Woke up to a message on the group from Mary-Lou, sent at 1.30am asking Manu to come and see her. She'd been even more ill during the night and had decided to stay with us, but take it easier on the next leg and use the bus rather than hike the whole way. I honestly thought she might have decided to jack it in completely, so it was good to hear she'd be carrying on.
We had a nice breakfast, made some sandwiches for later and then jumped on the minibus to the rafting place.
We sorted out all the preliminaries and then had our safety briefing. Wetsuits, helmets and life jackets on, followed by a practice run of all the instructions we'd be getting shouted at during the trip. Down, position, forward, back and a couple of others that thankfully we didn't need!
Then we were hosed down with cold water before getting onto the boat. Basically a baptism in freezing glacial water before we'd even started!
And then we were off.
Because of the hot weather and all the melted snow and ice, the river was absolutely flying. It was a proper torrent – wild, fast and full-on – and it was fantastic.
Our boat had me and Ching right at the front, Steve and Victor behind us and Tash and Manu at the back. Ching and I got absolutely soaked from the word go. There was no escaping it!
It was crazy and exhilarating. It was also bloody hard work. You're paddling constantly, trying to stay balanced while the boat is being thrown around all over the place. But that was what made it so good. It felt like we'd done a proper white-water rafting experience rather than some gentle tourist version.
Everyone was absolutely buzzing.
We must have been going for about 40 minutes before reaching the end, where the pickup crew were waiting. They'd been getting ahead of us during the descent and were standing on bridges taking photos, which we were able to buy afterwards.
Then, about 10 metres from the bank, we all jumped overboard and experienced the proper freezing water. Bloody hell. It was unbelievably cold and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to stay in there for long!
We loaded the three boats onto the trailer and drove to another location. Then came one of those moments where you think, "Are we actually supposed to be doing this?"
We pushed the boats over the road railings about 15ft down, climbed over ourselves, somehow levelled everything out and then Manu and Victor split us into two groups of four before we headed off for another run.
This second section was shorter but somehow even more intense. The instructions changed rapidly from "get down" to "position" to "forward" and back again, so we were working really hard to keep up.
It was one hell of a workout.
We eventually reached the end, loaded the boats back onto the trailer and headed back to base.
There we showered and cleaned ourselves up, then sat down with biscuits and cold tea while we watched a PowerPoint presentation of the photos they'd taken during the rafting. Victor bought them and we all chipped in. They're actually really good and will make a great additional memento from the trip.
We grabbed some fruit from the local supermarket and then walked the short distance to the spa.
And what a fantastic place!
There were loads of different areas and pools, rooms with jets of water acting as massages, plunge pools, hot and cold pools and all sorts of other things. We found ourselves a base and just wandered around trying everything out.
It was baking hot, so I didn't fancy sleeping in the heat, but eventually found a pool that was more lukewarm and absolutely perfect. I sat there for about an hour listening to music and just enjoying a bit of solitude.
Exactly what I needed after the rafting.
At 5.30pm it was "happy hour", so we showered and got changed before heading into the restaurant/bar area where the food and drinks were included.
There were some nice little snacks and Prosecco, so me, Tash and Ching made the most of it and had about three glasses each. Why not?!
The minibus picked us up and took us back into Courmayeur. The Canadian ladies were already in the bar where we'd arranged to meet, so I went over and chatted with them for about 15 minutes about the day. They were very interested in the rafting and wanted to hear all about it.
I then went back to the hotel, got myself sorted and came down again shortly afterwards.
Dinner was at the same place as the previous evening. There was far too much food again, but it was good and we certainly weren't complaining.
Afterwards we went for a walk, partly to show Mary-Lou where she needed to catch her bus the following morning, and some of the group stopped for ice cream.
As 10.00pm approached, we headed towards an Argentinian bar because it was the only place showing the France v Morocco game. The owner looked remarkably like Maradona, which amused us.
There was absolutely no chance of getting inside – it was rammed – so Steve bought the round and we stood outside in the street with loads of other people watching through the windows.
It was fine, but we were tired and couldn't really see the TV anyway, so we finished our drinks and left Manu with all his guide mates to enjoy the rest of his evening.
On the way back to the hotel we passed Tong sitting on a wall enjoying the cigar he'd bought the previous night.
And that was pretty much it.
Back to the hostel and off to bed.
End of Day Summary
What a bloody great day. The white-water rafting was absolutely fantastic and probably one of the highlights of the whole trip so far. It was exhilarating, properly hard work and just a brilliant experience to share with everyone. We were all absolutely buzzing afterwards.
The spa was the perfect follow-up too – completely different pace and exactly what we needed after getting battered around in a glacial river.
The group is getting on brilliantly now and there's a really nice atmosphere between everyone. Lots of laughs, lots of shared experiences and everyone looking after each other.
Only downside?
We've got to walk again tomorrow. 😂
And after today, I'm not sure my legs have received that particular memo.
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