five boats squeezed into the lock, two of them huge power boats and three smaller yachts.
We got out into the sea and using the engine we motored out beyond the seawall. Once out there we pulled up the main sail and reefed the foresail. The wind wasn’t too strong and so we caught it and the sails filled nicely. We sailed around one of the main marker bouys and covered a couple of kilometres. It was lovely.
I walked to the bow of the yacht and tightened the sheets (the ropes used to secure the sail). I had a go at steering the yacht using the rudder, it was good fun.
I popped below deck and had a drink and some snacks. I also drew a picture of the yacht on the sea.
After a couple of hours or so, we headed back into the marina. It was really good fun.
We got back into our berth and secured the yacht, making sure the sail was stowed away and that everything was secured.
I finished the day with chips on the beach at the mumbles and an ice cream. Whilst on the beach I found a washed up jelly fish that was massive! I also scrambled up a huge slab of limestone rock that was next to the beach and looked out across Bracelet bay and into the Bristol Channel – an awesome day!
In August 2013, Joshua made the book Gorge Walking. This was photographed and filmed over one day. It was a cold day and a tough one, but Joshua loved it.