IMG_1886.jpg
IMG_1887.jpg
IMG_1901.jpg
IMG_1904.jpg
IMG_1907.jpg
Click here to return to the main Piccies index.
Click here to return to the main 2016 General Piccies Page.
Click here to go back to Frankfurt 2016 Day 1.
Click here to go forward to Frankfurt 2016 Day 3.
I woke up around 7AM after a good night's sleep. I updated my diary on a nearby lounger while I waited for everyone else to wake up. Soon after 9AM people were up and we were ready by 10:30AM. Soon afterwards Mathis, Silvia and Artem arrived and we set off at 10:50AM. It was already very hot outside and forecast to be around 33C, so it was a good day to be on the water. After a half hour drive on nice country roads past fields, rolling hills and a wood, we arrived at the canoe start point in a village called Furfurt. We parked up, put suntan lotion on and walked down through the village to the canoes on the shore of the river Lahn. We had an 11:30AM booking but nobody seemed to be present at the office. Dagmar phoned the company to find that the contact was actually to be found by the river. So we crossed the railway line to find him, and found the canoes ready to go.
|
IMG_1886.jpg |
IMG_1887.jpg |
IMG_1901.jpg |
IMG_1904.jpg |
IMG_1907.jpg |
| Renée enjoying Dagmar's lounger before we go out. All ready to paddle. | Dagmar's bed that was ours for the week. A comfy bed too. | Driving out through fields and woods to get to Furfurt. | ||
 IMG_1911.jpg |
 IMG_1921.jpg |
 IMG_1931_1933_Panorama.jpg |
 IMG_1938_1939_Panorama.jpg |
| This could be a scene from Southern England. | Descending down into Furfurt after parking up at the top. | A typical German pub by Furfurt station. The canoe office is just behind. | Furfurt station. |
The man gave us an intro briefing that included a lesson on some 'road signs'. We also put our stuff into waterproof caskets. I put my iPhone into a waterproof pouch that I bought online so I could take pictures from the canoe. Then we carried the canoes into the river Lahn by midday, boarded and set off downstream. Renée was in one boat with Mathis and Artem while I was with Dagmar and Silvia. Soon after we started we entered a lock. Artem went up a ladder with my iPhone and took a nice shot of the canoes as we waited for the water level to drop in the lock. Once he was back aboard and the gates opened we were on our way. We had fun trying to row straight and hit the bank a few times. But we got the hang of it eventually. After a while we kept the two canoes together. Renée held the boats while the rest of us paddled, Artem and I doing the most work. A few shallow sections had rapids. Then further downstream the river widened and deepened, and got very slack. One other lock bypassed a weir. After a while I was getting very sore and the heat was phenomenal. Dagmar and I wet our hats which helped, as did having a good splash too! At one point Dagmar jumped in and wanted to push the canoes but it was too deep. She eventually got back on board. At Villmar we passed under an echoey large bridge while a duckling chased after us. A pause under the bridge was a nice respite from the sun. It was nice to say hallo to other canoeists and bathers on the water too.
 IMG_1940.jpg |
 IMG_1942.jpg |
 IMG_1943.jpg |
 IMG_1945.jpg |
 IMG_1946.jpg |
 IMG_1947_1948_Panorama.jpg |
| The briefing. | Preparing ourselves, putting valuables into the waterproof caskets. | Team photos time! Artem, Mathis and Renée in one boat, Silvia, Dagmar and Mike in the other boat. | Mathis, Artem and Renée setting off first. | ||
 IMG_1950.jpg |
 IMG_1951.jpg |
 IMG_1957.jpg |
 IMG_1959.jpg |
 IMG_1970.jpg |
 IMG_1974.jpg |
| Dagmar, Silvia and I getting the 2nd boat ready. | And away we go! | Shots of Mathis (front), Artem and Renée (back) as they paddle their canoe. | Dagmar (front), Mike and Silvia (back) waiting for the lock to open. | ||
 IMG_1976.jpg |
 IMG_1977.jpg |
 IMG_1983.jpg |
 IMG_1992.jpg |
 IMG_1993.jpg |
 IMG_2006.jpg |
| More views of Mathis, Artem and Renée manouvring to the lock. | Mike relaxing for a moment. | Artem shot up the ladder with my iPhone and took this great picture of the two boats inside the lock. Renée and Mathis on the left (Artem switching to the back seat), Silvia, Mike and Dagmar on the right. | Artem back in the boat, taking the back seat. | Looking back past Silvia as the lock closes and we sink down to the next level. | |
 IMG_2009.jpg |
 IMG_2019.jpg |
 IMG_2023_2027_Panorama.jpg |
 IMG_2032.jpg |
 IMG_2033.jpg |
 IMG_2035.jpg |
| Dagmar, Artem and Renée keeping the boats by the ladder as we wait for the lock to open. | The downstream lock doors open as we prepare to go. | Mathis, Renée and Artem as we hold the boats and paddle downstream together. | Looking over Dagmar's head at our first set of rapids. | Renée enjoying the rapids. | Calmer waters ahead in the lush and pretty German countryside. |
 IMG_2036.jpg |
 IMG_2040_2041_Panorama.jpg |
 IMG_2047.jpg |
 IMG_2054.jpg |
 IMG_2059.jpg |
 IMG_2061.jpg |
| Artem and Silvia soaking in the hot sunshine. | Another view forwards. | At this point Dagmar jumped in the water with the idea of pushing the boats along from behind. But the river bed was deeper than she realised and she ended up in up to her neck. But nice and cool after the 33C heat. | Passing some large rocks. The iPhone in its waterproof case struggling with direct sunshine. | Silvia enjoying herself. You can see the railway running alongside the river. That will be our way back. | A quaint hut in the woods. |
 IMG_2065_2066_Panorama.jpg |
 IMG_2072.jpg |
 IMG_2074.jpg |
 IMG_2081.jpg |
 IMG_2082_2083_Panorama.jpg |
| More big rocks alongside the river. | Artem and Silvia. | Looking into Renée's sunglasses and seeing a reflection of my boat with Dagmar, Mike and Silvia visible. | The bridge at Villmar. | |
 IMG_2085.jpg |
 IMG_2086_2090_Panorama.jpg |
 IMG_2095.jpg |
 IMG_2099.jpg |
 IMG_2111.jpg |
 IMG_2114.jpg |
| The Villmar duckling that chased us. | At Villmar we needed to keep right to stay away from a weir. The right hand route led to another lock. | More rocky views on the Villmar stretch of the river. | At last we pass milestone 46 and approach Runkle with the castle prominent in the view. | ||
 IMG_2119.jpg |
 IMG_2120.jpg |
 IMG_2123_2124_VPanorama.jpg |
| Approaching the landing. | The boat hauled out, gathering our gear and getting ready to walk. Silvia, Artem, Dagmar, Renée, Mathis. | A curious looking boat next to the landing pier. |
After 15km we reached marker 65 and finished at a town called Runkel at 3:10PM. We hauled the canoes out onto the side of the road and left them overturned ready for the company to collect them. I put my walking shoes on before we walked into Runkel. We had a short break for chips at a nearby restaurant by the train station. I took a lovely cold kiwi and passion fruit slush puppie when we left at 3:55PM. While sipping my slush puppie we walked up to the castle but decided not to go in as apparently there was not much to see inside. The town architecture was really pretty.
 P1240039_041_Panorama.jpg |
 P1240042.jpg |
 P1240045.jpg |
 P1240048.jpg |
 P1240056.jpg |
 P1240058.jpg |
| Setting off from the landing area. Walking into Runkel. | Behind us the boats are left overturned ready for the company to collect them. | The bottom end of Runkel. | Stopping for chips and a rest. | Looking Northwest from the Bahnhofstrasse bridge along the River Lahn to Schloss Schadeck, a castle on the North side of Runkel up on a hill. | |
 P1240059_060_Panorama.jpg |
 P1240061.jpg |
 P1240062_069_360Panorama.jpg |
 P1240070.jpg |
| The weir and lock on the North side of the bridge. | Renée and Silvia on the bridge. | 360 degree panorama from Bahnhofstrasse bridge. | Looking West from the bridge to Runkel Castle. |
 P1240076.jpg |
 P1240077.jpg |
 P1240079_080_Panorama.jpg |
 P1240082_084_Panorama.jpg |
 P1240087.jpg |
| Runkel Castle from underneath. | Walking up the roads surrounding the castle. | Looking at the Runkel architecture. I like the way the tiles curve round to the windows sticking out of the roof. | Silvia and Renée on a Runkel street. | |
 P1240088_090_Panorama.jpg |
 P1240092.jpg |
 P1240095.jpg |
 P1240099.jpg |
 P1240100.jpg |
 P1240101.jpg |
| A more modern looking building near the top of Burgstrasse. | Dagmar taking pictures of the Runkel architecture. | The entrance to the castle. | More Runkel architecture as we head back down towards the station to catch the train back to Furfurt. | ||
 P1240112.jpg |
 P1240113.jpg |
| An insect that settled on Artem's glasses. It looks like a May Fly. But it is July. TODO: Identify insect. | Here comes the train to take us back to Furfurt. |
We returned to the train station and caught the 4:33PM train back to Furfurt. The line followed the river so it was good to see where we had rowed from a different perspective, and a better view of the weirs that we bypassed.
 P1240116.jpg |
 P1240121.jpg |
 P1240126.jpg |
 P1240130.jpg |
 P1240138.jpg |
 P1240141.jpg |
| Views of the River Lahn as the train takes us back to Furfurt. It is nice to see where we rowed from a different perspective. Those mile markers are passing much more quickly now! | |||||
We got back to the cars at 4:55PM. Silvia and Artem kindly gave us a bottle of fizzy apple juice. It seems this is a German speciality. As Renée and I had run out of water we gladly accepted even though it had heated up a lot in their car from the sun. On the way back we passed through Weilburg and got a good view of Weilburg Castle. After a nice return journey we got back around 5:30PM.
 P1240158.jpg |
 P1240160.jpg |
 P1240161.jpg |
 P1240167.jpg |
| Arriving back to the cars. | Views of a woodland as we pass through. | Passing Weilburg Castle on the way home. | |
Dagmar ordered pizzas and we had very nice showers which helped cool us down and wash away the river water. The pizzas were collected at 6:30PM and were very nice. Yum!
 IMG_2127.jpg |
 IMG_2128.jpg |
 IMG_2130.jpg |
 IMG_2133.jpg |
 IMG_2134.jpg |
 IMG_2135.jpg |
| Renée, Mike and Mathis with pizza. | Mike and Renée with pizza. | Dagmar and Silvia with pizza. | Artem with pizza. | ||
We chatted into evening, watching funny videos, playing a video game and watched the film 'How to Train Your Dragon'. At 11PM we retired for the night. Tomorrow we plan to visit caves, a castle and go to a Chinese restaurant. I'm expecting showers and thunderstorms too. So let's see what happens.
Click here to go back to Frankfurt 2016 Day 1.
Click here to go forward to Frankfurt 2016 Day 3.