Kayaking...

Wow. What an adventure this was. So for part of our classes with S.I.T. we got to learn how to go white water kayaking. So fun.
The first time we were in kayaks was in the swimming pool. So we got all geared up, helmets and everything and went down to the local pool and hopped in our kayaks. They basically had us practice flipping over. Well and then letting people rescue you. Basically what happens is when your white water kayaking, there is a good chance you will flip over so we had to practice what to do if we flipped over. How to rescue ourselves and other people.

The first kind of exit is called a wet exit which is where you pull the spray skirt off your kayak and swim out from underneath your boat. (The Spray skirt looks like a skirt that hooks around the edge of the kayak to prevent water from coming inside and helping you not fall out if you flip over).

Next we did a t-rescue. When you've flipped over in your kayak you feel along the side of the boat with your hands till someone gets there kayak to you and you grab the nose of their kayak and flip yourself back over.

Then the hand of god. You sit in you kayak and flip the other persons boat over with your hand. And just as a little side note you can flip yourself back over it's called an Eskimo roll, but it requires more skill than most of us were able to acquire in the short amount of time we had to practice.

So basically this is super terrifying, waiting for someone to come rescue you, and we flipped over and over and over in the pool. Lot's of water in the ears and chlorine in the nose. We also practiced paddling.

Then we got to go out in the open water the next week! We went to a place called Borland for a 3 day kayaking trip. The first day we practiced on the lake, turning, and paddling in a bigger body of water. Also we learned how to rail which is where you lean so one side of your boat is going to be against the waves. Stops you from flipping over if you do it right.

Then we got to go down the rapids. We went down a Class 2/3 rapid (on a scale of 7) and went down 4 actual white water rapids, and I only flipped over once! Which is quite an achievement. Actually it was superbly fun and I loved it. It was so different actually being on a moving body of water, but it wasn't too hard. We also got to spend some time just practicing our skills in a rapid and that was fun too.

We went on another kayaking trip again to a place called Mavora Lakes. Basically we got to more of the same fun stuff we did at Borland. The rapids at this place were only a Class 1 though so it was easier. I didn't have the best time on this trip because it was raining the whole time so you didn't really want to get in the water. Plus we were practicing our skills in this one particular area and would go in and out and I kept getting carried away by the current and had to get out of my kayak, and hike up a hill and through brush to get back to where we were practicing.

Still it was awesome to learn how to kayak and I love it! I'm going to have to try to do it when I get back to the states.

Our Kayaking Teacher - not actual facial hair, seaweed from the river.