Good afternoon Avon Descenters,

Well another Avon Descent is over… and wow what an Avon it was!

This year was the first year for Canoeing WA as Event Organisers, and boy did we receive a baptism of fire! The rain that we thought would never come came and it came with a vengeance and at the very last minute! This allowed us to run a full-course event. This was fantastic for the more experienced, while for the novices it was a very daunting experience.

As Event Organisers we have had some extremely positive feedback and compliments from so many of the competitors. For this we are exceptionally grateful. We had a fantastic team working on the Avon this year and I believe with our short lead-in time we achieved a great deal. In saying that, we will certainly be looking for a bigger and better Avon Descent next year and have learnt so much and know where we can improve.

A massive thank you goes out to all the volunteers from Northam through to Bayswater who worked so hard in the lead-up to and over the Avon weekend. The incredible ASU do such a professional and fantastic job looking after us competitors. They play such a vital role, and as a competitor I can say we all feel reassured knowing this wonderful team are there. Thank you to the Board of Northam’s Avon Descent. This Board definitely don’t just sit around a table and make decisions, but are very hands-on to make this Event run so well. Thank you to the National Park Rangers, the volunteer groups, the Police and the Government Bodies that support us and, of course, our amazing sponsors.

I would personally like to say thank you to my team, Dione, Melissa, Jason, Fiona and Emma, and to the CWA Board who made the decision to take on the role of Event Organiser’s – you are all amazing and I am so privileged to work with you.

I have met and heard some amazing stories from competitors and this is one of the reasons that I love this event so much – it bonds us all and makes us proud to be about to say we are #avondescenters.

Thank you all,

Rosalie Evans.