When we arrived on Sunday morning, we were informed of a new course configuration that had involved the removal of the majority of blocks that normally hold the water back. This drastically changed the course.
There was no inlet for starters, and the small wave under the bridge had also gone. There were features at twin, jaws, troll hole (although it was higher than normal) and muncher.
On my initial run down the course we stopped at every feature just to have a surf and try moves to see which each were like. This was really good fun: I did my first macho move through inlet, and got McNastys on twin and jaws, and tried woo tricky on jaws.
Soon we headed back up the top and begun trying to focus in on moves. However, this rapidly became quite frustrating. My main problem with the course was the really poor eddy service that meant retaining anything, or even having two consecutive rides on one feature virtually impossible. I therefore found it difficult to try anything new as it was tiring to keep having to get out to drop in from above.
It was useful to have muncher on a higher level as the right shoulder formed more a wave. I therefore got a chance to practice some left blunts that are currently my offside so this was a benefit, although if you flushed it was a long paddle up the other channel.
Although it is nice to have a change to the course, and benefits us in some ways by allowing us to adapt, the lack of eddies meant that learning anything new and pushing for more challenging moves more frustrating. The real signs of the courses "success" was that by late afternoon, there were more people swimming/hydro-speeding on the course that actually kayaking!
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