FEATURES
THREE ACTION- PACKED DAYS IN THE RAPIDS AT JAMIESON
EXPERIENCING
THE THRILLS AND SPILLS OF WHITEWATER
KAYAKING
TOP LEFT : TACKLING THE RAPIDS . ABOVE : THE GROUP POSES WITH THEIR KAYAKS . BELOW LEFT : IN WHITE WATER . BELOW RIGHT : IN CONTROL . BOTTOM : KAYAKING
In the last three days of Term 3 , a group of 10 Year 10 students and two teachers spent three action-packed days whitewater kayaking at a campsite near Jamieson , 193km north-east of Melbourne .
The first day of camp was on slightly easier waters to what we would see later , to ensure that we all knew the skills we needed for the rapids that would come in the days to follow . Even after a number of capsizes , everyone came out of the day pleased and ready for the days that lay ahead .
Day two brought a much faster-paced day of kayaking . The morning gave us an opportunity to test our skills with a new section of the river , before going back over the section we had done the day before . However , now that we were more practised , we were able to head through the rapids with much more confidence and to gain more joy out of it .
That afternoon , we were brought to a new section of the river that held the most difficult rapids that we would face over the whole camp . This included the aptly-named zigzag , which was shortly followed by the zagzig rapid before we faced the formidable slalom rapid , where a few boys did go under . However , as we headed back to the campsite that evening , the group was all smiles after another thrilling day of kayaking .
The final day of the camp gave us one last chance to enjoy the incredible delight of whitewater kayaking . We were placed back onto the water and were able to try some new tricks on the now familiar rapids . Some boys even chose to go down a few of the rapids facing backwards ! It was a great way to finish a truly wonderful camp that I know all of those who went on would say they thoroughly enjoyed .
BLAKE WILSON – YEAR 10
14 Great Scot Issue 170 – December 2023