Words & photos:
Alain and Liv Cook
A right royal Deelight for Liv & Alain
Planning for this trip in July 2022, started some time ago, but with the Covid Pandemic, we eventually got there! The week before departure, we knew which trip we would be doing; we planned two, the Royal Dee and the Great Glen. Ultimately our decision was based on finances and transport. We decided to travel as foot passengers from Shetland using a small trolley for the canoe (the canoe is called Joycie) and our kit.
All commercial options to get us to the trip’s start were eliminated quickly: buses, trains, surprisingly nope (I’d have thought they would?), and the one business that could was very cost prohibitive! I had been on an FSRT moderation course with Lyle Smith from Granite Adventures a few months previously, and, just in casual conversation, he had offered to provide a lift from Aberdeen to the start of our trip if we were to paddle the Dee.
We looked at alternatives such as a walking, SUPing or cycling trip or a canoe trip around the islands that make up Shetland (a must-do at some point). Liv was clear it was a ‘canoeing river trip’ she was looking forward to, and so was I; we had waited so long since the last multi-day trip we had to make something happen!
Contacting Lyle, and he confirmed he was still happy to help if available. Tying up those loose ends was a little fretful as we got closer to the travel date; I hadn’t had confirmation from Lyle, so I put out an APB on the Open Canoe Paddlers Facebook group; I had a response from a chap called Paul who is a keen local paddler who was happy to help too. But then Lyle got back to me to confirm it was on, so a big apology to Paul; it was a happy surprise to see you on the bridge.
Fortunately, I’ve had plenty of experience packing light, and over the years of expeditions, I have fine-tuned my kit and techniques down to only a 60l holdall for a comfortable four or five-day expedition; this has helped for more enjoyable solo canoe trips, and that’s how I imagined it would be for us on this trip, a peerie bag each and nothing more.
Our bag inventory ended up as; one 20L roll-top dry rucksack with all the emergency stuff in, shelter, first aid, pin kit, dry clothes and micro towel, poo kit, and repair kit. We had a second, slightly bigger roll-top dry rucksack for things such as hats (woolly and sun), waterproofs, lunch and snacks, flask micro first aid kit, wallet etc. A much larger roll-top dry rucksack for the tent, sleeping bags and roll mats, and finally, a 60-litre final holdall with our clothes, cooking kit and food!
Northlink Ferries
The staff and crews for Northlink Ferries are fantastic; in all my travels with them, they are always polite, courteous and happy to go above and beyond; a speedy reply to my email confirmed I could bring the canoe on at no additional cost.
Thoughts and conversation drifted towards our trip as we both became excited at the reality of this. As usual, we got no mobile signal from the ferry, so we hadn’t been able to communicate with Lyle; we just hoped he’d remembered! Disembarking is a pretty orderly affair, and as we were on the main deck near the front, we needed to get ready for the off-early doors; the excitement and trepidation were at a peak now as we took hold of Joycie and began to wheel her off, oh hang on a minute she’s not moving? She was resting on a wheel. A bit of shuffling and moving about and, nope, still stuck! Further investigation identified that one of the trolley supports had bent in the middle; there were a few expletives at this point!
Because the cause wasn’t clear, the ferry chap was keen to get it all documented in case I claimed against them; photos and form filling meant we were now clearly last off. I hoped Lyle was still there; if he’d turned up at all, I thought; my excitement was rapidly disappearing! When the opportunity arose, I went to find Lyle, and with the help of a forklift and a ‘don’t worry, this happens all the time, take it in my stride’ crew member, we got Joycie unloaded. Have I told you how fantastic Lyle is? Even after I tried to kill him with six litres of water landing on his head as we flipped Joycie onto his car; being held up by our delay, Lyle calmly set about helping us find a suitable get-in.
We talked about the trolley and concluded it was bodgable, and Lyle would take it away to duly bodge for us to collect from Granite Adventures HQ as we passed by. The conversation turned to the character-building nature of this trip, and rather than deter, this was inspiring; what a great way to teach Liv about overcoming adversity.
We finally agreed to start at Crathie Bridge, more famously known as the entrance to Balmoral Castle. Unloaded and having said our farewells to Lyle, Liv and I set about prepping Joycie; we took our time; I wanted to get organised and the trim just right; this wasn’t just going to be a character-building trip.
So enough of my waffle; here’s Liv’s account of the trip itself…
We started at Crathie Bridge near Balmoral on July 14th. It was a long day with quite a bit of walking the river, and there were some small ripples but no real rapids. We paddled to Ballatar, where we stayed at the campsite beside the river. They were full but took pity on us because I looked so tired.
On day two, we started paddling at 10.00 because we went to a cafe called ‘The Bothie’ for breakfast. It was a much better day than yesterday, with fewer shallow bits. Dad got out to push three times; he let me stay in the boat. There were better rapids today, which I like. The weather was sunny, and I got a bit sunburnt. I had forgotten what warm sunny weather was like. We camped just past the bridge on the right at Aboyne, opposite the pub where we shared chips, and I had sticky toffee pudding; we were also quite thirsty. It was nice to see the sunshine.
shallow in places
Day three was another lovely sunny morning, and although we thought it might rain at some point, it didn’t. The river level had gone down again, so it was a bit shallow in places, and dad needed me to get out and help push again. There were more rapids today, but some of the ones that looked the most fun were rocky in places, and dad had to line the canoe down them. At the bottom of one big rapid, we met a family swimming and playing on a paddle board.
When we paddled the River Spey, the rapids were exciting because we didn’t keep stopping, but even though the river here was low, we still had to get out and look at them before deciding what to do. We met many fishermen and ladies, and they were all lovely and happy to talk to me; most said they were struggling with low-level water too, and they weren’t catching anything even though we saw fish jumping around us.
When we got to Banchory, we went to Morrisons for tea in their cafe, it was pretty late, and we got there just before it closed. I had a jacket potato that was the colour of coal, but they replaced it with mac n cheese, thankfully. When we got back to the canoe, we were quite tired but wanted to keep paddling to find the campsite on the left, but dad found a nice spot on the right; it was like a lawn. Dad said a ghillie looked after it, but because it was a Saturday night, we would be ok to stop as no one fishes on a Sunday; it was right at the end, very far from the fishing hut; I was glad to stop and rest.
By day four, I was tired and starting to miss my mum and sister; I asked dad if we could make it to Aberdeen today instead of tomorrow. He said if we worked hard and there weren’t too many shallow bits, we could, but he needed to check the tide times. First, I was determined to keep paddling because I could have an extra day to visit my aunty near Aberdeen.
Moving the last day was more complicated than I thought because we had to put the boat somewhere and might have to camp by the river in Aberdeen; I suggested we ask the rowing club if they could look after the canoe for a night, dad doesn’t like to bother people, but he said he would ask. The river was still a bit low in places, so there was less flow which meant if I wanted to get to Aberdeen, I had to work hard.
Aberdeen appeared
It was easy gentle paddling most of the way with a few ripples and drops. We saw loads of herons, oystercatchers and other birds, and a deer and when the sun shone through the water, it was great watching fish swim under us. We had to stop and get the trolley which was a bit of a walk, and then dad took us down the side of an island, but it got like a jungle with low trees. I was nervous, but it was fun. It started to feel busy with more people walking along the river bank with their dogs, and there were more buildings.
Aberdeen appeared quite quickly, and I was excited to arrive; it was still hot and sunny, and the parks were busy with people watching us; it felt like a long way from the first bridge to the end. The club was accommodating, and I want to have a go at rowing too!
Our final challenge, or so I thought, was getting the tides right at Aberdeen to avoid a muddy egress at the boat club. I knew I’d got it right, but it played on my mind that morning until I saw the first rower appearing through the central pillars of the railway bridge. We’d done it! As for the trolley, well, the trolley died (RIP), and further assistance from Lyle was very much appreciated to get us to the ferry.
Huge thanks
Although it probably never seemed it at the time, organising our previous trips from the mainland UK was a piece of cake compared to planning a trip from Shetland in the Covid era! It wasn’t quite the self-sufficient beginning and ending I’d hoped for; we couldn’t have done it without Lyle’s exceptional help and the paddling community’s support. Liv and I love being a part of it and have never been more appreciative than now. A big thank you must also go to the very kind folk at the rowing club for allowing us to store Joycie overnight, especially ‘the chap behind the bar’ and Lulu. And to Ballater campsite for squeezing us in at the end of a very long first day.
