Brisbane, QLD


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

RAFTING ON BOW RIVER BANFF

We had a choice of activities today and we chose rubber rafting.  Bill was expecting us to be shooting the wild rapids, well it wasn't like that at all. It took me some convincing of Bill to do it, until I read the description of the activity to him which said "A gentle float down the Bow River."
However, we were a little apprehensive when we saw these rapids. 

Our rafts were sitting on the edge of the river. Luckily they were below the rapids so all looked good.

Off we go! (We are at the back Bill has cream hat and dark glasses, I have white hair and dark glasses and we are wearing orange vests hee hee.) Our oarsman was Irish and funny.

We left the hotel behind us and embarked on an enchanting float down the river.

No civilisation visible, just the river, majestic pines and the mountains. It was quiet and peaceful.

Like the raft in front of us we stopped in this calm sheltered spot where we were given a short talk about the flora, fauna and geology of the area.

Then it was into the faster moving current or small rapids. It was fun, I wanted to go faster and wilder. 

The Michelin Men having fun. After a few hours and many miles down stream we pulled into the edge and we were picked up by a bus which took us back to town.

17 comments:

  1. Aah, very nice. I love being away with no civilisation in sight, in a boat... just floating and rocking and floating...

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  2. Diane, I was thinking of the white water rapids. The float trip is my kind of trip just slow and easy. The scenery looks beautiful.

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  3. With that many people in the raft it would want to be a gentle float. You will love the Flinders but I do hope the trip is early November as it gets very unpleasantly hot in the Summer ... but I guess you live in Queensland so much more used to heat than me.

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  4. Here we go again....
    Looks like so much fun Diane. Good on you.

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  5. Well, you are getting brave in Banff ( correctly spelt for observers!). Now I know why Bill adds the extra "f's" - it was the shock factor of the rapids! I think I'd be at the Banfffffffffff stage after the rapids!
    Fantastic trip and even more to sample with you - great work, Diane.

    Cheers
    Colinnnnnnnnnnnnnn - due to rapids!

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  6. wow diane your photos are so fantastic. I hope you've entered them into a photography competition. looking forward to sitting and chatting about your trip. cheers, kathryn

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  7. heheheheh,

    you should have just told us you survived the rapids and we would believe you.

    I did black water rafting, and I told everyone how hard it was inflating it 100%.

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  8. I've never done that and have always wanted to do it. In Idaho Hells Canyon is a great place to raft and, of course, the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. But have never done it yet. Looks like so much fun!

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  9. Oh my ! that must have been an adventure !

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  10. I would love a river ride like this..it looks so peaceful!

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  11. Brilliant! What an experience.. lol seeing those rapids at the start, how excitement :D

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  12. Now this is our kind of adventure: wild, crazy, dangerous ... and totally safe and controlled with a tour guide who's done it a million times with a ga-zillion tourists! Looks like so much fun, and I'd love to have the chance to do it. Thanks for the post.

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  13. Wow---what a neat raft trip, Diane... I'm glad you didn't have to go over those rapids though... ha

    That's another thing I would love to do someday.... Guess I need to plan a trip JUST to Canada sometime...

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  14. Oh lovely! Of course I recognized you right away because of your orange vest ;>) Those rapids (in the first picture) would have scared me -- although some of our kids and grands have rafted through those kind -- but not for me! Your float looks perfect.

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  15. It looks like it was a beautiful day to be on the river. I like the looks of the rapids in the first photo, in my younger days those kind were lots of fun in a small rubber raft.

    The Banff hotel in your post below is absolutely gorgeous. It does look like a castle.

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  16. What a fun Day! Boy you have had a great holiday!!!!

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