1/7/10

The day has come and it is July one. It is very crazy how an entire month has virtually flown by, I feel like I have only been here for only a few weeks. Today, I was the staff member that went whitewater rafting! I was very excited when I woke up because it was a bright, sunny day. The forecast was set to be about 26C in Interlaken. We loaded the bus at 5 past nine and began our journey to Interlaken. We arrived in the touristy town and immediately went to the Chocolatier for a chocolate show. The rafters were first since they had to eat their lunch after the show. As we walked in the room, it smelled heavily of rich, dark chocolate. The smell is overwhelming and I try to limit my chocolate intake as if I eat too much, I will feel sick later in the day and I did not want that to happen since I was rafting later. After the lovely chocolate show, we enjoyed our lunches out in the grassy and flowery field. We saw paragliders land in the field and we got a glimpse of the Jungfrau mountain behind the clouds. After the second chocolate show was over, we loaded the bus and we were then dropped off at Alpine Raft. Horray, our whitewater rafting journey begins. We first sat in somewhat of stadium seating and listened to a safety briefing and what gear we need. Then, we changed into full wetsuits, pants and jackets, we also had a life jacket and helmet. We then formed a congo line and danced to the bus that took us to the rafting spot. The guides unloaded the rafts and then gave us safety instructions, we even practiced as a group about how to paddle, hold on, go right, go left, etc. We were the caboose raft, so we departed last. The rapids were Class III/IV and they were not scary at all. We paddled, hit rocks, went down many rapids, and got soaking wet. At the end of the journey, we had a chance to slide out the raft and cruise on down the river. A girl on our raft managed to lose her paddle, but down the way we found it and captured it again. During our journey there is a part of the river that is illegal to raft as it is a nature preserve, so we had a temporary pause in our rafting adventure. We rafted to the side, loaded our rafts on the bus, loaded the bus, traveled about 3 minutes and then got back into the river to experience our class IV rapids. The water was a little chilly but with the hot weather and the full wetsuit, it felt great. We finally landed on the other side of Interlaken in Lake Brienz. Interlaken means between two lakes so it is between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. We then paddled until the loading area and picked up our raft as a team and carried it all the way to the boat. I was on the raft with the Australian guides and the scouts from Virginia. It was a lot of fun, and they bought a CD of the pictures that I loaded on my computer, so the photos are actually from the rafting company. We got back to the facility and changed into dry clothes, caught a lift to town and then loaded the chalet bus. It took an hour to get back to the chalet. We had an afternoon break for tea and then it was dinner time. Kate, Lesley and I were in charge of Swiss night. Fritz came to play his alpen horn and we had surprise chocolate fondue in the dining hall, since the event was outdoors. It was a lot of fun. I was exhausted from the day so I went to bed to get ready for the next day.