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Wales 2025 New member perspective! News: international

Posted On 3rd Feb 2025
Posted By Kayak
Author Cathal Ward
Location Wales


At the end of January UL Kayak club embarked on its annual trip to Wales. The kayaking Wales trip began with an early start to make it to our ferry from Rosslare at 8 in the morning. After a little bit of faffing by some members of the club, both cars and the sprinter made it safely on board the ferry for the journey to Llangollen, the town where we would be staying.   

Llangollen is a popular destination for kayakers because of the river dee which flows through it. The river dee offers a wide variety of large whitewater features such as serpents' tail and town falls as well as smaller waves which are ideal for playing on. Over the week we paddled the river dee four times. The first two days the water levels were quite low meaning many of the features were relatively tame. While it might not look as exciting these levels give a great opportunity to practice our paddling skills. However, the other two days we paddled the river dee the water levels had exploded due to heavy rain during the week. This provided an exciting opportunity for us to paddle on big whitewater, especially for newer members who did not have much experience on bigger rivers. Although there may have been a few swims, this river was an amazing chance for everyone on the trip to push their comfort zone and improve both their skills and confidence.  

During the week we also paddled the river glaslyn, about an hour from where we were staying. This paddle was notable for the rainy weather when we were getting ready, that thankfully cleared up by the time we got to the river. We paddled this river before the rain came so the levels were quite low, and the river was very rocky. Despite this we still took the opportunity to practice navigating rivers and working as a team while paddling. Two of the more experienced kayakers on the trip, Kevin and Calvin, also got the opportunity to paddle a section of river known as ‘The Gorge’, along with the instructors accompanying us, Dave and Lowri. This descent was an amazing way to test the skills of some of ULKCs most experienced paddlers, as well as providing an exciting spectacle for the rest of us watching. 

After a week of smooth paddling, we had a slight hiccup in that our ferry home got cancelled meaning we had to leave much earlier in the morning than planned. Despite this we managed to keep spirits high and enjoy our last night in Wales. After another long road trip we ended up back in Limerick, bringing Wales ‘25 to an end. Overall, it was a fun and exciting trip that helped everyone on it to test and improve their skills as a kayaker. All of this is thanks to the hard work and dedication of everyone on the ULKC committee who helped to organise the trip, as well as the instructors, Dave and Lowri, who accompanied us on our journey.  

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