Travelodge Pembroke

A mere 400 or so miles later I pass into very familiar territory, the Ottawa Valley. Rolling farm fields, barn smells and small towns after you bypass Ottawa (which has a charming hostel - the old Ottawa Jail right in the downtown).<br>There's a fiddle festival going on over the Labor Day weekend. It's become a phenom now after several years. The riverside park fills with rvs and bodies. Nice location.

... profitable little organic squash farm out in Merrickville somewhere. <br><br>After the party, we headed off to Tim's house for a sleep. He has got to have the most crazy house I've ever seen. As soon as I walked in I had flashbacks from Yellowknife and the crazy cabin murderer.<br><br>Tim lives off the grid with solar panels, and a water pump that you have to pump with your feet on a seesaw like mechanism. There's all kinds of clutter around, presumably for all the strange ...

... human wheels, catch the flag) which got us in the mood for our first day back on the whitewater in kayaks and rafts. I rafted that day and was utterly amazed at the rapids - they were bigger than the Ottawa Main! We ran all the rapids, switching the guide position on each one. We got pinned on a rock above a giant hole on one, which was scarey, but we didn't flip all day - not even running The Wall (a giant wave, aptly named). The next day was kayaking. I spent a ...

... got back in quite quickly. I'm now sleeping in a hammock, which arrived just a few days ago. With a thermarest inside it is very cosy and rocks me gently to sleep. It's so much more comfortable than a tent with a hard floor. Looking forward to the SRT course tomorrow. We will have a full weekend of swimming in the whitewater, which should be fun but tiring.

... to look for a trail. After walking to the end of the woodland trail we scrambled down the rocks and found Mel in the river with a large stick (about a foot long!) impaled through her abdomen. The river was running with blood (and raspberry sauce... ;) ). We quickly stabilised her head whilst we established her conscious level and the mechanism of injury. Having discovered that she had no mechanism for a spinal injury we were able to ask ...

I have made a rolling contract with Karine C. This means that whenever I want to practice my roll she has to go out on the river and help me but whenever she decides I should go out and practice I have to go. If we have time we are going to practice tomorrow afternoon after class. I'm not sure how much time there will be though, as we are doing a night search and rescue tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to that.

... and finding out who fits in what. I'm using a Jackson Star, which is the smallest in the range. We all got out onto the water and paddled around a bit to get used to the boats and then started practicing rolls straight away. The idea is that once we can roll we will be comfortable enough to practice everything else. Although I didn't roll today I feel that I have made a lot of progress and should hopefully get it within the next few days if I practice enough.

... to set up correctly before she would let me try a roll, which I managed once with a small amount of help from Karine. I will try again tomorrow after Christmas (when I finally have a kayak to use). Upstream Dave is apparently here tonight and he is excellent - the whole bar should be rocking as people come from all over the place to see him. I can't wait.

River level 8.5. I went kayaking on the Ottawa Middle today. It is BIG. Much bigger than I'm used to. Karine and Karine looked after me very well and talked me through it all. There was also a guy called Gavin (an RMP Officer from Ottawa) who was also kayaking along with the rafting trip. When he found out where I was from he told me he had kayaked at Hurley. I portaged Little Trickle (not so little) and carried on down to Angel's Kiss. That was fun, and ...

to all you guys in travel world ! so my trip is coming up really soon and still non one has commented back to me about flyin.. no going to lie kinda disapointed. im getting nervous, considering in the news there are plans crashing into the ground ! and everyone bags getting lost :( my excitment has turned to fear. but im sure that there is someone out there in travel land that could help me ...