Rafting – Quebec
The Explore program created two groups again. And again I am glad I was not with the morning rafters. I heard them up and leaving at just before 7 am. I had a quick laugh and went right back to sleep. We did not have to leave until just after noon. I spent the morning lounging around reading. Then I packed a warm change of clothes for after rafting.
The bus ride was just over an hour… joy oh joy. But it was fine, I chatted with the girls in franglish. We dressed in wet-suits when we arrived. But they ran out of dry suits and some of us (me) had to wear the last groups still cold and wet suits. But once they were on you couldn’t feel the cold. A bus took us to the boat launch.
We had to separate into groups of 7 or 8 to fit on the boat. Our group was too small. We had to split into pairs and individuals and join smaller private rafting groups. So I spent two hours on a boat and everyone else in the boat spoke french. That made it really hard to follow instructions, but I got the hang of it.
We stopped at one point to jump off a twenty-foot cliff into the river. My boat arrived first, so I was in the front of the line to jump. One guide went up with us to point up the big rocks we had to miss when we jumped. It was very similar to the Englishman River back home. I thought the jump was fun, others obviously did not agree with me. A few people turned around and climbed down the cliff rather than jumping. Then we hauled ourselves back into our boats and continued down the river.
The river was really calm, very easy going and good for first-timers. Until the very end. The word Chute in french means waterfall. What away to end the ride. The fall is very small, only about a two-foot drop. A boat of guides was already waiting to rescue all those who bailed out of their boat. Our guide was taking photos. We grounded our raft before the waterfall and watched all the other groups go over. About half fell out of the first boat. No one fell out of the second and third boats. Boat four capsized and everyone was lost. When it was finally our turn I was disappointed when we didn’t flip.
They piled those who were willing back into the boats to brave the rough waters at the bottom of the chute a few more times. I went twice more. One time the boat became stuck in the waters and was throwing us everywhere, like a mechanical bull, until the boat collapsed and made its way out of the rough waters. During the second run, the boat almost flipped. I pushed myself out of the boat and floated down the rapids.
After rafting, we were cold and wet. After we back to the bus we were taken back to get out of our wet-suits, dry off, and have a hot supper. Then it was back to the residence.
It was a great day. Better than the day we spent at the zoo but not as much fun as the treetop courses.
