Grade 7 River Rafting

On Friday 25 April 2014 a convoy of cars left the Saints Campus at 6:30am. A group of Dads, their sons and 4 staff members from Boys' Prep were participating in the annual Grade 7 River Rafting trip, on the Orange River, just outside of Hopetown in the Northern Cape.

After arriving at the Camp we quickly settled into our chalets and spent the rest of the afternoon chatting around the fire, looking forward to the lamb on the spit and vetkoek (which quickly became a favourite with the boys!). The Saturday was spent cruising on the river on two man inflatable rafts, under the expert guidance of Heine Fourie, with a couple of small rapids thrown in for good measure. In addition, boys and their dads enjoyed jumping off a 15 m drop into the water – a good test of courage!

On Sunday we exchanged the two man inflatables for large 8 man rafts, which would make shooting the large rapids, Hubbly Bubbly & Hell's Gate, a little easier. After shooting a few smaller rapids and then stopping for lunch, we geared up to hit the 'big' white water. Some of the paddlers in the first raft were so awestruck by Hubbly Bubbly they forgot to paddle, causing the boat to end on a large, protruding rock and then violently throwing all its crew members into the freezing water. All the crew members were eventually recovered, however some hats and sunglasses will forever be in the Orange River! The other boat successfully negotiated the rapid. Both rafts then landed on the sand before we approached Hell's Gate, a narrow opening with a large drop-off, through which the entire Orange River flows, to plan our strategy. Both boats managed to successfully shoot the rapid, with much whooping, cheering, high-fiving and back-slapping – once again an awesome memory created!

My sincere thanks to the Dads & Lads and staff who participated this year, and we are already looking forward to next year's trip!
Mr G. Olivier