One of my most enjoyable paddles

What a paddle! A beautiful morning - warm, but not too warm. No wind, clear blue skies, and the water was like glass. I've never seen the lake so calm. There were 4 of us. Me (in my orange Mirage 580), Anton (in his green and yellow Mirage 580), Ern (in his red and black Mirage 580) and Mark (in the boat know as the Tucan - a kind of downriver racer made for the Avon Descent). We paddled from our usual put-in spot up to the point, across the lake, and under the bridge to The Entrance. We stopped on the beach there and took some photos, and then paddled back around an island and across the lake and back down the river to our starting spot. The pace was very comfortable, the scenery lovely, and great company just made for one of my most enjoyable paddles that I can remember. All in all we did 14km and averaged 8.1km/hr. Pretty good for what felt like an easy paddle.

When we got back I decided to try to stand up in the Mirage. Not only did I stand up, but managed to paddle it whilst standing up! I wish I had photos of that. Then, I thought I'd try to do a deep re-entry. I've never attempted one before in the Mirage and for a long time I've thought that I really should know how to do it. So I swam out into the middle of the river and practiced that a few times. No worries. Afterwards, Mark headed over to the BBQ and started cooking up some bacon and egg sandwiches. Anton and Ern stayed, but I thought it best that I head home to the boys. What a great morning.