Otis's Blog - Week 1, Thursday

On my first week of Keeners away from beautiful green New Zealand I have done more than 5 winter's worth of kayaking (as it's winter in NZ, the poles and whatnot) and more than 10 winter's worth of sunlight, I can feel my skin burning as I type. The water-flow was about six feet this week, meaning that that the river is not at all familiar to me because my previous visits where at -0 feet. But this also means that there are a few radical features I can tear up, namely the Big Kahuna and Waikiki waves, the Waikiki wave is a speedy wave with a left and right face. The left face is very difficult to reach but has the steepest slope which means that it's great for aerial tricks like airscrews or blunts, the Big Kahuna however is a different story it's gnarly crashing waves will pick you up, turn you around and slam you down. This crashing wave-ish hole hybrid is very difficult to remain in control whilst surfing and you'd be lucky to come out with a spin. 

Wildlife differs at the Ottawa river compared to New Zealand, over the course of today I saw 5 snakes, one of which was a 15 meter long rattlesnake which I wrestled and almost died catching, coming out with a bite on my hand (I lied the snake may have been smaller and non-venomous). Other non-reptilian critters include the pair of bears that live in the far side of the paddock on the drive home from Wilderness Tours™ base, a muskrat, a bever and some deer.

An unfortunate necessity for blog writing is an 'instructional sequence' where I tell my readers a step by step guide on how to do something I have decided to inform you of the horror that is Happy Shoulders.

1. Find a long flat expanse of water
2. Back paddle, this is done by putting in your paddle at your hips and pushing out to your toes using arm power and torso rotation
3. Do 5 strokes
4. Feel burning pain in shoulders
5. Look downstream to see Joel 3 miles, back paddling like a steam engine
6. Feel Demotivated
7. Try to paddle forwards
8. Get yelled at by Kaleb
9. Go back to step 3

Thank You and goodnight,

Otis