#wilderness tours #1moreday #oks #keener #kayak #whitewater #ottawa #playboat #freestyle
Thursday, 20 August 2015
One day left- Reece
There's one day left of keeners session 3. Then everyone will go home and back to their lives. Whether it be Canada, the U.S, Peru, Venezuela, Belgium or Ireland. Which is definitely bittersweet for everyone. We've all made great friends and some great memories in the past 3 weeks. And it's almost time to say goodbye. Keeners is such a great thing, and the river is awesome too. So many fun things to do! The instructors are super helpful and great at what they do. Even though it hurts to leave, i'm excited to go paddle my home rivers and see everyone I haven't seen in 3 weeks! I'll definitely have to visit the Ottawa again someday.
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
Leaving my real home -Sabina Sander
I am not usually one to cry, but somehow on speech nights at keeners my coaches and (second) parents always manage to move me to tears. Stevo's stories always seem to make me feel good about my weirdness and it's pretty easy to laugh at his own. Anna has a way of putting life into perspective in a way that makes it possible to follow your passions and live your dreams. They are the true image of success, success through simple, pure happiness, they are my idols and my role models and probably the coolest people I will ever meet. Just being here has truly changed my life and way of thinking. At this ''summer camp'' you truly come back with more than just your sunburn, you come back with a new, brighter outlook on life and on how to treat others.
I feel so at home here... those dirty keeners are really starting to feel like family. And I only have one week left. In one week I have to leave paradise and go back to normal life, back to school, land of fake friendships and popularity based on belongings and appearance. As Carolin would certainly say, my feelings could only be described as ''sappy'' (a combination of sad and happy).
The amazing coaches we get at Keeners- Pierce Huser
At Keeners, we are very lucky to be able to learn from the best coaches possible.... Literally. When I first arrived from the airport to WT, Albert and I almost crapped ourselves when we saw Kalob Grady in line waiting for dinner. We just couldn't believe our eyes it was actually him. 5 minutes later he walked by us and said "what's up Keeners!" and we didn't know what to say back to him as we just stood there in disbelief. The next day Stephen Wright guided me down the ottawa river which was an awesome experience because I got to know Steve-o who is an amazing guy and I got to know this awesome river. On the second day I had the honour of meeting Dane jackson who was an awesome coach with a super fun personality. Claire O'hara was one of my favourite coaches, She was an amazing coach and she was super fun to be around. Every other night we have great conversations with Clay Wright who is a very kind and wise coach. Even just today I got to paddle with Bren Orton which was just so awesome, he was super nice and his paddling skill set is crazy good! There are so many unbelievably good pros here in ottawa, but at keeners we get the best of them. Its not the fact that they're really good kayakers that makes them great coaches, it's because they are incredibly nice people who know how to kayak the proper way.
What REALLY Happens at Keeners - Daniel Mills-Thysen
So I hate to say this, but almost none of what you probably think you know about Keeners is true. Starting with probably the most well known part: the "coaches." They are actually not world famous kayakers, they are pirates.
And instead of teaching us to kayak, they teach us ridiculous things as: How to wear a hook hand, how to load, aim and shoot, the cannons, how to sail, how to board the rich merchant ships, and most importantly, how to walk the plank. Also, knowing how to grow a huge beard and wear a long coat is a big help.
Here is a typical day at Keeners. We get up at around three in the morning, pile on the the rowboats, and start practicing our pirate chants. We continue with the ARRRRRRRRRR!s and the SEEEEEAA!s and most importantly, the GAAAAARB!'s. And when the sun comes up, we all retreat back to Keenerville so the other people on the river (rafters, kayakers, and riverboarders) won't see that the Keener program is a fake.
Then we put our pirate costumes: beards, peg legs, hook hands, and long jackets (and short skirts), and then jump on the pirate ship and set the sails for GAAAAAARB. After we arrive, we usually board some rafts and shoot the rafters with our powerful (water) cannons, steal the diamonds, and run away to plunder some lunch from the Wilderness Tours lunch site, and then we will be on our way down the river. We often hang out around Push Button for some surfs (oops, I meant chanting and ship-boarding) and then run out the river through Butcher's Knife (we are the butchers, and have the knives), Colosseum (we are the Romans) and Normans, where we are the invaders (think 1066).
After arriving at the takeout, we stick the ship on the trailer and drive back up to Keenerville before invading Rafters for dinner. After dinner, we come back to Keenerville, where we watch instructional videos on how to be various famous pirates, including Steve-O, the hairy ape.
And that is how a day at Keeners usually goes, with some occasional differences, such as a Bacon Thursday, where we eat bacon, and Comp Friday, where we compete for the biggest stolen diamonds.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.
And instead of teaching us to kayak, they teach us ridiculous things as: How to wear a hook hand, how to load, aim and shoot, the cannons, how to sail, how to board the rich merchant ships, and most importantly, how to walk the plank. Also, knowing how to grow a huge beard and wear a long coat is a big help.
Here is a typical day at Keeners. We get up at around three in the morning, pile on the the rowboats, and start practicing our pirate chants. We continue with the ARRRRRRRRRR!s and the SEEEEEAA!s and most importantly, the GAAAAARB!'s. And when the sun comes up, we all retreat back to Keenerville so the other people on the river (rafters, kayakers, and riverboarders) won't see that the Keener program is a fake.
Then we put our pirate costumes: beards, peg legs, hook hands, and long jackets (and short skirts), and then jump on the pirate ship and set the sails for GAAAAAARB. After we arrive, we usually board some rafts and shoot the rafters with our powerful (water) cannons, steal the diamonds, and run away to plunder some lunch from the Wilderness Tours lunch site, and then we will be on our way down the river. We often hang out around Push Button for some surfs (oops, I meant chanting and ship-boarding) and then run out the river through Butcher's Knife (we are the butchers, and have the knives), Colosseum (we are the Romans) and Normans, where we are the invaders (think 1066).
After arriving at the takeout, we stick the ship on the trailer and drive back up to Keenerville before invading Rafters for dinner. After dinner, we come back to Keenerville, where we watch instructional videos on how to be various famous pirates, including Steve-O, the hairy ape.
And that is how a day at Keeners usually goes, with some occasional differences, such as a Bacon Thursday, where we eat bacon, and Comp Friday, where we compete for the biggest stolen diamonds.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.
Differences -Sarah Eadie
coming back to keeners for third session has made me realise that
having real roommates can change the whole experience on and off the
water. During first session i had to face the struggle of being the
only girl. I can honestly say that being this predicament did have its
perks but also a downside. In and outside of school I prefer being
around my close circle of friends who just happen to be girls. Its not
that i have a problem with guys, Im simply use to socializing and
being myself around more relatable people.first seesion was hard and
quite lonely... not that my fellow keeners werent amazing people, but
living in Yakistan alone, preparing meals alone, cleaning alone and
for the most part doing alot of off water stuff alone wasnt actually
that entertaining.
This session there are 6 girls, me being one of them. For the longest
time II was actually quite nervous about whether we would get along or
not . I arrived a week into the session so this added to the thought
of '' what if I show up, and the girls are already so close, that im
unable to join the group properly without being the "weirdo" or the
odd one out?." I of course over thought the situation in my head and
was nervous for no reason. The girls I now share yakistan with, i can
say are true friends. Even tough we havent known each other that long
I feel a strong bond with these amazing individuals. Rose, is a sweet,
talented, friendly face who when boredom seized us at WT made my leg
into a beautiful couloured masterpiece. Sabina is quirky, has
incredible athletic abilities and joins in my weirdness to the point
where we choke and nearly die from laughter. Angela is a crazy young
girl, coming all the way from peru who in her own strange ways makes
us all laugh. Amanda is an awesome paddler who tough seems shy, is
definitely a great person to talk too. Finally, theres Savannah... shes
down to earth in more ways then one, i love her energy and enthusiasm
as well as her confidence. I'll also add that shes a huge flirt ( even
tough she dosent realise it half the time). ;).. To summarize; these
friendships are the kind that are made in weeks but last a lifetime.
So what are the differences of having other girls around? well; for
instance, the house is a whole lot messier and we really need to work
as a team to do chores.We have to share the washrooms, limit our
shower times, make breakfast at the same time without getting in
someones way and stay away from each others wal- mart purchases. There
really needs to be compatibility between everyone so that no one gets
annoyed with each other. Another thing to add is the langusage barrier
between the gitrls and Angela. When I first arrived I found it so hard
to communicate with her ( having no idea how to speak spanish), but
with the use of google translate and savannahs weird hand gestures, we
have covered ground when it comes to making her understand what we're
trying to say. Many people would probably think its a pain to try and
have a full out conversation in neither english or spanish but we in
yakistan see it as a challenge and an oppurtunity. To top it all off,
we have alot of fun times on and off the water as a group and having
other girls with me just makes these experiences all the better.
To shine an even brighter light on all the differences, I want to add
that emotionally its easier to get through things with friends at your
side.I trust these girls, they are easy to talk to and confide in, I
hope that we dont get fed up with each other by the end of the week
and that we can become an even closer knitted group.
As sabina would say " Aah les bonnes memoires!".
having real roommates can change the whole experience on and off the
water. During first session i had to face the struggle of being the
only girl. I can honestly say that being this predicament did have its
perks but also a downside. In and outside of school I prefer being
around my close circle of friends who just happen to be girls. Its not
that i have a problem with guys, Im simply use to socializing and
being myself around more relatable people.first seesion was hard and
quite lonely... not that my fellow keeners werent amazing people, but
living in Yakistan alone, preparing meals alone, cleaning alone and
for the most part doing alot of off water stuff alone wasnt actually
that entertaining.
This session there are 6 girls, me being one of them. For the longest
time II was actually quite nervous about whether we would get along or
not . I arrived a week into the session so this added to the thought
of '' what if I show up, and the girls are already so close, that im
unable to join the group properly without being the "weirdo" or the
odd one out?." I of course over thought the situation in my head and
was nervous for no reason. The girls I now share yakistan with, i can
say are true friends. Even tough we havent known each other that long
I feel a strong bond with these amazing individuals. Rose, is a sweet,
talented, friendly face who when boredom seized us at WT made my leg
into a beautiful couloured masterpiece. Sabina is quirky, has
incredible athletic abilities and joins in my weirdness to the point
where we choke and nearly die from laughter. Angela is a crazy young
girl, coming all the way from peru who in her own strange ways makes
us all laugh. Amanda is an awesome paddler who tough seems shy, is
definitely a great person to talk too. Finally, theres Savannah... shes
down to earth in more ways then one, i love her energy and enthusiasm
as well as her confidence. I'll also add that shes a huge flirt ( even
tough she dosent realise it half the time). ;).. To summarize; these
friendships are the kind that are made in weeks but last a lifetime.
So what are the differences of having other girls around? well; for
instance, the house is a whole lot messier and we really need to work
as a team to do chores.We have to share the washrooms, limit our
shower times, make breakfast at the same time without getting in
someones way and stay away from each others wal- mart purchases. There
really needs to be compatibility between everyone so that no one gets
annoyed with each other. Another thing to add is the langusage barrier
between the gitrls and Angela. When I first arrived I found it so hard
to communicate with her ( having no idea how to speak spanish), but
with the use of google translate and savannahs weird hand gestures, we
have covered ground when it comes to making her understand what we're
trying to say. Many people would probably think its a pain to try and
have a full out conversation in neither english or spanish but we in
yakistan see it as a challenge and an oppurtunity. To top it all off,
we have alot of fun times on and off the water as a group and having
other girls with me just makes these experiences all the better.
To shine an even brighter light on all the differences, I want to add
that emotionally its easier to get through things with friends at your
side.I trust these girls, they are easy to talk to and confide in, I
hope that we dont get fed up with each other by the end of the week
and that we can become an even closer knitted group.
As sabina would say " Aah les bonnes memoires!".
Monday, 17 August 2015
Thank you, Mom -Rose Menominee
Keeners is an amazing program. We have world class coaching and a world class mom. Anna Bruno is our keener mom, and she is often forgotten when people talk about their experience at keeners. However, Anna is a huge part of what makes keeners special, she tells us when we need to take out the trash and clean up. She looks after us when we're injured and she's the one that drives us to the hospital when our spider bites get infected. She gives us push ups when we swear and fixes the t.v. when we're too sore to get off the couch. She makes sure we make our food lists and actually gets us out of bed and on the water at a decent hour. Anna does so much for us during our time at keeners, and I personally appreciate what she does so much. Even at 8 am when I'm lying in wet grass doing yoga and would much rather be back in my bed, I'm so thankful that Anna cares enough to make us do the things that challenge us most (even if that challenge is just touching your toes).
Thank you so much, Anna, you're the best keener mom we could ask for. You look after us and take care of us and sometimes you get super frustrated with us, but you always do your best. So thank you mom, and happy birthday!
P.S To my real mother, if you read the title of this blog and thought this was about you; I'm sorry for the misunderstanding and I love you very much.
Sunday, 16 August 2015
Why Keeners Is The Greatest Program Out There! - Willem von Schilling
Why Keeners Is The Greatest Program Out There! - Willem von Schilling
After Session 1 ended, I travelled back home to Toronto to no one telling me what to do. My days went unplanned and mostly empty. I had no idea of what to do with no rivers around. I felt sad that I decided not to stay for Session 2. I could not wait to come back for Session 3.
The first couple of days in Session 3 were amazing and exceeded my expectation. I could not believe that my experiences from Session 1 were beat by Session 3 in just a couple of days! The people here were just simply amazing and fun. Keeners has taken my love for kayaking further.
I think that the weekends are what make Keeners just absolutely amazing. The fact that we can just go and surf for an hour and relax on the rocks with music is unbelievable. We have the perfect combination of freedom and training. No other program in the world, kayaking or not, has this available. The combination of these two allow for loads of training without getting tired of the sport. I believe that enjoying the sport is the most important concept Keeners teaches us. If you can't enjoy the sport, I think you shouldn't be paddling. Paddling without enjoyment or motivation is pointless. You cant achieve anything without adequate motivation, if you want to succeed you must paddle towards goals you'd like to achieve. That is another thing that Keeners teaches us, goal setting.
Goal setting is how you improve in anything wether it be cooking, school, paddling or just life. If you have no goals, how do you measure progress? Claire O'Hara is a perfect example of why goals are so important. Our Keener Coach uses her goal sheets to measure her consistency and track progress on learning new tricks. By using these goal sheets, she can measure how far she has come from any point in time. This may or may not be why she is 2x world freestyle champion, 3x world squirt boating champion and 2 time mystery world champion. She has inspired me to set short-term, long-term and realistic goals for myself. Thank you Claire, if you are reading this, for teaching all of the session three Keeners the most valuable lesson we have learned yet and a great life lesson.
Goal setting is just one of many great lessons Keeners and our coaches have taught us. The lessons I have learned in Keeners will most definitely last me a lifetime. Lots of thanks to all of my Keener coaches, you have changed lives! I don't know what I would do without Keeners!
After Session 1 ended, I travelled back home to Toronto to no one telling me what to do. My days went unplanned and mostly empty. I had no idea of what to do with no rivers around. I felt sad that I decided not to stay for Session 2. I could not wait to come back for Session 3.
The first couple of days in Session 3 were amazing and exceeded my expectation. I could not believe that my experiences from Session 1 were beat by Session 3 in just a couple of days! The people here were just simply amazing and fun. Keeners has taken my love for kayaking further.I think that the weekends are what make Keeners just absolutely amazing. The fact that we can just go and surf for an hour and relax on the rocks with music is unbelievable. We have the perfect combination of freedom and training. No other program in the world, kayaking or not, has this available. The combination of these two allow for loads of training without getting tired of the sport. I believe that enjoying the sport is the most important concept Keeners teaches us. If you can't enjoy the sport, I think you shouldn't be paddling. Paddling without enjoyment or motivation is pointless. You cant achieve anything without adequate motivation, if you want to succeed you must paddle towards goals you'd like to achieve. That is another thing that Keeners teaches us, goal setting.
Goal setting is how you improve in anything wether it be cooking, school, paddling or just life. If you have no goals, how do you measure progress? Claire O'Hara is a perfect example of why goals are so important. Our Keener Coach uses her goal sheets to measure her consistency and track progress on learning new tricks. By using these goal sheets, she can measure how far she has come from any point in time. This may or may not be why she is 2x world freestyle champion, 3x world squirt boating champion and 2 time mystery world champion. She has inspired me to set short-term, long-term and realistic goals for myself. Thank you Claire, if you are reading this, for teaching all of the session three Keeners the most valuable lesson we have learned yet and a great life lesson.
Goal setting is just one of many great lessons Keeners and our coaches have taught us. The lessons I have learned in Keeners will most definitely last me a lifetime. Lots of thanks to all of my Keener coaches, you have changed lives! I don't know what I would do without Keeners!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)