Adrian Tregoning

Palmiet River – Cape WhiteWater Club Paddle 2009

Every year the Cape WhiteWater Club gets together at least once to run a ‘learn the Palmiet’ day, as well as a ‘learn the Wit day.’ On these days beginner paddlers are encouraged to get to know the Palmiet. So on the 18^th of July 2009 a day was organised to paddle down the Palmiet River. More of a social thing than actually teaching people about the river as everyone there had done the river already but it was a glorious day out with good people in perfect weather. There really isn’t much to say about the trip and more so the river, so I’ll let the photos do the talking.

And in case you’re wondering, judging by my last few articles, I’m not getting lazy with writing up stories, it’s just that a trip down the Palmiet isn’t exactly Walt Blackadar type adventure now it is? I have an enormous amount of articles waiting to be thrown up and it’s a crime not to share the wonderful photos that I have waiting so I’d rather put them up like this. I don’t enjoy photo galleries, takes too long to browse through.

Koeël Bay early in the morning. Looking down at a well known surf spot called Caves. Only 1 person has been attacked by a shark here, not bad :-) See Stefano, this is what you're missing on those beautiful early mornings?!

Beautiful car, beautiful boat. I love them both.

Quite a large group for our paddle down. And what an awesome day - no clouds, no wind!

Croc carnage on Bubble and Squeak - gotta love it.

Ant Hoard, current chairman and fearless leader of the troops and of the CWWC at present.

Stefano Sessa at Bubble and Squeak.

Byron with some radical bracing just past the infamous river left rock on Bubble and Squeak.

Uh oh..... (I'll not post the rest)

Rowan Walpole cruising down Bubble and Squeak.

Playak.com. Proud sponsor of this website and in case you didn't know, the best kayaking portal out there....

Adrian Tregoning heading down Bubble and Squeak. Photos by Rowan Walpole.

Niell Taylor idling down Bubble and Squeak. Photo by Rowan Walpole.

Braam Rademeyer at the bottom of Bubble and Squeak. Photo by Rowan Walpole.

Adrian Tregoning emerging from the boof line of Waterfall. Photo by Rowan Walpole.

Niell Taylor boofing at Waterfall. Photo by Rowan Walpole.

William Binedell boofing at Waterfall too. Photo by Rowan Walpole.

Our crew idling around at Waterfall.

Rowan Walpole at the little hole downstream of the bridge at the take out. I call it 90's Hole.

The group having a braai. Braai is an Afrikaans word for a BBQ. Afrikaans being an African version of Dutch... ;-) *Adrian waits for the knife to drop*

Braam Rademeyer. Note the beer. When you visit South Africa, please do not drink Castle. It's not the way to enjoy beer... This is still made locally.

Ant Hoard, wearing the new CWWC t-shirts. Very lekker... Why does no one else in South Africa have a whitewater club???? Such a shame...

Stuart MacMillan wearing the arm bands for the best swim. Did I mention it happened at 90's Hole? Oops, shouldn't have said anything! ;-) All good. Hope your knee is on the mend Stuart!!!!! BE STRONG!

William Binedell (aka BGW) eating meat, the South African way. Very nice Will, very nice.

Cool flowers in the grass around us.

Stefano Sessa. Yes, they bought a bottle of brandy just before the braai. Good idea, actually.

Uno de Waal. Cool t-shirt! (he was sharing the brandy with Stefano....)

Stefano can park well, as can be seen. This is the part when we stopped at Pebbles in Betty's Bay to drink, er, I mean watch the rugby. Not that I even watch rugby, but I went with anyway.

Tyrone Hadaway with something important to say during our visit to Pebbles. I love this shot!

I slept over at Braam's house that night and the next morning we went back to play a bit in the hole. Photo by Braam Rademeyer.

Adrian Tregoning coming down Judgement Day. Photo by Braam Rademeyer.

Adrian Tregoning after The Gates, coming up. Photo by Braam Rademeyer.

Adrian Tregoning exactly through The Gates at the bottom of Judgement Day Rapid. Photo by Braam Rademeyer.

Adrian Tregoning cartwheeling at 90's Hole. Quite a tricky hole to play in as the water enters the hole and leaves at 90 degrees, to river right, or, as can be seen in this last photo, exactly into the page. Photos by Braam Rademeyer.

Adrian Tregoning - yes, the water is pretty chilly. Photo by Braam Rademeyer.

Braam's awesome cat, Gizmo! :-) He had to be on the site!

Stopping at Caves the guys were getting barrelled again. Lekker...

Hope you enjoyed the photos. The next article will have some cool photos as well as video… Stay tuned!

Photography by: Adrian Tregoning. Unless otherwise stated.

All Words by: Adrian Tregoning.

Next article: Action from the Wit or Witte River, whatever suits your fancy.