The Toyota Blog

When the opportunity arose to grab a Land Cruiser 70 and head down to Parys for a course in white water kayaking, Stuart Williams grabbed the keys, packed his baggies and applied some sunscreen. Adrenaline, water, exertion and pure sunshine equals two days of extreme fun.

When conjuring up images of white water kayaking, ten-metre waterfalls and fearless adventurers throwing themselves into frothy uncertainty may spring to mind; and rightfully so. Kayaking is an extreme sport.

Of course, learning the ropes is a different ball game altogether, and before any waterfalls or grade six rapids can be attempted, a good many hours’ experience is required.

White Water Training, based in Parys a mere two hours from Johannesburg, is a leisure business offering intrepid paddlers the necessary skills to progress to that extreme fear factor of white water action.

We start off in the swimming pool with White Water Training owner and instructor Hugh du Preez, getting us used to the feeling of being stuck in a kayak whilst under water.

“I need to know that you are comfortable being under water,” says du Preez. He forces me to flip my kayak over, count to ten and then instigate the procedure to get out of the kayak and clear of the water.

With a good few blasts of water up the nose the feeling becomes more and more natural, until panic is forgotten and the escape procedure is a formality.
Du Preez instructs on a variety of methods to correct a flip over; some don’t require removing your spray deck and require a level of skill that quickly turns into a challenge. In the bow rescue technique, you use your fellow paddler’s boat to leverage your head above water, and then “drop your head and flick your hip” to get upright.

Du Preez is a fantastic teacher and makes sure you feel entirely comfortable, offering advice, support and encouragement. Furthermore, he’s an entertaining guy, making the entire experience good fun and a great way to spend time out of ‘The Big Smoke’.

The biggest challenge facing the novice kayaker is the Eskimo Roll. It consists of a step-by-step technique that enables a kayaker to right himself in the water despite being upside down after a rollover. This sounds fantastic and when du Preez shows how it’s done, it looks just as fantastic and equally as easy. I can assure you, it’s not.

However, with the solid training and guidance of du Preez, it becomes an achievable target, quickly putting you on track to be a white water paddler. Other skills he teaches are the low brace, sweep stroke and straight paddling.

Once he’s satisfied with the progress made in the pool, du Preez takes me down to the river which offers up plenty of challenging rapids, eddies and flat water to hone the skills. It suddenly becomes evident that a swimming pool is considerably less challenging than the powerful flowing waters of the swollen Vaal River. The direction you decide to paddle has little effect on the direction you actually go.

The threshing currents push and pull the light plastic boats in all directions. If you end up in unstable water, you need to keep your wits about you and remember your escape exercises from the pool. You will soon be upside down and trying your best to prevent Vaal river water rushing up your nose.

Of course, watching your experienced guide and instructor have some fun surfing in the rapid is enough to keep your perseverance up, as maybe, just maybe you’ll reach that level of skill.

Some more time on the river, and a quick refresher on the skills you’ve learned puts you in good stead for the regular Sunday river runs held by White Water Training. You could also invest a little more money and join one of their regular trips to larger white water locations.

If my skills improve, you may just read an article on the Zambezi in some months to come. But don’t hold your breath… I seem to be doing a lot of that!

For more information visit: www.whitewatertraining.co.za

ToyotaZone March/April 2009