Valsesia has been on my kayaking destination bucket list for years! After years of watching my friends post photos of steep creeks and delicious gelato, this year I finally made it there myself! A small group of us headed out there at the end of May for a week of white water kayaking in the Valsesia valley and it was wonderful! It was an eventful week with big highs and lows and an unexpected ending. Here is the story of our trip!
Two years ago, Tom and I got married on the Etive over Easter, and we’ve made it our tradition to have an adventure week every year to celebrate. This time, the Macken family invited us to join PaddlePlus for their club trip to Scotland. We’ve known Dean for years and his daughter Sophie is a Palm Grom so we’ve spent a lot of time together because of this.
Outside of University kayaking, my experiences of paddling with a club is limited. The trip turned out to be a very different kind of adventure to our usual ones. One that involved a much bigger group and therefore more faff, but also one that was full of warmth and laughter. Here’s the story of our week in the Highlands!
New Zealand has and will always have a special place in my heart. When I was 20 years old, I lived there for a year. It was a life changing experience and part of that experience was taking up white water kayaking. My passion for white water stayed with me and has become a key part of who I am today.
Since returning to the UK, I have dreamed of returning to New Zealand and especially to the Kaituna river. This Christmas, my husband and I finally made the trip back. It wasn’t a kayaking-specific holiday, but we still squeezed in plenty of river time alongside other adventures, and reunions with old friends.
This article is here to tell you all about the kayaking side of those adventures!
Over the August bank holiday weekend, a group of young paddlers travelled across the UK and beyond to come together and live their best lives in South Wales. These paddlers were hand picked to attend the first official Palm Groms get together. Over 5 days, they tried slalom for the first time, surfed the infamous Bitches tidal rapids, and bonded as a group of young people united by their passion for kayaking.
I was lucky enough to be involved in this get together and saw first hand just how special this group is and also how transformative the experience was for them. This article introduces the newest Palm Groms and recaps a get together that made waves in every sense.
After a brilliant kayaking trip to the French Alps in May, I was already dreaming of another adventure. I sent a message to the various kayaking group chats I was in asking if anyone was keen for another trip this Summer and received a reply from my friend Joe ‘Someone’s been back at work for half a day 😂’.
Luckily I also had a few other replies and by August, six of us were off to Austria for a week of alpine kayaking. This is my article to tell you all about it!
When I would tell people that I had never paddled in the French Alps – they always seem surprised! The area around Briançon in the French Alps are a well known kayaking destination for kayakers of all abilities and yet I have never seemed to have gotten myself there. Finally, after 10 years of kayaking, I can now finally say that I have kayaked in the French Alps! I’ve just had the most lovely first time trip to France with friends. It exceeded all my expectations and I can now see why people make this trip annually! This article is to tell you all about it!
Having attended Dee Fest for the first time in 2024, I knew it was an event that I was keen to return to! If you’re not aware, Dee Fest is a white water kayaking festival on the river Dee in North Wales. It is also exactly the kind of event I love! A bit of friendly competition, time on the water with friends and lots of opportunities to have fun. Read on to hear about my account of Dee Fest 2025!
I saw a post on the Paddle365 social media page a couple of months ago advertising their ‘Snowdonia Advanced Week’ as a pre-Christmas week and thought…. what a perfect way to start my Christmas holidays! So I booked myself on and have ended up having a really lovely week. A perfect Christmas gift to myself! If you want to hear about my white water pre-Christmas adventures, then read on!
For UK and Irish paddlers, October brings with it an exciting couple of weeks as the Park Jam events series runs. Park Jam is organised by Pyranha Kayaks and Palm Equipment in an effort to bring people together for some fun on the water. The aim of the Parkjam tour is to inspire the next generation of paddlers across the UK. It’s a chance for kids to paddle with and be inspired by the Palm and Pyranha teams, and hear from them about their latest adventures. Over the course of 3 weeks, team paddlers from both Pyranha and Palm tour white water courses across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Paddlers are encouraged to come and join them for some fun on the water, with the opportunity to then hear from and meet those paddlers afterwards.
I was involved with some of the Park Jam dates in 2023 and was thrilled to get involved again in 2024. Life has been a little busy lately but I managed to join for 4 out of 9 of the dates and had a great time during those events. I am sure there will be blog posts aplenty from team paddlers in the coming weeks to share a more official account but here is mine if you wanted to hear it!
On Monday the 12th of August 2024, I set off on a challenge to kayak the Great Glen Canoe Trail. This is a ‘coast to coast’ of Scotland, a journey along the Caledonian Canal and a series of Lochs from Fort William all the way to Inverness. It is 60 miles in total and took me 3 days to complete. In the process, I used the challenge to raise some funds for Lochaber Mountain Recuse Team, who are based in Fort William. Carry on reading if you would like to hear more about this adventure!