Day 12

Today was the best day of the holiday so far, we went back to Kelso for lunch again JUST KIDDING! (that would have been really bad). What we actually did was white water rafting!!! There was about a 1 hour journey before we reached a tiny tiny village named Maupin in the middle of a desert. It was very peculiar, as only an hour ago we were in amongst the green pine forests of Mount Hood.

We eventually found the rafting shop where we filled out forms and put plenty of suncream on (including the green one which HE used - only my friends will understand that last comment) as the sun was beaming down. We, and a few other families piled into the school bus that would take us to the Deschutes River in which we would raft. We had a safety talk and were equipped with life jackets and then our family was paired with a nice guide called Anne, and unsteadily climbed into the raft.

We calmly floated downstream, not knowing of the rapids that we would soon meet. Anne taught us how to paddle in synchronisation and we caught on pretty fast. Everyone was in awe of the beautiful scenery that surrounded us and we were relaxed and peaceful.

It came as a shock to us when we saw the white water looming dangerously ahead. Anne told us to keep paddling through the rapid as it would steady our raft. But when were faced with the rapids all this teaching went out the window and we got drenched!! The rapids were scary but a lot of fun and at each rapid a photographer took photos of us (unfortunately I could not take my camera in the water).

When we were at a calm bit of water, Anne persuaded me, Katy and Wilsey to take a dip in the freezing river. After dipping our feet in we cautiously slid one by one (led by me) into the flowing river. Once accustomed to the temperature, we swam alongside the raft until we saw more white water ahead so Anne hauled us back in.

A bit later on we all had the once in a lifetime chance of swimming through an actual rapid! Katy and I bravely accepted the challenge and followed Anne to where we would swim from (at this point everyone parked the raft). We had to jump into the freezing cold river, fully clothed, and before we had a chance to breathe we were swept by the current into the white waves. They were ferocious and we had to struggle to swim back to the shore where everyone was waiting for us. Although a bit cold and soaking we were extremely proud of what we had accomplished!!

A while later, after clambering back into the raft, we were met with yet more rapids. But this time Anne told Katy and I to sit on the front of the raft, with our feet hanging over the edge. We watched two people fall out of the raft in front of us whilst facing the rapid, so we were filled with nervous anticipation.

We laughed with delight as the waves tossed us about and smacked into our anxious faces. We fell backwards into the raft as one last enormous wave hit us and made sure that not an inch of us was dry. After the ordeal, we continued over calm water until we reached our finishing point. We sadly got off the rafts where we got the bus back to the village. We all agreed it had been an amazing experience.

Once back, we got changed, had food and milkshakes and bought 2 of the photos that the photographers had taken, whilst we were on the rapids. We then went home and played another game of monopoly!!!

P.S.

Please comment us as we are getting lonely after two weeks of not talking to you!! :)