The River Wild

After partying in Brampton and 2 hours sleep we left for the Ottawa river at 2am. Empty highways rocked me to sleep and I awoke in the early hours of the morning to dense forests and crisp air. Wow this was the country! We travelled for 5 and a half hours by car to Beachburg which is close to Ottawa. Country roads lead to the home of Wilderness Tours. It was a beautiful location by the river with the sun glistening off the water. Even at 7.30am the sun was shining strongly - it was going to be a great day.

I ate a huge breakfast of french toast, ham, tattertots, cereal, toast and fruit. Well I needed the energy for the day ahead. Then the dreaded task of putting on a wetsuit. Once we were suited we boarded the school bus to head to the river for the adventure to begin. At the river we put on helmets and life jackets and grabbed a paddle. Now where to sit in the raft? At the front you will fall out, at the back you will be shot out. Ok so lets go for the "safe" middle then. We had a team of 10 on the raft and one leader sat at the back who would steer the raft. We took our seats and put our paddles in the water. Here goes! We left the safety of land and gently paddled across the river. Ok so this wasn't so bad - all very smooth.

We stopped at the side of the river for safety instructions. "Get Down" means grab the rope and hang on for dear life. "Get Back" means grab the rope, hold on for dear life, lean back into raft and pray. Now time for rapids!

As we paddled towards the bend in the river - it appeared calm but then I heard the sound of the rapids. Fast flowing water crashing against rocks. We rounded the bend, my heart stopped - rapids!! We were told to paddle but as McCoy's Chute sucked us in and tossed as around only instinct worked. I grabbed the rope and held on for dear life. The raft tipped to the right, we went under, the water was cold and strong. As I came up for air it pulled the raft back into its depths. I felt myself being pulled from the raft but there was no way I was going. After having the rapids described as a washing machine I did not want to be at their mercy. And then it was over - we were clear we had made it through the rapids! Woooo! That was awesome! Adrenaline was rushing through my veins. We were all cheered and then noticed we were missing Michelle and 2 paddles. We frantically searched for her and then saw her yellow helmet bobbing along the river. She was alive! The safety kayak people picked up the paddles and we pulled Michelle back into the raft. We came to rest in a quiet section of the river and were told we could body surf through the rapids we had just survived. Funny only 3 people did this. Michelle's account of being flipped around grazing rocks and gasping for air seemed to have put us off.

Next was Butcher's Knife rapids with rock formations named Slice and Dice. Mmmm why not Friendly Rock? As we survived these the rush was awesome. Woooo whitewater rafting is cool! Lunch was enjoyed by the river in the sun. Then it was back to the thrills and spills! Further down the river we incountered BFR. The R is for rock! I was first to get the name and first to jump from it into the river! Suprisingly a lot of fun! We then tackled Collisuim a three level rapid - that was cool. It seemed we could handle anything now! The final rapids were the Black Hole and this was my favourite. At the end of the rapids you are sucked into a whirlpool and the raft goes round and round and under and back up again. The raft fills with water and threatens to capsize. You hold on for your life, you gasp for air as each time the swirling water pulls you back under and around. It was like being on a rollercoaster, you laugh hysterically and out of control in the face of danger. We were the only raft on the river at this time so we went back for more - twice! Each time we lost someone but they made it back into the raft.

All too soon we had reached the end. We had spent 6 hours on the river and had had a incredible time. We carried the raft up out of the river and onto the back of a truck. As we travelled back to the clubhouse we relived our adventures on the river. It had been a awesome day.