Tipping WWOOFers......and I don't mean cash.

When in Canada canoe right? It made sense to us (note the past-tense) and we just so happened to have a canoe AND a river along the farm….BOOYAH…come hop on the Canada train wwoofers!

um…ya…

....we were wrong…it’s not that easy….

Haurki, our second EVER wwoofer was from Japan and had been to school in BC the previous year and was wwoofing his way to Toronto to catch his flight home. Really sweet kid….and we were his last hosts.

Haurki getting a lesson from Ms. Forrest Rea

Well one evening Farmer Luke asked him if he wanted to go fishing down at the river (which incidentally is chock a’ block full of hungry pike) ~ Haurki’s eyes lit up in excitement… “Oh YES please” ….in order to round off this ‘Canadian experience’ Farmer Luke decided they should fish from the canoe! But of course…you’re in Canada right….and we want to give you an honest feel for the culture ~ bring on the CANOE!! Farmer Luke went about loading the gear, strapping the canoe to the roof of the truck and making sure he had his phone and life jackets ~ READY. STEADY. GO!! And they were off…I stayed behind with the kids and anticipated their return….

and what a return it was!! ....the door opened to a ….

Soaking.

shivering.

Bootless.

Farmer.

.…with a dripping phone…

ahem…ummm….chuckle….sorry….giggle…snort...SO SORRY!!...

the story goes………

Farmer Luke loaded himself, the gear and Haurki into the canoe….having foresight enough to establish that Haurki couldn’t swim, Farmer Luke provided a life jacket….the Farmer did not wear one because he could swim…and he didn’t think it was that deep anyway…..so no life jacket BUT he did have on his brand new shiny gum boots that had arrived 4 days prior from New Zealand as a present from his parents….smart farmer always prepared for mud. Anyhoo…they were enjoying the evening floating and fishing when Haurki’s hook got caught on a branch…always a helpful fisherman….Farmer Luke said he’d grab it…well whether it was Haurki’s inability to completely understand Farmer Luke’s unique ‘kiwi canadianese’ or his insatiable need to assist…either way… Haurki thought he’d lean in and hold the branch for Farmer Luke….well…..common canoe knowledge tells you that two people leaning on the same side of a canoe does not make for happy canoeing….SPLASH!!!.....or maybe just more of a…SLUUURP! ...as the river engulfed the canoe sending gear and wwoofer bobbing and floating away……and clever Farmer Luke had his new gum boots on and his phone primed in case of emergency! giggle

Farmer Luke described the scene as such…..I quickly realized that I had to let me boots go or else drown…have you ever tried to swim in gum boots?.....well, no…I’d never wear boots in a canoe any good Canadian knows that… I THOUGHT TO MYSELF… well you don’t swim you sink! It’s like having a couple of led sinkers attached to your feet!...so I had to let them go…but I had a good look around so I know where they are if I want to get them back ….INTERESTING… holding my tongue… once I dumped my boots I gathered all the gear as Haurki bobbed in the distance observing the entire scene with a look of extreme concern and apology…once I got us all to shore, including the sinking canoe… Haurki broke the silence with a “SO sorry...and you lost your new boots...I’m SO sorry!!!”...all I could do is laugh!...there was nothing I could do about the boots or the phone it had happened ....and looking at us it WAS pretty friggin' funny!

 

OK….so once bitten, twice shy right?….um, ya right. From that experience we learned:

1. Do not wear shoes in the canoe…of any type.
2. Utilize water-proof bags for any electronics. Putting the phone in a bowl of dry rice for days may have contributed to the remaining limited functions of the unit…..however avoidance would be the best solution.
3. Teaching canoeing and fishing for the first time to anyone should be done as separate activities…  

OK…..so flash forward to two weeks ago when Linda, a really sweet girl from Germany, ventured out on her canoe trip…..what were we thinking?.....I went off to run errands while Farmer Luke got her prepared and set her off…..when I got back Linda was home.....not a good sign. 

So the story goes….

Farmer Luke approached this canoe trip with the gift of hindsight ensuring the following was in place:

1. All shoes were off
2. Phone was in a waterproof bag
3. Life jacket was on
4. AND…no fishing gear was in sight!

OK….we’re good to go! ….er…I mean…YOU are good to go…See Ya Linda!!

WHAT? ….you’ve never canoed before?....it will be fine…. just paddle....she seemed so confident..... 

That’s right! Linda went out on her own having never been in a canoe before….OH and that’s not all….it was also a ridiculously WINDY day! BUT I’m sure that when the inevitable tipping occurred she was ever so grateful that she didn’t have any shoes on and that she could call for help once she made it to shore….YAY US! high-five foresight!!....of course what we didn’t factor in was the 10 mins getting to shore…in spring water….in April….that’s cold! The rescue involved knocking on doors and backyards but Farmer Luke was able to save yet another wwoofer from a canoeing mishap….feeling horrible for her (but also seeing the humour and the story-telling benefits) I decided to round off her Canadian Canoeing Catastrophe with s’mores around the bonfire ….#whenincanadaeh

Linda capping off her canoeing adventure with her first ever s'more

So now what have we learned about wwoofers and canoes? ….tell them these two stories and let them make up their own mind…. sometimes you gotta live life to laugh…making memories one tipped canoe at a time ;)

***no wwoofers were harmed in the making of these stories