Icelandic approach to getting to the Hvitá

Surfing on the Hvitá

Stay in bed till 11am after such a late night. We head off to the Hvitá with our Icelandic friends in search of some fun simple white water. Hvitá translates as “White River” so perhaps we will be in luck.

Tom paddling a Perception Reflex on the Hvitá

We arrive at the agreed location, and there is a perfect play spot. The wave is pretty big and it is simple to re-circulate. We paddle there till we run out of energy. Tom has a go in a Perception Reflex, and I paddle Andy’s Pyranha Mountain Bat. The Mountain Bat is quite different to the Pyranha Master, more volume at the front means the popups are much higher.

We plan to do a short stretch of the river, when 2 cars turn up. It is the landowner and a fisherman. The landowner was fine, and was interested in what we where doing, but the fisherman stuck his ground and did not want us to paddle. We can only speculate, but he did look like the sort of chap who might own a caravan, and combined with the fishing, I think that says enough.

Rob paddling Andy's Pyranha Mountain Bat on the Hvitá

Back to Reykjavik for the evening where we get given a massive dinner of lamb (the good bits, not just sheep’s faces) and take a look at some of the video taken on the river. Finish the evening watching Alien before heading off the the attic to sleep. It is boiling hot, and takes me ages to nod off.

Bloody fishermen spoiling the party for canoeists world over