The Clare Glens comes out of hibernation

The last week was pretty busy, between the scouts heading out kayaking to get ready for the Liffey Descent in a few weeks time, and the UL kayak club starting to get into the swing of things I was out on Castleconnel twice and had three pool sessions between Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! Add in College, and a house party or two and you've got one fun, and busy week! From the start of last week, and that excuse of a hurricane that passed over, people have been talking about how the forecast was looking promising for a bit of boating this weekend. In the end our prayers were answered and we went to bed on friday to the sweet sound of rain on the windows! Saturday started with the small distraction of Ireland beating Australia in the world cup and then we got on the road to the Glens to see how much of a difference the few days rain had actually made. When we got there the level was at .55 and rising, perfect for a good day out without anything getting too scary!

Since you cant really walk away from the Glens when its working we ended up running it three times on Saturday which was savage craic. .6 is a brilliant level since a lot of the rocks are gone and all the lines are still fairly handy. Heres a video from Top Drop and Sidewider with the lads from ULKC:

On Sunday the levels had dropped off to .45, making the whole run a lot rockier and less fun so we only ended up running it twice. Still tho, any day out there is a good day! And lets all start praying for a whole lot of rain this Thursday and Friday!!

Ennistymon Falls

Had a sweet day out on the Ennistymon Falls yesterday with Colm and Neil. The level could have been higher but its always good to get out, especially since its been dry here for so long!

And the video:

New Camera

Ok, first purchase with the cash from Austria is a video camera. Full HD, waterproof, delighted with it! Hopefully there'll be lots of videos to come over the next few months but for now heres the first one, a few seconds of flatwater freestyle in castleconnel in Limerick.

Home again

Ok. I'm back from Austria, and the whole idea of keeping this thing updated while I was there didnt really work out, since I didnt have the best access to the internet. Still, I had a brilliant time over there! Most days I was working as a kayak instructor, and occasionally as a safety boater or raft guide. Either way I was on the water pretty much 5 hours a day, every day for the last 6 weeks!

 15kg of rucksack, 5kg of carry on bag and 42kg of paddles, boat and kayaking gear! Thank God for the set of skateboard wheels!

Getting out there was nothing short of a mission. I flew from Dublin as far as Vienna, and then the fun part started. I got the train from the airport to the middle of Vienna and then hit problems. It turns out that not every long distance train in Austria has a bike carriage, and if there isn't one then there isnt a hope in hell that you're going to get a boat onto the train. In the end I spent most of the day in the Westbahnhof train station in Vienna before a train arrived that I was allowed onto with my boat. A few train changes later and I got as far as Weissenbach, where I was picked up by Wolfgang, owner of Liquid-Lifestle for the last part of the journey to Wildalpen.

The scenery around Wildalpen is nothing short of spectacular! The mountains are huge with cliffs all around the place, some of them as high as 1000 metres. The water is crystal clear, and its all drinking water so theres no need to bring a drink of water on the river. A cup can be useful tho!

Helliwelli Playhole

A lot of evenings I was able to get out freestyle paddling after work. There are two playspots less than a 5 minute walk from the campsite where I was staying, one of which was a steep, fast hole that just about all moves are possible in. My hole paddling came on an unbelievable amount while I was there, still not quite good, but infinatly better than it used to be!

My home for the last 6 weeks!

The 'Adventure Bus'! 490,000km and still going strong! ...if you can call 0 horsepower, rubbish brakes and a gearbox that feels like you're stirring bread dough going strong. But hey, it got us to the river every day without fail, just a bit later than we would have liked!

Going away party on the last night. Cheers Luki, Johanna, Jamie, Stefan, Tom, Niki, Stefan, Julia and everyone else who didn't make it into the picture for a brilliant time over there! Bis nachstes Jahr/ till next year!

Off to Austria!

Ok, leaving cert finished, driving test passed, army cadets competition attempted, summer camp with the army reserves finished, and I'm free for whats left of the summer, which I'm going to spend working here: http://www.liquid-lifestyle.at/?lang=en , in Wildalpen in Austria, raft guiding, kayak instructing and god knows what else!

The place looks pretty sweet! Cant wait to get out there now, leaving at some stupid hour tomorrow morning so I should be there and on the water by tomorrow evening!