To sum the weekend up in 3 words… scary, exhilarating and fun 🙂
The beginning of our first white water trip was a bit daunting as we didn’t know what to expect. We’d both recently passed our 1 star but putting skills into practice is a different matter! On arrival everyone was warm and welcoming.
We started with a laugh watching the guys deal launch down a hill, in particular Jonny nearly knocking out an unsuspecting rafter at the bottom. We split into two groups with us ladies heading down the canal for a warm up. By the time we reached the end of our 2 miles we were both feeling a lot more confident thanks to tips from Dave.
We joined up with the guys on the Dee, which looked very daunting as we could tell we would have to up our game. We were paired up into pairs and shown different techniques including ferry gliding and entering eddies amongst others whilst on fast water. It was quite scary but exciting, and we knew we had support there to help us down the river. Our confidence was increasing and we tackled all the rapids (along with some wiggling on the rocks). Not so funny was paddling back up stream as we thought we had missed our get off point, only to find it was 1 mile down river. Everyone made it to the end dry, until poor Richard fell out whist climbing out his boat.
It was really nice getting to know everyone better and getting together for a tasty BBQ, good times for, beer and fire, and to win at the football!
Sunday was a very daunting thought as we were tackling some very hefty rapids, which we were new too. Again the guys threw themselves down the hill to the amusement of those watching. As soon as we were on the water the rapids were there, there was no warm up this time.
It was very daunting getting out an look at the ‘serpents tail’. It was great to see the guys and Penny (who made it look effortless!) go down, and well done to Rob as it was your first time. Everyone had a go playing in the water at the rafting centre. Dave appeared to come off the worse after getting in there with Jonny and Dale, and having his spray deck pulled loose.
Back at the campsite we had a lovely dinner in the restaurant and decided to go for a nice walk to finish off the day. In case any one was wondering Ugg boots do not have any grip so walking up muddy hills is probably not the best idea! As we approached town falls the crowds gathered to watch. All the guys went down with Rob and Richard pausing to have a swim. Well done all! Time for play….
A great end to our first white water trip! Overall it was lovely to get to meet some great people and see how far we have come since that first week at the club in April.
Abbie Whines and Rachel Howell