The one in the yellow helmet is me.Yup, you got that right. During one of the days in my 2010 June holidays trip, I went whitewater rafting. So what is whitewater rafting? Why is it called whitewater? Whitewater is when the water currents splash against each other, causing this "white" colour. The boat is not a raft as what I previously thought, it is like a tug boat. At first, I was afraid that I will get seasick (though this is not in the sea), for I have motion sickness (carsickness, airsickness and seasickness) To my journey to Kampar River, I had carsickness, for the road was winding as it was heading to the countryside. As I journeyed my way down to the river, I was shocked. The river was bumpy, had ravines and is rocky too. (due to the low tide) However, before we began, our instructor teach us (our group and another group) on the safety precautions we had to take. We were each issued a helmet, lifejacket and an oar.
After wearing them on, we started. The first ravine was a double drop, and we got ourselves wet. But that was the least of our troubles, we were almost flung out of the boat, I slipped and fall forward, and so did my brother. Luckily, our helmet prevented us from getting hurt. We continued rafting and rafting. Sometimes, our boat would get stuck against the rock, and we all had to shift to one side and start moving about. After a few more ravines and some rafting, we were told to get off the boat. Then, we had to lie back and float along with the current. It was frightening at first, but soon, it was quite fun lying back, knowing you cannot touch the ground. Luckily, the lifejacket kept us buoyant. Then, our guides "parked" our boats along the seabanks, and we rest along the river. My brother and I was splashing about the water, swimming with our lifejackets and trying to swim against the current. My parents were sieving the sand hoping to find tin (there was an ex-tin mining area, but was closed due to its low value). To their amazement, they did find lots of tin. Shiny... Looks like silver. Maybe they are...
Soon, we boarded our boat and started rafting to the end. Sighs... Our trip had ended. Luckily, we had some delicious food from the hotel to end our journey! Mmmmhmm, lunch... Western with BBQ and tomato sauce :D
This sounds like fun! Whitewater rafting... interesting. I have never heard of this before, so it's kind of new to me. With every sport there comes responsibility, since they are dangerous, and it's great that safety precautions were taken before. Or else, the consequences would have been dire!
ReplyDeleteWhoa! Whitewater rafting sounds fun and interesting! I think that was a great opportunity for your family to step out of the comfortable city life in Singapore and try something new and different. I watched participants try this sport out in one of the seasons of "The Amazing Race" but never knew what the sport was called.
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving us a brief but adequate introduction to whitewater rafting. I greatly enjoyed reading this blog post and am sure you enjoyed writing it too. (:
Just something to note: there were a few grammar errors in the blog post. Not to criticize you, just hoping to give some constructive advice (: Overall, an excellent effort still.
Mattheus
Ooh... Whitewater rafting. Nice! I agree with Mattheus, such an exciting sport, and you doing it for the first time with your family! That has got to be very exhilarating and fun. (:
ReplyDeleteBut of course, safety first! (: It looks so dangerous though... But I bet you felt a great sense of achievement after completing the activity! (: Awesome post. :D
That must have been a fantastic and whimsical ride!Honestly , my Whitewater rafting experience wasn't exactly authentic , meaning it was controlled by a machine and not by the forces of nature.Nonetheless, I bet you had a great time although safety is always the number one issue in this dangerous sport.How I wish I was with you!=D
ReplyDeleteWhitewater rafting eh? That one's gonna be on my To-do-list! For me, foir the entire June holidays I was away in Korea.
ReplyDeleteAnd guess what I also enjoyed a form of "Rafting" in an amusement park. And they provided photo services just like this too! Coincidence eh?