A PADDLE ON PADARN

Now that we've been allowed out the house, and can partake of a bit of wandering, I looked lovingly over at Winona, our We-No-Nah Aurora open canoe, and began planning some adventures. I pondered for a moment or two on the last time Muddy Madam and I last took her out for a paddle, and to my horror I reckoned it was around 3 years ago! Here's the tale..

It began with a quick phone call to the ever accommodating PR team at Suzuki. I had a Vitara S booked in, and I asked if they could fit a roof bar system as I wanted to take Winona out for one last paddle before school began.

Llyn Padarn in North Wales was chosen as it had been a recommendation on the ‘CamperVan Overnight Camping’ FaceBook page. I had asked for a lake or river where I could park up, launch Winona and have a BBQ on the shore without having to walk miles and miles, and, amongst others, Llyn Padarn was suggested.

Located just off the A4086, and around 7 miles (15 minutes) away from Caernarfon, Llyn Padarn is around 2 miles long, and at its deepest point is 94 feet deep. It’s a stunning area, and here comes a bit of trivia, it’s one of the largest natural lakes in Wales, so there you go.

After securely strapping Winona to the Vitara S using my Thule Portage kit, Muddy Madam and I piled cooking paraphernalia in the boot, and set forth, with excitement.

Unfortunately the beautiful blue sky that had kept us warm when we left Muddy Towers turned to menacing grey during the two hour drive to Wales, and as we turned off the A55 at Junction 11 the heavens opened. Great!

Thankfully, a tad later when we arrived at Llyn Padarn the rain had eased to a slight drizzle.

After finding a suitable spot in one of the many small coves, we unloaded Winona, placed her by the waters edge and began creating our own little encampment. With chairs, a small table and food at the ready, I set up the Ghillie Kettle for a much needed brew, and the Pop-Up BBQ grill from Silverpoint.

Using a Woodson fire starter we got the charcoal going and waited in anticipation until we could begin cooking our lunch. I had sausage, bacon and egg Butty whilst Muddy Madam had a mixed bean concoction that didn’t look appealing.

Suitably nourished we relaxed for a while and watched as families and other groups messed around in the shallow waters in relative safety of the coves, I would imagine that in the height of summer this place is heaving.

By this time the drizzle had eased off and there was a hint of blue sky, not much, but it was there, so we swiftly packed the cooking gear and chairs back in the Vitara S, and prepared ourselves for a paddle.

We left the safety of the cove and ventured towards the east of the lake, but there was a stiff breeze which made the water near the centre quite choppy, so we hugged the shore-line as much as we could. As usual, Muddy Madam was sat up front whilst I was at the back in charge of steering.

It didn’t take long for the blue sky to disappear again and for the wind to pick up, the sky looked vexed, and there was now a distinct chill in the air, but the views remained spectacular and the solitude was welcome. Occasionally we would pass other paddlers and offered a friendly nod and a smile, but mainly Llyn Padarn was ours for the afternoon.

With the threat of another downpour we begrudgingly headed back to camp and quickly secured Winona back onto the Vitara S. After getting changed and making certain that our encampment was left as we found it, we headed back to Muddy HQ with a promise to return.