Canoe trail along the Medway for me this Friday....

Last weekend I finally did something that I've been meaning to do for several years. I bought a canoe. It's a beauty as well. It's a solo, although I could get a small child or maybe a dog (if I had one) in the front. It's one of those open style Canadian canoes so, apart from all the other things to do like buy safety gear and get it registered, I also need to think up a name for it. I've looked up all the possible Native American watery girls names, which seemed appropriate for such a craft, and, so far, the possibilities are Tallulah, which means Leaping Water apparently, but I can't think of the name without hearing that song from the film Bugsy Malone ("My name is Tallulah...") sang by a young Jodie Foster which would just be too annoying. So that leaves Mallila, meaning rushing Salmon swimming up a river; Kateri meaning pure; and my favourite Sanuye which means red cloud at sunset. The only trouble with that is that I'm not quite sure how to pronounce the word which might be a problem if anyone asks me the name of my canoe! Is it san-nu-yeh or maybe seaan-ye. Maybe the y is a silent one in which case it'd be sanoo which wouldn't be half as nice. Anyway, the name aside, I'm really looking forward to taking it out onto the river this weekend. That is provided my life jacket turns up in time. I ought of course use the correct term of either buoyancy aid or personal flotation device which more accurately describes what they do. (You see I'm already learning the lingo!) I'm already discovering that having a canoe opens up all sorts of possibilities right here in Tonbridge and I'm getting rather excited about the whole thing. After a few goes paddling around the park loop which most people manage to do in around an hour with the boats you can hire from the jetty under the Big Bridge, I think I'll build up to exploring further down river towards Hartlake Bridge. My goal by the end of the summer is to paddle down to Allington Lock near Maidstone with my packed lunch and flask of coffee and not a care in the world. There's a great web site which tells me all about this route they call the Medway Canoe Trail which makes it sound quite delightful. What better way to get away from the incessant media coverage of the Royal Wedding this Friday. Thanks Will and Kate you've given me a great idea. See you in Allington. Unless I drift out into the English Channel!...