So it’s the middle of the summer - with too much sun and not enough rain, the solution: head to Wales?
Day 1:
We met at the main gate at roughly 2pm on the Friday, everyone on time and not a hint of faff to be seen or heard. The shed also went without a hiccup and we left Glasgow ahead of schedule, hooray! Everything was going just dandy until we entered Wales and discovered the campsite was closing 30 minutes before we got there, not a good start. So a quick rethink was the plan and the front of bus crew found a nice wee campsite beside the main road. After a chat with some very friendly owners we were in!
Day 2:
An early start saw us at the river at 9:30. Plan of action was too paddle the easier section first as a warm up before moving on to the knarl up top. Michael and Rupert were up first, having a play on the wave at the bottom of the top section. But then something happened to a paddle which really isn’t all that important so we will skip that part. Anyhow, seeing as we had only 10 and a half paddles between 11 of us Michael braved the bottom section C1 style. This section was really quite enjoyable and had its moments with a tree pin from Mark and Louise. However, soon we reached the portage of Bala Mill Falls! After a quick inspection a few of us ran it. It was fairly uneventful as everyone kept their hair dry and pride intact.
The top section followed and Suzie, Louise and Emma assumed camera duty while the rest of us paddled.
Day 3:
A second early start saw the group (along with Daisy’s boat) at the side of the river once again. This time the river was much more fun! Incoming kayaks were not constantly pushing others out of crowded eddies. The first run of the day went well, with Emma joining the crew and suffering a “wee upside-down moment”. Mark followed suit, but finished off with a lightning quick roll. In fact, come to think of it, Tom also had an embarrassing moment at the café wave – though the truly awesome surfing in the lead up almost made up for it. We had so much fun that we ran it a second time and truly blasted it down! We also made a much faster run of the bottom section than we had on the Saturday.
The Welsh kayaking experience was very worthwhile despite the eddy queues, rafters and sign on to the river rule. The river was awesome and a good weekends boating was had by everyone. So a big thanks to the Trip Sec (Tom), the drivers (Michael and Cat) and the rest of the paddlers for a great trip!
Euan R
Day 1:
We met at the main gate at roughly 2pm on the Friday, everyone on time and not a hint of faff to be seen or heard. The shed also went without a hiccup and we left Glasgow ahead of schedule, hooray! Everything was going just dandy until we entered Wales and discovered the campsite was closing 30 minutes before we got there, not a good start. So a quick rethink was the plan and the front of bus crew found a nice wee campsite beside the main road. After a chat with some very friendly owners we were in!
Day 2:
An early start saw us at the river at 9:30. Plan of action was too paddle the easier section first as a warm up before moving on to the knarl up top. Michael and Rupert were up first, having a play on the wave at the bottom of the top section. But then something happened to a paddle which really isn’t all that important so we will skip that part. Anyhow, seeing as we had only 10 and a half paddles between 11 of us Michael braved the bottom section C1 style. This section was really quite enjoyable and had its moments with a tree pin from Mark and Louise. However, soon we reached the portage of Bala Mill Falls! After a quick inspection a few of us ran it. It was fairly uneventful as everyone kept their hair dry and pride intact.
The top section followed and Suzie, Louise and Emma assumed camera duty while the rest of us paddled.
Day 3:
A second early start saw the group (along with Daisy’s boat) at the side of the river once again. This time the river was much more fun! Incoming kayaks were not constantly pushing others out of crowded eddies. The first run of the day went well, with Emma joining the crew and suffering a “wee upside-down moment”. Mark followed suit, but finished off with a lightning quick roll. In fact, come to think of it, Tom also had an embarrassing moment at the café wave – though the truly awesome surfing in the lead up almost made up for it. We had so much fun that we ran it a second time and truly blasted it down! We also made a much faster run of the bottom section than we had on the Saturday.
The Welsh kayaking experience was very worthwhile despite the eddy queues, rafters and sign on to the river rule. The river was awesome and a good weekends boating was had by everyone. So a big thanks to the Trip Sec (Tom), the drivers (Michael and Cat) and the rest of the paddlers for a great trip!
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