Hello once again from Glasbury...
Today Miss Rawlings' group undertook their kayaking challenge - and boy was it a good one!
First of all we gathered the kit together and then we attempted to put it on. We had wetsuits and cags and buoyancy aids and helmets... well, health and safety is key. We then got the kayaks and paddles out, they are sooooooo heavy. We got in them and adjusted and readjusted them before they finally fit. But it wasn't over yet... we had to drag them down to the beach and actually learn how to use them!!
Finally on our way, we headed upstream to learn how to turn and stop. Did you know that it's easier to turn around when the 'skeg' is up?? Once that was done we started out 5 1/2 mile journey down the river. Whilst dodging rocks and manoeuvring over rapids we went on our way. There were some very funny moments though...
The very first of our encounters with nature was when Miss Rawlings capsized, whilst trying to control her edge (leaning in her kayak whilst staying upright) and playing on an eddy at the same time (the line where the slow water meets the fast water in areas of rapids) - it was successful for a moment until she tried to turn and look at us - whoops!
Another was slightly more successful if equally amusing... myself and Miss Rawlings floating down rapids with no paddles... Whilst playing a game of chariots (even if Addy and I were the only ones doing it) we fell in. To play chariots you put two kayaks together and sit one of the people on top of a paddle crossing both of them, then the other person steers forward (whilst standing behind the other) in a 'gondola' fashion. It all went wrong when the two kayaks came apart and we both fell into Britain's second cleanest river. Addy was miraculously saved but I was left floating, when Miss Rawlings heroically tried to saved me by abandoning her paddle and "X-rescuing" my boat. I was saved! However this all happened shortly before we both were sent (I was screaming) down some rapids...
Then there was Maddie's interesting efforts to stay on the good side of nature. Within the space of about 40 minutes Maddie managed to visit the bottom of the river not once but twice! The first was when she became friendly with a tree at the side of the river - of course we all knew that trees aren't friendly when playing in the water!! This caused great hilarity as her perfectly groomed hair and make up were soon ruined completely (she even admitted to Miss Rawlings that she should have taken the advice not to do either this morning ....). The second encounter was when she was paddling alongside Miss Rawlings. For some reason she decided to lean in her kayak but instead of edging she lent in the kayak - causing much more hilarity when she again went under.
Finally at the end of the day, we came across some rapids. Once our kayaks had 'floated' down them we decided it was time for some real fun. Ryan (our instructor for the day) said we could go down again if we wanted to... as long as we weren't in our kayaks. When our turn came we were each thrown down the rapids using just our buoyancy aids to keep us on the surface!! Of course the funniest of these was when Ryan got Faye and said "Oh, we have a small one.". He was very enthusiastic when he threw Faye down the river, as we all watched on the side. We were all singing "Rollin', rollin', rollin' down the river!"- literally!
Overall we had a very enjoyable day with lots of fun, learning and laughs had by all. Definitely an activity we would all recommend to anyone who is up for a challenge!!!
Emily James and Addy Mercer. x
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