I stood on the bank, high above the first set of rapids. A young paddler next to me said, “just don’t go left and hit that first big hole; it will slam you. Others confirmed, “yeah don’t go there”.

So that was our first look at the King River with the gauge sitting around flood level.

The William Hovell dam was releasing water after a major storm event that had hit South Australia and Victoria, giving paddlers the experience of almost continuous rapids down the gorge.

The event was in two parts, Saturday race course familiarisation and then a 3  hour group paddle down the river and Sunday, a timed sprint race from the eddy at the dam wall to the Wier rapid.

So perched above the rapid we thought about our chances of getting through the first section unscathed. Luckily, I was a member of the Canoes Plus Club and Dita had organised pack rafts for myself and fellow paddler Berny. We are both more at home on an ocean wave than in a flooding white water river.

Here’s the start section as you drop into the rapid.

I’m afraid there were no photos after the start as Robyn, our photographer couldn’t access the gorge. She would see us again at the Weir rapid.

So, into our paddling gear and onto the water in small inflatable one man pack rafts. Thankfully, we had guidance from many of the paddlers and instructors from the club.

The river was running fast with the major rapids really testing our ability and in between there were a continuous series of smaller rapids. Just lots of fun, punctuated by many testing large drops and holes.

We were both happy to hit the pull-out point, wet, cold, tired and smiling. We both managed a capsize on the way down the river but consoled that we weren’t the only ones.

The club organised a BBQ at nearby Camp Wabonga and then off to bed for us “older paddlers”.

Sunday morning was freezing, reaching a balmy 5 degrees C at race time.

The sprint race was down the first section of the river finishing with a drop over the weir, which was the easiest section of the river. Number bibs on, indemnity forms signed, next of kin notified and we were ready for a quick heart pumping effort.

I was called up to the start line first and hammered down the right hand side of the river, unfortunately a little too much right, hitting a rock and dropping into a hole. Pack raft swamped I struggled on, with the self draining hull working overtime. Then steady through the next wave section and onward to the weir rapid.

I appreciated fellow paddlers advice from yesterday as I approached the Weir rapid. “Line up the middle of the river with that rock”, and so I got a pretty good entrance to the rapid. The fact that I was spun around and out of control was inconsequential, I had crossed the finish line.

Berny started with a great line through the first rapid and kept the momentum going in the smaller rapids. Soon he was powering to the weir drop and its standing wave.

Safely through he certainly had a smile on his face. He said he was amazed he make such a good run through the first section and just paddled at maximum until he saw the finish line. Not bad for his first effort on larger rapids.

Other paddlers were making the drop look easy.

Oh yes; the results. Berny won the Master Packraft section and I came third, 16 seconds behind him. 

Of course, being a King River Event each winner received a crown or tiara, Berny proudly displaying his much-deserved Crown.

Thanks to everyone at Canoes Plus Racing Team and everyone else who kept an eye on me and Berny.  Special thanks to Dita for organising the Pack rafts.