Age: 24
Job: Outdoor Education Teacher
"Right at this very moment I was supposed to be on a trip to explore the upper reaches of a river catchment around Mt Bogong with two mates.
A car crash on the way to Mt Beauty dissolved those plans in an instant. A good walk in of 10k's then 21k's of paddling through the unknown....would have been awesome. But as the saying goes shit happens and its ar%#holes that cause it...in this case the a#$*hole was a fox. I can't tell you the name of the river as that would spoil all of the mystery and intrigue...
My two mates decided that they would continue on the trip without me so good luck to them right at this moment.
I've been a bit sceptical of the whole philosophy of FTR but after reading the comments of other individuals and their quests of 'feeding' the rat it seems like you guys have hit the nail on the head in terms of what participating in adventure sports means to people.
Other factors in feeding the rat include the need to meet like minded people so you can do these activities. Solo paddling definitely has a place in my heart but the best memories are from paddling with big groups like at the TEVA Lea River X-Treme Race or paddling with random people on Gardeners Creek, Melbourne's premier play wave.
The excitement of pouring over maps with mates and a beer in hand while exploring new rivers and creeks in our backyard gets the blood pumping every time. Working casually for companies like GOTYA who fully support their staff to go out and play is like a breath of fresh air. GOTYA kindly supported my trip down to Tasmania so I could gain some experience in harder creek boating and also get a taste of an extreme race.
Its companies like these that understand the quality of having experienced staff where their job IS their passion!
Just recently a mate Dave and I went to check this river out that definitely has the potential to be a premier Grade 4 run less than 2.5 hours from Melbourne!
A steep sided gorge hides the mysteries of this river and this summer we'll head down and check it out and clear some logs that will open up what looks like a great blast varying in gradient from 60m/km to 120m/km over 5 km with a nasty walk out if things get tough. I'll keep you posted".
