So last week I spent a week on the Ottawa River in Canada. There were three of us in total and we had all booked to fly to Ottawa Airport with Canadian Affair, we went with them as we were able to book on our kayaks. When travelling with kayaks you are always nerves especially at the airport, what happens if they don’t let us take them? What happens if they weigh them? What is our back up plan? Well we had no backup plan but once at Gatwick Airport we smiled nicely to the lady at the check in desk and told her they weigh only 20kg. Anyway after a short period the boats and paddles had been checked in along with our luggage.
Once we arrived in Ottawa and had collected our boats and bags it was time to collect the hire car. Now it is not the best idea to turn up to the desk with three kayaks and an inflatable roof rack as this may raise a few questions that you don’t want to answer. Any way one went to collect the car whilst the others found a nice quite place away from the car hire depot and took all the boats and bags and waited until we had collected the car. It just so happens that they had decided to waite right next to a bus stop and bus lane. After a quick pump of the roof rack and a few strange looks from people at the bus stop we were on our way.
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It only takes one and half hours to drive to the Ottawa Valley. We stopped on the way to pick up provisions. Two of us had brought our own camping equipment with us but one did not. So it was off to Wall Mart to find some cheap camping equipment.
As you drive out of Ottawa city and head to the river you expect to see mountains, but as you continue to drive further away from the city all you see is farm land and the odd house. I thought I was still in Norfolk and on the way to work. As you get closer to the valley you can catch a glimpse of the river, well it looked more like a lake than a river, and you start to wonder where all the white water is.
We decided to stay at River Run Rafting as this is the place to stay, where all the cool kids hang out. We got there and the place was dead. After some investigating and asking around we found out that being a Monday afternoon everyone had gone home and back to work/school after the weekend. We had the place to ourselves. Well that was until the evening when we had to share the campsite with Raccoons, Chipmunks and Skunks. Luckily there were no bears.
After a good night sleep but still jet lagged we hit the river. A nice easy park n play spot near to where we were staying, and we were in luck with the water level. We were able to surf what the locals call Warm Apple Pie, a nice hole with easy eddy service.
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The second day we ran the main channel, when you don’t know where you are going it can be quite hard. There are so many different changes/Islands etc. We knew to stay right so we just went right of all the islands and took the right hand channels. It worked as we ended up at the top of Bus Eater. Unfortunately we were a week to late with the water levels as they had dropped and Bus Easter was not working, yet it was still too high for some of the other waves such as Garbiater. However Big Bus Eater was. Big Bus Eater does what it says on the tin. It will eat a bus, it is a hugh hole that you want to stay away from.
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We continued down the river and eventually found Coliseum. Here were some of the biggest waves we had ever seen. After a quick look we had decided on our line and went for it. What we had not looked at was the big ledge further downstream that nearly ate one of us.
The next day we did the middle channel with a group of guide from Wilderness Tours. At this water level the Middle Channel is better with more waves and holes to play on. It was a good job we were with someone that new the river because there were even more Islands and channels to get lost in.
The middle channel was a good run with lots to play on.
We were given the word that High Tension was working. This is another world class wave on the Gatineau River in Quebec. After getting directions from a local the night before we set off. The only problem was that we had no map and did not write any of the directions down. No problem it was simple, left at first junction, left at second junction on to gravel road, left in to Quebec and follow the signs for Gatineau River & Rafting. After an hour and half we made it.
Once we arrived in Ottawa and had collected our boats and bags it was time to collect the hire car. Now it is not the best idea to turn up to the desk with three kayaks and an inflatable roof rack as this may raise a few questions that you don’t want to answer. Any way one went to collect the car whilst the others found a nice quite place away from the car hire depot and took all the boats and bags and waited until we had collected the car. It just so happens that they had decided to waite right next to a bus stop and bus lane. After a quick pump of the roof rack and a few strange looks from people at the bus stop we were on our way.
It only takes one and half hours to drive to the Ottawa Valley. We stopped on the way to pick up provisions. Two of us had brought our own camping equipment with us but one did not. So it was off to Wall Mart to find some cheap camping equipment.
As you drive out of Ottawa city and head to the river you expect to see mountains, but as you continue to drive further away from the city all you see is farm land and the odd house. I thought I was still in Norfolk and on the way to work. As you get closer to the valley you can catch a glimpse of the river, well it looked more like a lake than a river, and you start to wonder where all the white water is.
We decided to stay at River Run Rafting as this is the place to stay, where all the cool kids hang out. We got there and the place was dead. After some investigating and asking around we found out that being a Monday afternoon everyone had gone home and back to work/school after the weekend. We had the place to ourselves. Well that was until the evening when we had to share the campsite with Raccoons, Chipmunks and Skunks. Luckily there were no bears.
After a good night sleep but still jet lagged we hit the river. A nice easy park n play spot near to where we were staying, and we were in luck with the water level. We were able to surf what the locals call Warm Apple Pie, a nice hole with easy eddy service.
The second day we ran the main channel, when you don’t know where you are going it can be quite hard. There are so many different changes/Islands etc. We knew to stay right so we just went right of all the islands and took the right hand channels. It worked as we ended up at the top of Bus Eater. Unfortunately we were a week to late with the water levels as they had dropped and Bus Easter was not working, yet it was still too high for some of the other waves such as Garbiater. However Big Bus Eater was. Big Bus Eater does what it says on the tin. It will eat a bus, it is a hugh hole that you want to stay away from.
We continued down the river and eventually found Coliseum. Here were some of the biggest waves we had ever seen. After a quick look we had decided on our line and went for it. What we had not looked at was the big ledge further downstream that nearly ate one of us.
The next day we did the middle channel with a group of guide from Wilderness Tours. At this water level the Middle Channel is better with more waves and holes to play on. It was a good job we were with someone that new the river because there were even more Islands and channels to get lost in.
The middle channel was a good run with lots to play on.
We were given the word that High Tension was working. This is another world class wave on the Gatineau River in Quebec. After getting directions from a local the night before we set off. The only problem was that we had no map and did not write any of the directions down. No problem it was simple, left at first junction, left at second junction on to gravel road, left in to Quebec and follow the signs for Gatineau River & Rafting. After an hour and half we made it.
The river is very simpler to the Ottawa River, big holes, big waves, flat, big holes, big waves, flat, you get the idea. High Tension was working and working very well indeed. The only problem with this wave is the hole behind it and if that does not get you the eddy line will. The eddy line was like Hurley Weir is but 10 times the size and with lots of boyils. Anyway after a good day on the river we decied to head back again the following day.
The trouble with going to Quebec for the a couple days is that they all speak French, but not the French you and I learnt at school. They don’t speak a word of English and when you start talking in French they look at you as if to stay what the hell are you saying.
Anyway after getting back to the campsite on the Ottawa it was as if Spring Break was about to start. As it was a Friday afternoon three hundred people had turned up for a weekend of rafting and drinking. But not just anyone, it was three hundred Canadians. What followed over the next 48 hours was a lot of high fives and the word rafting yeah.
Buy this time the Ottawa Valley had woken up and there were a lot more paddlers about for the weekend, and a lot more rafters about.
The last day we thought we would treat ourselves to a breakfast at the local diner, we pulled up to find another paddler already there. After sitting down and waiting for our meal we started chatting to said paddler. He said he was just hanging around until her got his van fixed and then was off to the airport to head to Germany for the World Freestyle Championships. The said paddler was Stephen Wright. Considering he was about to compete in a major championships he seemed very relaxed eating his egg and homemade fries for breakfast.
Anyway we spent the last day paddling on the Ottawa. This was a great trip, we all took play boats with us and the weather was warm. We had no problems getting are boats back home and the car hire company did not notice any of the dents on the roof. Who looks for dents on car roofs anyway?
