The East Lyn with BJ

So Boring James and I have been making plans to go river paddling for the last month or so without much success- every time we are all set there's no water! It has infuriated both of us repeatedly! Since I work odd hours it makes it hard to organize anything much in advance (and if we do, there's never any water!). Anyway, we finally managed to make it and set off for the East Lyn in Exmoor for a day trip. Since BJ had to pick up a bike he had bought on EBay from down that way we were killing two birds with one stone. I was paddling a Jefe Chico borrowed from Will and BJ was demoing the new Karnali.

We made it down there, and despite the fact that there was snow on the ground, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Our luck was in- as rather than having to walk the shuttle as planned we bumped into another couple of paddlers who we shared the shuttle with. They were already changed so put on while we were getting changed with the promise of meeting up at the bottom for the shuttle back up.

I had an awesome run down, loving the Chico and really having fun. BJ hadn't taken the time to properly outfit the Karnali so grumbled a bit, though luckily for me, Will and I are about the same size so I was nice and snug without having to go to any effort! We were warned by walkers fairly early on that there was a tree across the river further downstream, so as BJ knew the river better he took lead and was confident we would see the tree before it became a problem. We found it further downstream and stopped to help Pete Thorn (the local BCU access officer) and another paddler cut the tree out so we could still run the rapid.

It was great to be back on a tight technical river, and after a month on the huge volume of the Nile it made a nice change- pity about the cold water though! I continued to have a cracking run down and was loving the gorge section which is the crux of the run. It had been over a year since I had paddled this river so I couldn't remember the lines and that always makes it more exciting! All in all it was an excellent day out, a nice drama free (well apart from a bit of a dent in the chico- but I have no idea how that got there!) run down a good river in beautiful weather, if only it could always work out so well!

We attracted a bit of attention wandering around Morrison's in dry suits to get lunch, but that's always funny! After lunch we headed home and stopped off at BJs parents for a coffee and some more munch...

Uganda- Having to go home...

So time was running out for me, and with the ongoing construction of the Bujagali dam, time is running out for the Day 1 section of the Nile too, and knowing I may never come back adds a special sadness to coming to the end of my stay. Max had flown home early for surgery on his back but others had arrived to take his place. In a rather bizarre coincidence Pierre, a guy I had met paddling in Scotland arrived and we had a good laugh. He actually managed to disappear for some abnormally long downtime running Kalagala on the same day I managed to boof it and ride it out head dry! The Irish guys John and Enda were also a great laugh, and Wes (the dude) was still around and we all had some great social breakfast meetings at DeNile Cafe, or as Si liked to call it "Itanda Rehab" hahaha!

Oli had left a few days previously to go Gorilla watching, Jethro had had a severe spanking on Itanda so was taking it a bit easier, Si had burned himself pretty badly on a boda exhaust, and Pablo was just being lazy and stoned all the time, so I found myself boating with some random people! Wes was one of my favourite people to paddle with, we ran a few of the back-channels together, and I had a horrendous beat down in a pour over on Brick-Yard. Thankfully I managed to hang on until it spat me out (cheers for the sketchy assed line Wes!!! hahaha!!!) and that was the closest I came to swimming all month. We also had a few runs of Blade Runner, another super fun rapid that offers a few different lines.

Before long the Montana boys arrived back at Eden Rock and I felt well enough to party it up at NRE again. A few more wild nights (and days on the river!) and Rush Sturges rocked up, fresh from an expedition in Madagascar, and the nights got a bit wilder hahaha! I couldn't shake the feeling of my time running out though, and the thought of leaving made me really sad, not just the place, but all the awesome people I had met in my time there. But as always people started to go their separate ways. Wes left for Kampala for a night out before flying home to the states, Pablo left soon after for Germany. Before long it was the last day, and after a breakfast Silverback run I packed up most of my belongings and carted them over to NRE where Daryl, Si and I would be picked up for our shuttle to the airport.

I went then with John and Enda and a new arrival Monica (who turned out to be friends with Paula, a good friend of mine from back home- yeah small world again hahaha) for a last Silverback mission, via Bladerunner. I also decided to rock out on the ramp since it was my last trip down to the river, and managed to stack it quite spectacularly! Monica took some photos of me and John running Bladerunner, which was good since most of my photos were of partying rather than paddling! Right after Bladerunner we were caught in a rainstorm and had to make the paddle to Silverback in torrential rain. I said goodbye to one of my favourite rapids and then made the trek up the hill through the jungle to meet the bodas.

After a while we realised there must be a problem caused by the rain, since none of the bodas had arrived. This was slightly concerning as I was cutting time rather fine with my last run and needed to be back for our airport shuttle! We started walking to meet them, and after a while a couple of the drivers met us, informing us the road there was washed out and the other drivers would have to take another route, and we would have to take a different route back to NRE that involved quite a detour. I did however make it back with enough time to have a final farewell beer and finish packing my stuff up.

The people we meet when we travel are one of the best things about it for me- with paddling especially. You get to meet like minded people from across the world who share the same passion as you. In that respect this trip was one of the best so far. Some mentioned some not, I made some amazing friends and have some great memories, so thanks everyone for being a great laugh! It does however make leaving somewhere so special even harder. Its sad to think that with the completion of the Bujagali Dam, the day 1 section of the Nile will be lost, and fewer people will visit, and it will cease to bring so many people from all across the world together. To think that will be lost is heartbreaking beyond description... Ah well, what will be, will be... Next stop Ottawa...

Uganda- The Hairy Lemon, Nile Special and Malaria...

After a couple of weeks living the dream up at NRE it was about time for some serious chilling out, and some play... So Max, Pablo, Si and I packed up our stuff and headed to the Hairy Lemon. The Hairy Lemon is an Island in the Nile that is beautiful, it also happens to be a 10 minute paddle from one of the best river waves in the world...

The other guys were more river runners than play boaters (with the exception of Max who had hurt his back) so i knew the guys would get restless before long and want to head back to NRE. With the Montana boys having moved up to NRE a few days ago, things on the island were pretty quiet, and so was the queue in the eddy at Nile Special. For me at least, this place was pretty close to paradise, chill out in the morning after breakfast, then head for a play on club wave while the river is still low.

Club wave is a really good wave, and gets trashier as the water levels come up through the day. Its great for big air and big trashings, and everyone had a fair amount of each! I had a lot of fun on that wave. After a session on club wave its time for lunch back on the island, then a bit more chill time in the sun or in a hammock in the shade with a book and a drink to wait for the water to rise and Nile Special to come in, in all its glory! Getting used to the tow rope can take a while but its well worth it. I had some amazing sessions there and there's nothing like watching the sunset from the eddy while someone tears the wave up in the fading light.

A few days into my time at the lemon, Steve Fisher sent a truck down to pick a bunch of us up and take us to Kalagala, the plan, to run down the day 2 section to his island and then party our asses off! Max, Pablo and Si had left for NRE the day before so I had been chilling with some new friends who all came along for the party. There was Vanya, Alexy and Katya from Russia, Thomas from Switzerland, Steve from New Zealand and Vito from the UK. We arrived a bit late at Kalagala and the rafts and other paddlers had already set off, so we put on, most of us running the falls, and raced down the next rapids to try and catch up with them. We caught up with the last of the group just before Steve's island, but it was all good as someone had already got the BBQ fired up and the booze was already flowing! We partied until sunset when-shock horror!- the booze ran out! Vito and I decided it would be a great idea to head back to the lemon before everyone else so we could catch special on the fly and have a ride... I cant really remember the paddle back top the lemon, it was dark and i was pretty drunk, but i do remember stacking it trying to catch special and then getting a beating and struggling to roll... maybe not such a great idea after all...

The rafts and people soon arrived back at the lemon in search of more booze... the music started pumping and the booze started flowing, it was a good night! The next day however was less than good... I was hanging worse than usual, and it was late afternoon that i wondered why i was shivering in the full heat of the African sun. That night the aches and sweating convinced me that all was not well, and the next day i was too weak to paddle or do anything much. It was ok though, just a bit of "man flu" i kept telling myself...

Fortunately for me Alexy had come down with something similar and Vanya convinced me I should come to Nazigo with them and take the malaria test. I was starting to run out of pain killers so i went with them, knowing full well i couldn't have malaria... Upon getting our results at the clinic (i call it that for lack of a better word haha) it turned out both of us had malaria. Alexy was given a course of coartem to take and i was put on an I.V. drip right there and then, and pumped full of fluids an quinine for the next 3 days... Not the nicest experience I've ever had, especially since the friends i was with were up at NRE and had no idea!

So I missed out on paddling for a few days, but started to feel better surprisingly quickly, it wasn't until i started paddling again that i realised how weak i was. Its infuriating to be at one of the best play spots in the world and not be able to give it 110%, but i guess i was lucky to be paddling at all so soon (and maybe just a bit stubborn too hahaha). Soon my frustration drove me back upriver, but i couldn't quite face the idea of staying at NRE again, so went across the road to Eden Rock, a nice chilled campsite that's close enough to NRE to go party when you want, but allows you to escape the madness too, which was fortunate since Timmy Flowers was in town...

Uganda- The White Nile, Nile River Explorers- "Living the dream!"

Well what to say about the White Nile? Obviously its a paddling mecca and an amazing place....
So after a long flight (and losing Daryl's luggage!) then a 3 hour drive (sketchy as!) we arrived at the infamous Nile River Explorers bar. I had already heard enough stories to know its a bit of a wild place- everyday is Saturday! So I was a bit surprised to turn up and find the bar closing up and quiet, even at 2am... But they let us grab a few beers to take and we sat under the stars with a doobie and talked. Max and Pablo had arrived 2 days beforehand, and as it turned out, the Scottish guy I met on the flight out (Simon), had come out to meet them both too, having worked with them raft guiding in Austria. What the hell- its a small enough world I guess!

After a fitful nights sleep (bloody geckos tap dancing on the tin roof!) I was up and rearing to go. As it turned out we went for a session at super hole, which wasn't what i expected for my first days paddling on the Nile, but still we had a fun day in the sun at a nice feature. That night I got to experience NRE in full swing, a few overland trucks full of rafters partying the night away. I don't pretend to remember the details, but funnels were taken for fun rather than punishment, and it got a bit messy... I woke up in the bar the next morning...

So the early part of the next day was spent faffing. I mostly laid around feeling like shit... Max and i eventually got our arses into gear and went for a few Bujagali runs. Bujagali falls is an awesome (and huge) rapid that turned out to be the hangover cure I needed petty much every day. Before I knew it I was watching a spectacularly beautiful sunset over the river from a rock island on the paddle back upstream to NRE. That night was much the same as every night at NRE, party until you collapse, or somehow make it back to bed...

Over the next couple of weeks I experienced the Nile and with each day loved the place more and more. The Hump into Bujagali falls- the perfect hangover cure! Though its important to remember to show a little respect as I found out! The Hump caught me out one morning while solo paddling still wasted. I'm not sure what happened but i disappeared into the cushion, and must have flipped, because i hit my head pretty hard, doing a fair amount of damage to my sweet rocker and shoulder! The run down from Bujagali is good fun, with some cool surf waves at 50/50 and Surf City, and plenty of scope for downriver moves all the time! Then its the best of the Day 1 section, Silverback! To try and describe Silverback is a waste of time, its just huge, and fun! Its a little daunting the first time around but after a few runs the downriver moves (or attempts!) started happening over the first wave, and were MASSIVE (nearly always ended with thrashings though haha). Its a rapid best run with the Spanish dudes we met, with a few breakfast chillums on the way down from NRE!!! After Silverback you can take out and have a wild ride back to NRE on a boda. Make no mistake- this is the scariest thing! Hanging onto your kayak while bouncing around on the back of a boda boda doing ridiculous speeds down dirt tracks may sound fun, and i guess it was after you get used to it... But to start with it left me wishing I was back in the midst of the rapids where it was safe!

The Day 2 section of the river is also amazing, and a bit easier. I couldn't wait for Nile Special, but the first rapid of the day demanded my full attention. I had seen Kalagala Falls on enough paddling videos and although it looks big, as always it always seems bigger when you are standing right there! It certainly gets the blood flowing! I had already decided to go for it, and was a bit surprised to find everyone else deciding to walk around it on this particular day. However the line is dead easy so i put on alone above the falls, broke out into the current and paddled for the horizon line. I plugged it deep and popped up dead stoked! After the others had finished putting on we ran down the next rapid and then had a brief look at Hypoxia before laughing at the idea of it and heading off downriver.

All of the Day 2 rapids are pretty easy and offer a few places to play, in particular the wave on Hair of the Dog can be amazing, and there's a beautiful wave at the top of Kula Shaker that's perfect for some soul surfing. The Nile Special was what I was waiting for though- and it doesn't disappoint! With out a doubt one of the best waves I have ever paddled it just seems to have it all! Its big, fast, bouncy and pretty retentive, though it wasn't until I went to stay at the Hairy Lemon that I got to play to my hearts content!

A South Wales Day Trip With Good Friends...

So next week im off to Uganda for a month of fun in the sun and warm rapids, but for now I kinda need a fix and the boys rang me to see if I want to go on a day trip to South Wales to run the river Tawe. There would be a car-full, Piers, Scotty, Carl, Paula and myself. Yeah sure, its got to be better than sitting around and a car-full means shared fuel costs and a cheap trip... That and I had a new waterproof camera I'd bought in preparation for my Uganda trip and wanted to test! So Piers borrowed me a Liquid Logic Lil' Joe from System-X and all I had to do was turn up at his with kit and paddles, sweet!
Carl drove, and after an uneventful journey we arrived in South Wales, ready to put on and have a bit of fun on the river. It was a good fun run with a couple of good slides but I wasn't really getting on with the Lil' Joe, it likes to stop to play in holes it seems, (well its probably more me haha!) which made for an interesting run... The best bit of the river was a sweet lil' 10ft drop which we walked back up and ran several times! It was great fun and I even tried a cheeky freewheel off of it!
We saw other paddlers on the river and all in all it was a good day out. When we got to the take out Carl and Scotty ran the shuttle (yes literally ran back to the car) while we sat around and chatted waiting for the car and dry clothes to be delivered unto us!
Dry and changed with the kit and boats loaded we started our journey home...

South East Ramp Session 2008

So having been back from Europe for about a week or 2 (I cant actually remember!) with no water in the Valley things were getting a bit boring... It was at this point that I got a phone call from Daryl a friend of mine that also lives down in the very south east of England (about as far away as you can get from whitewater!) wanting to know if I would be turning up for a BBQ and help build and play on a small ramp into the river.

Well I didn't really turn up to help with the building of the ramp... But I managed to arrive in time to play test pilot to see if the ramp would hold up! It held up fine and we had a real good laugh, with some hilarious wipeouts and funky moves pulled by all!

Daryl and Barry were both on hand with their "Big Boys Cameras" and as such we ended up with some super sweet photos, one of me was then entered into the Canoe Focus photo competition and won!

I also came up with the not-so-clever idea of running down the ramp backwards... would have been fine had the boat kept straight but it didnt and the stern managed to smash through a couple of the struts and yeah, it kinda hurt... Then I had to leave to go to work and leave the others to have their fun which included lots of drinking!

Hawaii-Sur-Rhone 2008

So we made it into Lyon from Switzerland late afternoon... And headed straight for the airport to pick Danny Boy up... After that we headed straight to the wave, no messing. we got there as the light was starting to go, and me and Dan couldn't resist the urge to get on, the level looked a little high, but we were stoked to be there at such an awesome feature so we just went for it.

I was tired already and dropped in for one ride, which felt about 10 minutes long and I had my ass handed to me, repeatedly, id forgotten how spanky this place could be! When I finally washed off I decided to call it a day, though Dan was ripping in true fashion!

We managed (this time!) to find the Formula1 motel and they actually had spaces! So without the need to rush around trying to find somewhere to stay we were able to go and get some food! A right result compared to the last time we were here! We also had plenty of booze left, bought duty free in Switzerland, so we had a pretty good night and then headed out to the wave again the next day.
The wave was once again awesome levels, despite fluctuations throughout the day it was always at a decent level. We shared the wave with the locals including Seppi Strohmeier who was ripping, and riding the vertical "Wall" with true style.

In true tradition we went out and had a night on the town after a hard days paddling, after traveling half way across Lyon to get to one club the bouncers wouldn't let us in (6 English guys with no girls- go figure!) so we headed back to the town center and after following directions from a local that took us to a strip club (these french are wonderfully friendly!) we settled on a totally random Australian themed pub. When we were eventually kicked out of their we managed to find another party, on a boat in the river, with a bar and a rave going on... I cant remember everything about the night but Will and I got separated from the rest of the group and it was light by the time we got in...

There was another day of hard paddling but by this point most of us were tired from the traveling and constant boating/partying/lack of sleep so we had a chilled out night the next night, just going for a pizza and talking about the events of the last few weeks, it had been an epic trip, and there was a sense of melancholy at the thought of it drawing near to its end. So it was that with heavy hearts and broken bodies we started our trek home after 4 days at the awesome Hawaii-sur-Rhone wave and after an awesome all round trip. Gareth said he wont be running the same trip next year as he wants to get out and explore different places, but that trip will be the one I remember when I think of his Euro trips in years to come...

TVFreestylers Eurotour 2008

So I'm not gonna bore you with all the details but Euro tour with the Thames Valley boys was pretty amazing this year... Dougie and Anne turned up early afternoon (after getting a bit lost!) to pick me up and head to Dover for the ferry and the long drive to Plattling... Fortunately following last years escapades Dougie had brought his portable DVD player so he could continue the porn bus tradition haha.



Plattling was awesome as ever, warm water, good weather and good company (after managing to meet up with Max shortly after arriving) and that night (still without sleep) we headed out to check out the "Bavarian Culturefest" as Max called it...
After 4 or 5 days play at Plattling (during which time Fraggle managed to split his head open and had to go to hospital to get stitches) it was time to move on to sunny Austria, which wasn't looking terribly sunny at the time...

Austria was in huge water at the time which was awesome, the section of the Inn at Tosens was massive and continuous, but of little consequence, bit of a roller coaster ride and would have been fairly unpleasant in the event of a swim but we managed it without incident, though I was a bit confused as to the location of the old Reid wave when we reached the takeout, though was later told by Andy Turton that they have in fact dumped lots of rock into the river where it used to be, destroying what was once a finicky but potentially great decent sized wave...
So we ran the Immst to Haiming section of the Inn the next day and possibly something else that I cant remember before going out in Landeck on Friday night, finding a small nightclub and then owning the dance floor in true pissed up Brits-abroad fashion...
The next day while everyone was trying to recover, word reached us through Andy that the Silz Wave at Crazy Eddy's was running, and running good by all accounts, so me and Dougie jumped in the motor and hotfooted it over there, still both hanging from the night before to find that there was indeed a wave worth paddling! The other guys turned up shortly after and most of us had a go on the wave. Despite having to dislodge the odd surfer and sometimes missing it as it periodically greened out, it was well worth it... Then there was the night at Crazy Eddys, I cant really remember a lot of it but there was deffinately a live band, lots of people and huge amounts of Jaegermeister with Schorschi Schauff...

Next stop on the tour was Switzerland, although we gave up on Bremgarten this year we still stopped by to see our old friend Mr Weir and run some rivers! We started with James creeking home run the Glenner which turned out to be a really beautiful creek with some nice rapids, that opens with a 3 metre weir! Well with that out of the way the rest of the river was fairly easy, with one slot rapid with a bit of towback... It wasn't until after those of us who decided to run it had done it that James went on to tell us he had watched a 16ft open boat cartwheeled in there for a very long time! Thanks for the warning mate!

So after a couple more days and rivers we left Switzerland to head to the mighty Hawaii-Sur-Rhone wave in Lyon, I was full of anticipation by this time as it was the part of the trip I was looking forward to most, it would be my third trip there and I felt I could get a lot more out of it this time if the levels were right....