The first few moments of being a butterfly can’t be easy. You’ve spent most of your previous existence crawling around and munching anything green that gets in your way. You have a nap and zap! – you’re not you anymore. No longer a creepy-crawler. You can’t stand the sight of green. And oh, just look at those wings . . .
We’ve been creeping and crawling too. Eating up the green leafy roads into Ljubljana today. Rumour has it that the Slovenes invented the mountain hairpin bend and it feels like we’ve gone up and down everyone of them. An average speed of 24mph for today’s journey, a record we’d rather not repeat.
Our mid-afternoon arrival at Ljubljana Resort, in the northern suburbs of the capitol, gives us time to get Scoot out for his first outing. We need to spread our wings too. We scoot over to Tacen Whitewater Course. It’s a small section of the Sava River given over to Kayak International competition. The local club is putting their youngsters through their paces. Like all sports it’s much better live. At one point a teenager misjudges a gate. Gets turned over. We expect her to right herself. She doesn’t. The strong currents swiftly push her down stream. The coach jumps to his feet and runs. Another kayaker closes in just as she manages to resurface. Gasping for air she tries to cling on to her upturned boat. A rope is offered and she gets pulled to safety. A few minutes later, although tearful, she’s back in. Before attempting the course again, she deliberately capsizes herself. Re-energised and with pride put back in its rightful place, she crosses over into the white rush.
No better place to master your trade than on the big stage . . .
It’s fast and furious . . .