The river was very placid where we were, though the current picked up maybe four hundred metres downstream. Far off in the distance I could just make out some white water, presumably where the gradient increased and there were rocks and boulders forming rapids. We weren’t going anywhere near that, which was a relief. The idea was that three of us kids would go out at a time, with one kayak being taken by a camp assistant who was there to monitor us and make sure if someone did fall in, he could bring them back. But we were told that it would be difficult to fall out in the stretch of river we were using. Paddle a couple of hundred metres, turn around and paddle back, do that for about half an hour and then give someone else a go. A few of the kids were disappointed and thought it was too easy, but Mr Meredith said that if we all did well, there was a chance that we could go through a small rapid at the end of the day. I thought I might give that a miss, though I would’ve put money on Aiden being keen.

We were the second-to-last group to head out; me, Charlotte and Aiden and a female camp assistant whose name I didn’t know. To be honest, I’d preferred the waterhole. I mean, it was okay paddling about but Mr Meredith was right – there was no wind to speak of, the surface of the water was extremely calm and there was no chance of falling in, which would not have been bad, actually, as it was hot and the combination of using the paddle and wearing a life jacket meant I was dripping with sweat. I stopped for a while and drifted, put my head up to the clear blue sky and let my arm muscles relax. Charlotte drifted up next to me.

‘Not much to it, is there?’ she said. She pointed towards the distant rapids. ‘That would be exciting, but this is strictly for tiny kids. We should have stuck to video games. Way more fun and we wouldn’t be half boiled to death.’

‘Race you back?’ I replied.

‘Okay. Might as well get a bit competitive. But I’m gonna kick your skinny butt, Ash. You should know that.’

‘In your dreams, girl.’

Actually, it wasn’t in her dreams. The three of us lined up on an imaginary starting line and Aiden did the countdown to go. I wasn’t worried about him beating us. I imagined he could if he wanted, but he’d always let me win and I thought it was probable he’d do the same for Charlotte.

‘Two, one, GO!’ shouted Aiden and I bent my paddle into the water, pulled and then did the same on the other side. But occasionally my coordination leaves something to be desired. I don’t even have to think about the rhythm when I’m swimming, but kayaking, I discovered, was different. I smacked my paddle against the side of the boat as I was bringing it over and the next thing I knew it was wrenched from my grip and floating in the water. Not a big problem because it was right by the kayak, but by the time I’d fished it out, Aiden and Charlotte were ten metres ahead and they had momentum. I was wallowing and it was obvious I was going to lose this race, big time. But I gripped the paddle and tensed my muscles for the pursuit.