As you can imagine, boating is a very popular sport in Australia and there is likewise an avid community of paddlers. While there are many different types of kayaks used that suit different water conditions, canoes are more of a rarity. This makes sense as Australian is not a country full of backcountry lakes and rivers, and canoes are poorly suited to ocean conditions. We were surprised to learn this past weekend that many Australians refer to the canoe as 'a Canadian.' I am sure that is paddler slang or that I am simplifying and generalising but it is still very telling and makes me wonder if canoes are associated with Canada worldwide. It's also pretty funny that kayaks are just as Canadian as Canadians are Canadian, but they're still called kayaks.
Either way we got to feel very Canadian this past weekend as we paddled down a chocolatey brown river through a steep canyon in a canoe loaded with camping gear and children with another Canadian family. It felt so nostalgic I kept looking for loons and beavers and floating hockey sticks.
It might not have been the all time best activity for Jakob's back but it was well worth it and offers a much cheaper alternative to the transpacific airfare. We assume the kids all had a great time because why wouldn't they like to lounge around on a river eating grapes, going for dips, making fishing rods out of sticks and vines (nibbles: 0) and putting up tents?
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| Tova snuggled up |
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| Getting ready to push off |
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| On the river |
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| Zadie fast asleep in Aurora's arms |
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