Emilia, my cousin, leading the trip!
Emilia and I went on a kayaking trip near home (my new home near Antwerp, Belgium!) in celebration of her Confirmation a month ago. Emilia is my 11-year-old cousin and goddaughter. The closest kayak rental shop that I could find, Kano & Kayak Center, is located in Wachtebeke, close to the border with the Netherlands. It's possible to paddle a 38 km route, but we just did an out-and-back trip for a few hours. We kayaked, ate good food, and kayaked back. Emilia wrote a short guest post - click Read More to read that and see some photos!
Guest post by Emilia (11):
Beste dag ooit - Kayaken in Wachtebeke
Wij zijn lekker vroeg wakker geworden. Daarna in pakken en vertrekken. Na ongeveer een klein uur ben je daar. Wij moesten wachten tot het een uur werd (toen ging de Kano & Kayak Center in Wachtebeke weer open). Noch een paar dingen regelen. Het water in. En daar gaan we midden in het water iets eten en drinken. Liedjes opzetten en terug pedellen en pedellen en nog eens pedellen tot we na een uur en een kwartier bij een piknik plaats aan komen. Super mooi! En dan weer terug een paar keer tegen de stenen botsen en we pedellen en pedellen en pedellen. En dan drijf nat weer thuis komen na een uur reiden. En dan beseffen dat je bijna 11 km hebt ge pedelt!
Translation: [My comments in italics]
Best day ever - kayaking in Wachtebeke
We woke up nice and early. Then we packed up and departed [After making an extravagant quinoa salad for our picnic]. After a little less than an hour we were there [Nena's first time driving a manual car without anyone else in the car who knew how to drive - YEA]. We had to wait until it was 1pm (that's when the kayak shop opened again). Organized a few more things [Pay for kayak rental - it was 20 euros for a double kayak for 4 hours - good deal!]. In the water. And there we ate and drank something right in the middle of the water. We put on some music [Taylor Swift, in preparation for the concert tomorrow...] and kept paddling and paddling and paddling again, until we arrived at the picnic spot after 1.25 hours. Super pretty! And then we went back and crashed against some rocks [Emilia decided she wanted to steer, so she sat in the back during our return - Let's just say the route was much longer due to zigzags], and we paddled and paddled, and paddled. And then we got home, drenching wet, after an hour of driving. And then we realized that we had paddled 11 km [I was impressed too]!
Beste dag ooit - Kayaken in Wachtebeke
Wij zijn lekker vroeg wakker geworden. Daarna in pakken en vertrekken. Na ongeveer een klein uur ben je daar. Wij moesten wachten tot het een uur werd (toen ging de Kano & Kayak Center in Wachtebeke weer open). Noch een paar dingen regelen. Het water in. En daar gaan we midden in het water iets eten en drinken. Liedjes opzetten en terug pedellen en pedellen en nog eens pedellen tot we na een uur en een kwartier bij een piknik plaats aan komen. Super mooi! En dan weer terug een paar keer tegen de stenen botsen en we pedellen en pedellen en pedellen. En dan drijf nat weer thuis komen na een uur reiden. En dan beseffen dat je bijna 11 km hebt ge pedelt!
Translation: [My comments in italics]
Best day ever - kayaking in Wachtebeke
We woke up nice and early. Then we packed up and departed [After making an extravagant quinoa salad for our picnic]. After a little less than an hour we were there [Nena's first time driving a manual car without anyone else in the car who knew how to drive - YEA]. We had to wait until it was 1pm (that's when the kayak shop opened again). Organized a few more things [Pay for kayak rental - it was 20 euros for a double kayak for 4 hours - good deal!]. In the water. And there we ate and drank something right in the middle of the water. We put on some music [Taylor Swift, in preparation for the concert tomorrow...] and kept paddling and paddling and paddling again, until we arrived at the picnic spot after 1.25 hours. Super pretty! And then we went back and crashed against some rocks [Emilia decided she wanted to steer, so she sat in the back during our return - Let's just say the route was much longer due to zigzags], and we paddled and paddled, and paddled. And then we got home, drenching wet, after an hour of driving. And then we realized that we had paddled 11 km [I was impressed too]!
Photos - click to enlarge
Date: Saturday, June 20th, 2015
Duration: 3.5 hours
Distance: 10.6 km (6.6 miles)
Weather: Partly cloudy and almost warm - we both got some sun on our foreheads
Duration: 3.5 hours
Distance: 10.6 km (6.6 miles)
Weather: Partly cloudy and almost warm - we both got some sun on our foreheads
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