Day 2 of the kayaking course took us back to the pool at the University in the morning. We were due to learn the "don't-whatever-you-do-call-it-an-Eskimo" roll (it's a kayak roll these days) as a way of righting ourselves when things went the way of the Tong midstream. JC and Jeff our instructors patiently took us through the learning steps and by the end of the session some people had it nailed. I was not among them. My friend Wayne got it sorted though (most of the time!).

Undaunted we headed out to the Kananaskis river in the mountains for some whitewater fun. The river looked fierce but it was still only Class 1+ rapids (that's the easiest). It was the same river that I rafted last summer and it's definitely a lot more rowdy in a kayak, Class 1 or not. It was also a lot colder than last summer; in fact it was a lot colder than yesterday! Saturday on the Bow it was a sunny 20+ degrees. Today's top temperature: 6 degrees. And rain. So the last thing you wanted to do was capsize early on.

I capsized on the first eddy we hit. I thought I'd take one for the team as from then on everyone had the confidence of not being the worst paddler! It actually wasn't as cold as I feared: thermals, wet suit, fleece, paddling jacket all came up trumps. It was tiring swimming to shore though and then emptying out the boat, getting the spraydeck on and paddling out again. I made it down most of the rest of the way without too much more difficulty but did go for another, rather longer, swim near the bottom. After that I was absolutely cream-crackered and happy to paddle enough to keep me pointing the right direction and let the current take me home.

Despite all of that it was still great! I might go for another kayak roll session in the pool because being able to right yourself would save a lot of energy and watching our coaches in action it was clear what fun it can be when you can really tackle the rapids with confidence.

The course was run by the University of Calgary Outdoor Centre and they have an amazing array of other activities to do. So far I'm booked on a map and compass skills workshop plus a two day session on preparing for backcountry camping, which even features a lesson on dehydrating your own food! The mind boggles.