Rafting

Rafting- Buller Festival


The much anticipated white water experience of the year. Myself, along with a number of other first years answered the calls of duty from the second years to fill numbers in their rafts. There was much excitement as we travelled up to Murchison the home of the Buller Fest on Friday night, to prepare for a full day of action racing on Saturday.

Early Saturday morning, we help set up the tents and necessary preparations for the day of nail biting excitement. This was when we first saw O’Sullivans rapid the run for the event, a solid Grade 3 rapid, which should cater for some good watching. We get briefed on the course, name our team- last minute(very appropriate) don our gear and are set for whatever might come our way. First heat, ended not to well, us missing the eddie, not enough of everything speed, edge, angle, and thus us missing the necessary gate. Oh well, a solid introduction into rafting nonetheless. We qualify for the repocharge round which is another shot at making it into the semifinals. With no turn-around time we are straight into the next heat. We jump into ‘Bluey’ the black sheep of the rafts (every other one was red), Bluey is a bigger cumbersome raft, however, paddling like we were possessed, we fly out to a solid lead. Flying into our nemesis eddie with ease, around the gate, down the rest of the course in speedy fashion we find ourselves in the unfamiliar position, FIRST. Into the semi’s we go. A change of course, we are to head down river straight into the biggest hole, fairy across swerve around a gate, and fly into an eddie that seems ten times more gnarly then our previous nemesis. Carnage, we all think to ourselves, bring it on. Off we fly down river, gaining as much speed as possible, being up front I brace as we head into the hole, wack its like be bucked on a crazy horse, we make it through, hurdle down all the waves of the river and line up the washing machine of an eddie, in we crash, spin out and get spit out the back, we paddle hard and claw ourselves back up the eddie and around the gate, and finish in a respectable third.



us leading it around the gate in bluey



Racing over, we chill out and watch the slalom kayak racing, until we hear a call that the organisers need people to bring the remaining rafts down the river to the pull-out point. Jacob, Smeggle and I answer the call, re-don our gear. Jump in a raft, then are asked to tow another as well, we aren’t to sure of the outcome of this but agree anyway, watch the movie to see how it goes.

the short video I made
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0z7F-KN7Vo