Adrian Tregoning

The Tradouw River lies dry and asleep for much of the year just outside of the quaint little town of Barrydale. The region nestles between the semi-arid Klein Karoo and the beautiful and fertile valley of the Tradouw. Daily summer temperatures of above 40 degrees Celsius and an annual rainfall of less than 300mm per annum means this river almost never flows. To make matters slightly more complex is the fact that it sits about 270km away from Cape Town, so driving there after some rain is a gamble. Luckily it comes to life every now and then. (There were so many good photos I had to condense them somewhat, but have split the remainder over two parts – enjoy.)

This years’ river season has been pretty dismal for those of us living in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The season started early, and strong, but then died down quickly – just like the previous year. I think we only had about two or three rainy days in the whole of July, none of which were enough to paddle on, and August wasn’t much better, with September so far producing nothing noteworthy. This is the reason I haven’t posted too much thus far. And also, my left shoulder was acting up a bit so I missed out a few sessions in order to get some needed rest. Feels better though now all we need is some damn rain to finish off the season in style.