FH2O: Kuching Kayaking

Sunday, December 18, 2005
12/18/2005 11:37:00 PM

We’re Lovin’ It! (on the River Run from Krokong to Wind Cave)

posted by Francis Ho

On Saturday morning itself we decided to do the Krokong to Wind Cave river run on Sungai Sarawak Kanan at Bau; since there was only light rainfall overnight, the river currents then would not be too fast and strong – an important consideration as this would be the first time experience for Joseph on this type of river. Dayang had been on this river previously before in 2003 and was a little apprehensive too as she had capsized 3 times then due to the fast and furious water conditions. I understood her trepidation as I had previously experienced daunting conditions as well. Like a lady, a river has ‘moods’; and you’ll have to play by her rules in order not to incur her wraths! Experience has (painfully) taught me never to argue with ‘her’! ;o)

As it would have it, we were blessed with good weather and ideal paddling conditions when we reached there. We quickly untied the kayaks from my SUV and stuffed our things into the hatches of the kayak. The put-in was easy as there was now a gently sloping pebble bank down to the river. Soon we were on the way floating towards Wind Cave as we passed under the footbridge that’s finally being repaired after years of being an eyesore as well as river hazard with steel cables dangling down onto the water.

We went round the first bend and Joseph was in awe of the beauty of the river and the rainforest. “This is nice!” An understatement as it was simply beautiful. We all turned and looked at each other with beaming smiles on our faces – we would rather be here than anywhere else right then and “we’re lovin’ it!” Absolutely!

Joseph’s jaws dropped when he saw the limestone walls sculptured by the river; as we all did when we saw it for our very first time. I teased Jo on what was his calculations for the river's cfs; and he aptly replied that his 'engineer's mode' had been switched 'off' the minute we got onto the water. My all-time-on-architect mode noted that all things created by nature are exquisitely beautiful while invariably most things created by man are sadly ugly, contrived and wasteful.

We were shaded by tree canopies on both sides of the river which in some narrower parts of the river meet; and where the sunlight peeked through, they create a beautiful shimmer on the water's surface. This beautiful rainforest river could only be experienced from a kayak; but unfortunately not many people had. We felt so privileged and grateful. With not a single fallen tree in our path, we silently floated along the gentle river punctuated occasionally by Class 1 rapids and sharp turns which we took easily; we were immersed in our own peace and in the gentle embrace of nature. In moments like this one could live forever.

All too soon the concrete steps leading into the river at Wind Cave, our take-out point came into view. As we took the kayaks out of the water, I could see, from the smiles on both Dayang and Joseph’s faces and that look in their eyes, the question that they were going to ask me “when are we coming back again?”