Bugger…i thought i was onto something new :(

Turns out that it’s called “riverboarding” (it’s also called River Sledging and hydrospeed) and it’s gaining in popularity in the USA and New Zealand, but there seem to be only a few companies making serious river boards and they are all in the US. Of course i can’t find anything on the web about retailers who might keep them in stock in Australia (Canoes Plus can order one in from NRS) and after doing a search on Google and Windows Live, it turns out that not a lot pops up about this activity for Australia at all…there aren’t that many videos on youtube either.

Not sure if i’m into the idea of going down a Grade IV or Grade V rapids on a riverboard though…i was thinking of more leisurely trips down rivers like the Yarra (the upper reaches), Acheron, Thomson, Wellington, Goulburn and the upper part of the Murray…you know…rivers with just the occasional Grade III and not a constant flow of white water ;) The idea actually came to me while thinking how good it would be to spend two days walking up to Lake Tarli Karn (map) from Licola and then to come back down via the river.

Anyway…i found more of a surf type mat called a Redback Surf Rocket from a company called the Land and Sea Sports Co being sold at Inflatacraft, so while its not a full-blown start-of-the-art riverboard, it will probably do for a few spins down the Yarra River in the Upper Yarra Valley, while i think about ordering in either a NRS Manta Surfer River Board or a NRS Inflatable Rescue Board through Canoes Plus.

So keep an eye out and i’ll get around to posting more as i dig further into the activity of riverboarding :)