Adrian Tregoning

Wednesday 25 November 2009. This day we were to be filmed by national television. It was bound to be interesting. We headed off to the hotel where we stayed our first night and met up with them there. Then back up to the must loved Batang Sangir. The plan was to paddle the normal middle section as it was scenic and fast paced at the put in, with a solid class 4 rapid at the end of the end section too, both of which could easily be filmed.

The river was a bit lower but still just so damn good. You have to see for yourself and run it. So everyone had a really awesome time. We ran the final rapid and then were taken up to run it again quickly, this time in two groups of four. My group consisted of Toto, Andrew and Agus. As we went down, Toto flipped in a wave/hole and I cruised past him, careful not to end myself on this tricky rapid. He came up fast and smiling and it was no worries. In the other group, Puji became the unlucky victim of the day. While looking for fish in that stout rapid a rock told him off and he came up with a cut chin and a golf ball sized bump on his right cheek. It looked very painful.

The last time I saw my new friend, Lucky. He looked much better after a few days of food than when we first saw him.  Two people on a bike, nothing unusual. The goat across her lap though,and the two goats on either side in the saddlebags is a little odd, I must confess… :-)

5 people on a bike is also not really the norm, but who needs a car, right?! Photo by Andrew Kellett (Andrew’s camera)

Toto being interviewed for national television in Indonesia. Something like 200 million viewers!

Take out of the Batang Sangir. Refer to those articles for photos of this awesome river.

The man who helped much of this expedition – Mr Yul Amri. 

Roadside scenery. 

Bikes work, no matter what.  Puji, a little bust up.. Must have hurt like flaming hell.   

Lunch time!! Photos by Celliers Kruger (Celliers’ camera)

With that we had a fantastic lunch and then Hugh was still insistent on running this one evil looking drop on the Blangir River, virtually under the main road bridge. I was not going to run it as it looked very retentive and there was a strong feeder eddy feeding to the one corner and going behind the curtain, strongly suggesting a cave of sorts and in Adrian’s mind, not worth the effort to paddle down and huck it. But some of the others were keen so I said I’d take the bridge for photos and Celliers downstream at river level for photos and to possibly collect the pieces. Andrew Kellett ran first, with Hugh du Preez on live bait rescue at the drop. For the first time this trip Andrew messed up a rapid. He got knocked right and twisted, hitting the wall with his body. He lost his much prized watch which he had received I think when he was 18 years old, so he was seriously pissed off. Sigit decided to run next, so I gave him my PFD as he didn’t one with a rescue belt and down he went. Sigit’s nickname was Billy, because of his beard, and sometimes Billy the Kid. But now his new name became Billy the Flop in one simple move, or the lack thereof - he didn’t boof. Billy the Flop disappeared and came up a short time later, this thing was going to pull him behind the curtain, no doubt. Hugh du Preez was on hand and immediately grabbed him and what proceeded to continue is clearly shown in the many photos here. In the end, this entire mission was a balls up. Anyway, it was just a mess and all we scored was a few photos, Andrew losing his watch, and Billy getting a bit closer to death than usual. It’s funny how you can almost always see a problem coming, and this rapid meant trouble. I’ve decided it should be named Tick Tock, because Andrew ran a first descent on it and unfortunately lost his watch. I’ve paddled a few times with Andrew since then as our river season has begun and noticed he has a new one, and still paddles with a watch :-) Good times!

Hugh du Preez on live bait for the drop I call Tick Tock. Maybe people should call it Fish Pond, or even Bridge Rapid ;-)  Andrew Kellett managing to lose his watch and bang himself up a bit but recovering very well. Watch was left hand.

Another view of the same rapid. This rapid is deceivingly dangerous. Photos by Celliers Kruger (Celliers’ camera)

It was very busy on the bridge. I could not move away from my spot or I’d lose it for sure. Normal traffic.

Sigit (Billy) doesn’t boof, goes down, gets eaten. Good rescue though. Well done to Hugh du Preez on live bait and Andrew Kellett controlling the rope. At least Billy had two world class rescue instructors backing him up! Couldn’t get better than that.

Eventually Billy swims, while Hugh gets himself out of trouble.

Hugh being lowered to free the boat from this pocket.

The Blangir with this rapid I call Tick Tock. Watch out, it bites.

Another view. It looks so innocent from here. Photos by Celliers Kruger (Celliers’ camera)

Spiderman has a truck in West Sumatra – here it is! Photo by Celliers Kruger (Celliers’ camera)

Awesome scenery there. 

The action from the bridge. I think everyone felt they got a good show!

Final look at Tick Tock. Another 100m downstream this river joins the Batang Liki, a river we first descended earlier in the trip – see articles. 

The signed flag we gave to, well, I can’t remember who. But we gave it to someone. It was a pretty cool gift I’d say. 

At the king’s house. Very cool place.

Sitting inside the house.  Light snack. Very good!

We had to eat something before the dancing began as is customary I believe. I took way too much and it was a struggle. Some sort of herb which was very strong. No, not marijuana. Look at Celliers behind me grinning. hehehe. Good times for sure!

We were treated to an incredible display of dancing and music. It was mind blowingly good!!!

Various group photos. Hugh is the tall beast, I’m the one with the kayak t-shirt on, Andrew with the camera slung around his shoulder and Celliers with the white shirt. Random insect which welcomed us home. Quite cool, looks like a leaf, believe it or not.            

On the way home I half slept in the car. When we got back I slept for a bit and then went for a ‘shower’, which, in case you missed the first articles, involved splashing ones’ body with water from a bucket. I felt much better and it works like a charm. That night we were invited to the king’s house to be entertained by some traditional dancing. It started off with a light snack inside the house and then we were treated to probably more than an hour of dancing and singing. It was actually really awesome! Incredible to see the rhythm and feel the beat of everything so close up. Then we were forced to dance too. What a laugh. I hate dancing and I could see Celliers was about as rigid as the Golden Gate Bridge but we cracked out a few moves and in the end had a super time. We were truly honoured and very lucky to experience something like this. The Indonesian people really made us feel very welcome. We were now sadly down to our final day of paddling (the next morning, Thursday) and time was running out. So this is the second last article in this series. Stay tuned.

Photography by: Adrian Tregoning. Unless otherwise stated.
All Words by: Adrian Tregoning.

My cat at home, Cameo :-) Both of these are Burmese. Lovely animals!!! And the other cat, Pippa.