DWD escaped the office on Friday 13 July for an action packed afternoon spent white water rafting at Lee Valley White Water Centre with our client Countryside Properties. Any thoughts it would be a relaxing afternoon in the sun paddling in a dinghy (think lazy river) were quashed on arrival hearing the screams from other participants already on the Olympic course.
Two rafts, crewed by a mix of DWD and Countryside project teams, were sent out on the course and two rafts returned, each crew celebrated dealing with the worst the course could throw at us?or so we thought!!!? Much like your local fairground attraction, it turns out that screaming and shouting in fact only makes your guide make the course much more challenging/faster.? Each successive lap was more technical than the previous and this generally went hand in hand with the number of people falling out of the raft?.some more than once. ?Teamwork, communication and coordination are all apparently ideal skills to deploy whilst white water rafting and both crews pulled together tackling all that the course could throw at us.
Safe to say each team got sufficiently soaked and experienced at least one ?Titanic? moment (full capsize in the rapids).? Although not relevant for scoring in any of the Olympic events hosted here, bonus points should definitely be given for graceful/most stylish water entry in the face of a near vertical raft teetering on the brink.? Several aspirational ?Tom Daley-esque? crew members embraced emergency disembarkation, whilst others were left clinging on to the raft till the final inevitable moment!
After an exhilarating afternoon, we were rewarded for our hard work with a delicious BBQ and drinks on the sun trapped terrace where we compared the odd bump and bruise and reflected on the life affirming (as opposed to near death) experience.
