Today was to be our adventurous day. Rosie had long wanted to go white-water rafting (she and Katherine had wanted to go in Spain 2 years ago) and I was persuaded to accompany her (not so much unwilling as unsure!). Meld and Bridget were to take a leisurely float down the North Thompson River, on a similar boat but without the white water.
We'd not got onto the morning boats, so we had a relaxed morning (interspersed with attacks of nerves) before driving "downtown" to Interior Whitewater Expeditions HQ.
All checked in, waivers signed, Meld and Bridget's transport arrived to take them up-river.
They were soon off and Bridget seemed quite happy to be on a boat!
The boat was skippered by Doug, the proprietor of IWE, who provided lots of interesting information along the way.
You often see wildlife on or by the river. Today it was a couple of eagles and an osprey.
The views of the river were relaxing.
Meanwhile Aid and Rosie, after a bit of a wait for the previous outing to return, boarded the same bus and travelled up the Clearwater River in teeth-rattling comfort. Down a steep incline to the riverside, they first showed us the Class 6 rapids just upstream from where we would start.
Then we donned our already-wet-suits (lovely). At this stage even my old camera went away in the bus as we added splash jackets, life jackets and helmets.
Luckily Luke, the bus driver, took some pictures that we were able to get copies of. So this is us heading though our first rapids - Class 4 they told us.
Rosie is the front of the 3 yellow helmets on the far side; Aid is 2nd from back on the near side (in the cool shades - I wasn't going to risk losing my best Armani specs in the river!)
Down we go!
Needless to say, we had an exhilarating ride, including a stop to hike to a 50 foot waterfall and jump into the pool beneath it, on the way back from which we tried wild huckleberries and freshwater chives. Dave, skippering our boat, was informative and fun.
Back to "base" for lunch at 5, then Meld and I went to church whilst the girls swam in the pool. We were made very welcome by the priest who spent 3 or 4 years in Southampton. Originally from Wales, his parish (from Kamloops in the south - 1.5 hours drive away) is bigger than his home country! That's how big and sparse this part of Canada is.
So now, off for supper, and to upload this to the web.
There is likely to be a gap while we're at the ranch - normal service should resume at Whistler - but keep looking, you never know where you'll find wireless internet these days!