lave kayak will travel

AS SUMMER'S wanrnith fades,
let us take to our armchairs, fel-
low travellers, and read about
other people's adventures.

By Barbara Black
Contrituting Writer

West-coasters Maria Coffey and
Dag Goering are not content to sit
around in armchairs preparing for
“secure middie age.” Instead, they
come up with the crazy idea of tak-
ing their double golding kayak on a
year-long, worldwide trip through
the Solomon islands, down the
Ganges River, up Lake Malawi and
algng the Danube. And writing a
book about it (A Boat in our
Bagguge: Around the World with a
Kayak, by Maria Coffey; Little,
Brown and Company i.td.).

After months of planning and
secking sponsors, and armed wiih
donated clothing, camping gear,
food, sunscreen and hats, they iake
off for Fiji and the first leg of their
trip in the South Pacific.

Unfortunately, flights to the
Solomon Isiands are outrageously
expensive and the two are forced to
seek an alternative. But this is the
stuff that travelogues are made of!
They luck out and get room on a lux-
urious Swedish yacht. As they arrive
at their first kayak destination, how-
ever, both are plagued by iliness.

Wracked with fungal infections in
unspeakable locations, Coffey and
Goering forge on, soothed by the
‘breathtaking scenery. Coffey writes:
“This was the jungle of my child-
‘hood fantasies, inhabited by huge,
strangely shaped trees draped with
hanging vines, the day shut out by a
‘dense canopy of eaves..." They pad-
dle leisurely among deserted islets,
camp on sandy beaches and subsist

ona diet of tuna fish wad Hard Navy
biscuits. All privacy is lost when they
are invited to stay as guests of local
villagers. As “wantoks” they are a
veritable roadside attraction.

The island villagers are generous
hosts, sharing their modest foad
(coconut jam with ants. boiled eggs
containing embryos) and getting gifts
of fish hooks, balloons, or school
donations in return. Most challeng-
ing. is to figure out the strictly
observed “iavatorial rules” from ene
village to another. When travelling,
these necessary acts become an
undeniable yource of worry.

At Kora islet, Coffey and Goering
become dangerously steeped in par-
adise and have to force themsevives to
continue their journey. As they
depart, their hosts accompany them
in a dugout canoe, singing Poly-
nesian songs of farewell. Really.

Their next venture, kayaking
along the Ganges, is greeted with the
comment, “You must be potty!” An
Indian government official informs
them, “J am a devout Hindu, but
when it comes to bathing in the
Ganges J struggte between my faith
and my knowledge of bacteriology.”
So much for the spirituai pilgrimage.

After a nerve-wracking stay in
bustling New Delhi and a bone-rat-
tling 120-mile journey in a bus, they
arrive in Hardwar. Their kayak suit-
ably blessed by a Hindu priest, they
set off on the Ganges and 200 yards
later run aground on a gravei shoal.

What they see, as they paddle
along the holiest of rivers is astound-
ing. All facets of life happen on this
stretch of water: people and holy
men perform morning prayers, dead
bodies float by, fishermen cast their
nets and children play. Fears of river
bandits prove unfounded as people
along the river offer their humble

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homes overnight and insist on feed-
ing their guests often horrifyingly
humble cuisine. Coffey entertains
them by putting in her cantact lenses.

They attend a celebration of the
Goddess Kali, meet a jolly, farting
holy man und develop a black sense
of humor regarding the bodies that
drift by. A« Asupshahy, the author
marvels at the scene that unfolds at
dawn, “The plain stretched away,
awash with an amber light. Music

lared from the temples. incense
drifted up from the pujas taking place
on the ghats. A woman stood praying
in the river, her maroon sari floating
on its bronze surface.”

Although Cotfey skilfully draws
oul the highlights and horrors of
every leg of their worldwide kayak
trip, the adventures in the South
Pacific and along the Ganges are the
most vivid, perhaps because here the
people were most generous.

In Malawi, a one-party state haunt-
ed by government-sanctioned vio-
lence and control, Coffey and Goering
paddle 450 mites up hipno- and croc-
odile-infested Lake Malawi. Locals
speak in hushed tones about the gov-
ernment and worry that the two
strange white people are wizzards.

After such exotic travels, the
Danube seems positively urbane.
Nonethejess, the couple manage to
meet an eccentric Austrian Baroness.
Dressed in army fatigue pants, a
man’s shirt, tweed jacket and boots,
and smoking languorously, she
invites them to stay in her castle.

Coffey has written a totally
engaging travelogue that glides along
full of insights and good humor. The
only disappointing part is when the
journey ends.

Wednesday, September 21, 1994 — North Shore News - 49

NEWS photo Cindy Goodman
CEDARVIEW LODGE resident Mary Essex shows one of her

. paintings that will be on display, along with works by other

residenis, during the intermediate care facility's Art Week,
Tuescay-Friday, Sept. 27-30, fromm 10 a.m. te 4 p.m. The lodge
is tocated at 1200 Cedar Viilage Close in North Vancouver.

Parbara Coloroso

| Kids are wordha it???

Parenting with Wit and Wisdom

Raisirig children to be responsible,
resourceful, caring individuals
V4

In celebration of the international Year of the Family,
Family Services of the North Shore and the District of North
Vancouver are pleased to present an evening with

Barbara Coloreso.

Thursday, October 20, 1994
Two performances - 6:15 to 7:45 and 8:20 to 10:00

Centennial Theatre - 2300 Lonsdale, North Vancouver
Tickets: Free (Donations for FS.N.S.’s Family Resource Library
accepted at time of ticket order)

Barbara Coloroso will sign her #1 besi selling book Kids Are Worth it
prior to fhe early show and after the late show.

FAMILY
SERVICES
of the

NORTH
SHORE

Limit of four tickets per person, first come, first serve. Please enclose a self-addressed
stamped envelepe and order form for each ticket (or provide information on separate sheet).
Mail or bring to: F.S.N.S., Kids Are Worth St. 303 - 126 E. 15 St. North Vancouver, V7L. 2P9

| prefer to attend: 6:15 to 7:45 2 8:30 to 10:00 &

Postal Cade:
For our vecords. What are the

ages of your children?

Please enclose a self addressed stamped envelope. Donations accepted at time of ticket
request - tax receipts issued for cheques of $25 or more, or by request.

Address:

| prefer to attend: 6:15 to 7:45 13 8:30 to 10:00 4

Postal Code:
For our records. What are the
ages of your children?

Piease enclose a self addressed stamped envelope. Donations accemted at time of ticket

request - tax receipts issued for cheques of $25 or more, or by request.

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