It's been almost 12 months but for one day only the Barrington River was high enough for white water rafting.
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The activity can only go ahead under certain conditions and thanks to the recent rain, which feel in all the right places, a very lucky school group was able to head down the river in a raft.
On Wednesday, March 7 Barrington Outdoor Adventure Centre (BOAC) busted the “big boats” and took to the river.
Barrington Outdoor Adventure Centre (BOAC) offers three different ways to enjoy the Barrington River; by kayak, by canoe or by raft.
Each one requires a particular water level in the river in order to run.
The lack of rain over the summer has seen the rivers in the region at very low levels; enough to cause MidCoast Water Services to put water restrictions in place.
Staff at BOAC said there hasn’t been much water running over the rocks in the Barrington Water over the summer, but thanks to the recent downpour up stream, the flow-on effect finally reached The Steps.
“After a long and very dry summer, it was a relief to see the local rivers bounce back to life,” BOAC owner Naomi Kilby said.
“We only do rafting when the river is too high for kayaking so the students from our school client were very excited for the opportunity.”
“The kids loved their white water knuckle ride,” she said.
But as quickly as the water level rose, it had begun to recede and with rafting is no longer an option kayaking is now back in play.
BOAC patrons aren’t the only one affected by the river levels, the annual Gloucester Mountain Man Tri Challenge also relies on it.
One leg of the challenge involves travelling down the Barrington River and last years competition held at the end of September saw the competitors dragging their kayaks instead of paddling them due to the lack of water in the river.