Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Jaap’s Birthday (31 October 2015)

For Jaap’s birthday we leave Grafton and pull up at Nymboida, along the Armidale Road. Jaap has requested a canoe excursion. First we pay a visit to my former WAMS colleague Vivian who lives a few kilometers outside Grafton in a newly build house on a forest block. It's nice to catch up.
Jaap's birthday is the type of day we all needed. Great surroundings, lovely campsite with fire places and a creek, lovely presents, a cake and a Halloween themed scavenger hunt. 
The canoe trip is also delightful. We are being dropped of at the river with crystal clear water and a few tiny rapids. Laura and Jaap both get in a single kayak. Jolmer takes Hugo, Tim and the GoPro, and I have Peter in my crew. The configuration changes a few times, we get stuck in the shallow rapids twice and Peter tips his kayak twice. We also paddle past the end point so that we have to make our way back up stream, but that is part of the fun and certainly a very good exercise.
Specially for Jaap’s birthday we light a fire. It is so lovely that Jaap, Laura and Peter request to sleep in front of the fire. We grant them this wish, but put them in their own bed when they're sound asleep. And now Jaap is ten, such a big boy.


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