With not enough people to run a rising St Pats and North Esk we made the call to run the Meander. It had been run twice in the club recently and I had heard only good things so was very keen to give it a go!
With a 7am start and a quick check of the snow cameras, we began the drive up though the Great Lakes to avoid the Never Ending Midlands. Arriving at the getout (the bridge at Meander) we ditched Bens mighty van and headed up the road to the getin at the dam. The tiny shuttle is only dampened by the second gate on the putin that requires you to carry the rafts around the gate then pump them up. Making sure not to forget your pumps that are stashed in the bush!
You start off right off at the base of the spillway to give a stunning back drop with the first good rapid only just down the river. At this level (1.30m) it was super cruzy R3ing the blues. Some sick lines were sent on the first lap as we checked out the river. Having reached the bridge thanks to the good flow along the last flat section we were keen to smash out another lap.
One short shuttle and boat carry later we were off again! This time we swapped up the guiding and saw some even more radical lines with Liam's boat trying to surf the 'weir', Talia's boat getting mildy stuck and Tom's boat running one rapid upside down with dislocated punters. Thanks to the fantastic weather a swim was nearly welcomed.
Back at the bridge again we decided that although we had time for one more lap, the hunger for food was stronger! A food and op shop stop at Deloraine later and we were back on the road. Having been given the heads up about a huge traffic jam by Erin, Luke guided us past about 300 cars and beat the other car to the sheds that had passes us in Bothwell!
Was an epic day out!
Cheers
Joshua