It has been 4 years since I last went on this trip when Tim got hit in the head with a raft and I had to kayak it. And I was damn glad I wasn’t kayaking this time. It’s amazing how much a river can change. This picture shows the river flows for the last few months. Lets play… spot the flood. First comment wins the ‘really obvious flood award‘ for which there is an electronic trophy.
Oh, a bunch (if you can have a bunch of pictures?!?!) of these pictures aren’t mine. I’ve put the name of the person who took them in the image name.. credit where credit is due ‘n all that. Right, formalities over, onto the trip.
It was deadly.
In the Irish sense of the word deadly. In that it was fun. It was also cheap. $200 for 4 days of rafting – including transport, food (except lunches), rafts, gear.
This is because, as every self respecting electronic engineering department should, Canterbury University EE owns 4+ rafts. As you do. And they hire them out. Cheaply. If you’re a PhD student or postdoc.
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Here’s the map of where we went from -> to.
Starts out at a historic way station. The Acheron Accommodation House(1863).
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Everyone is split into pairs and given a barrel. The above pic is of Maaike putting the finishing touches to ours before setting out on the first day. I was barred from trying to pack anything. Ever. Sigh. But probably a good thing ;)
I’m not going to write too much and will just leave you with a load of pictures and a few videos. It was lucky, I think, that there were no major capsizes as we didn’t have any kayak’s with us this year. If 6 people and 4 barrels and a raft start moving in different directions then it can make the reuniting of these disparate elements a little tricksy.
So thanks a LOT to Steve, Stew and Mike for organising everything.. and our drivers Clare, someone, and Joe for doing all the driving.
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We did have one mishap – which was when our raft hit a rock a little unluckily and managed to puncture the side. Oops. Out came the patch, the glue, and an hours wait.
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I was slightly pathetic in not helping, but then it was more than 20 degrees celcius, and I’m useless once it gets that hot!. Also, I felt it was a little more sensible to take shade rather than sit and watch other people working. But hey, I am a slacker too..
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So yes, all in all an excellent trip. Hopefully will be run again in a few years time.. though I guess with people moving on from Uni it remains to be seen how lucky we will be..
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finally – just a couple of video’s.
(jawbreaker rapid)
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=7778821843136311297]
elegant non smacking off rock
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=6697993122779299049]
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