Quan Cai > Kayaking Expedition

7am: Saturday morning. My alarm went off and I remembered I'm going on a kayaking expedition. At 8 o'clock, dressed, fed and ready to go, I arrived at our leaders flat to start organizing the equipment. This took about an hour, getting together food, camping gear and boat equipment. The truck arrived around 10am and loaded with all of the boats and our belongings we headed for the pier. Once on the water, we started to get the feel the kayaks and after experiencing some pedal and rudder trouble the group was off to a great start. Despite the weather and the immense fog we all enjoyed the paddle towards the beach we would stop on for lunch.

The beach we arrived at for lunch was almost deserted, which gave the group an opportunity to enjoy its beauty, while wolfing down our food. After a nutritious lunch, we set out again for the most difficult leg of our journey. It was not as long as the first section; however there was a strong wind blowing against us and the grey overcast skies dampened our spirits. By this stage we were saturated and members of the group were starting to feel the cold and get tired. The reward at the end though was insight and as we ventured further towards the white dot on the horizon I could start to make out a nice, small isolated beach, with white sand and surrounded by rocks. The landing on the beach was a very joyous occasion, as we had made it to our destination and after a quick snack of digestives and hob-nobs, the tents were erected, sleeping bags were laid out and wet clothes were exchanged for warm, dry ones. The rest of the afternoon saw the boys amusing themselves with building sandcastles, while the girls set out for walks along the rocky shoreline to check out the scenery and collect kindling for the fire. By dusk the group had accumulated on top of the rocks and it was unanimously decided that it was dinnertime. Pasta, tomato sauce and pesto, was on the menu for the evening and after an anxious wait for the water to boil, it was heartily devoured by all.

With the dishes cleaned and warm fire beckoning the group gravitated toward it and before long, we were toasting marshmallows and playing Mafia. After working out whom in our group was good at lying and being devious, our beds called and within half an hour the group was sound asleep.

The next morning a quiet mood swept across the camp as we realised that our journey was coming to an end. Breakfast and pack-up went quickly and suddenly we were trying to find our way through a thick fog on the water. Not for long though as the sun decided to grace us with its presence and the remaining time spent on the water was beautiful, some of us even got a tan. Back at school, after everything had been cleaned up and put away we crawled back to our rooms to have a nice warm shower and put on fresh clean clothes. This was not the end though, as lunch, in our leaders flat awaited us. As we ate fresh soup and New Zealand cheese, the room was silent and I began to think. I looked around the room at all the faces, some who had been more familiar than others before Saturday morning and I started to think about the past 40 hours. I realised that the true purpose of the trip was not to go kayaking, eat good food or get lots of sleep. It was to spend time with different people and to form and strengthen friendships.

Natasha Whitelaw