I am going to let one of the freshers, Charlie King, winner of the prestigious Best Hat at Tyne award for this year, describe her experiences of the weekend as a newbie. She writes:

The weekend starts off with a merry round of drinking and a stumble back to the tents, any weekend that starts like that is only bound to escalate in excitement! After a few hours of sleeping off the drunken stupor, Saturday morning arrives and the white water starts its siren call. Kit is put on, beloved comedic hats are painstakingly secured to the helmets and the warm-up includes a funky chicken dance followed by a world war re-enactment, who could ask for more?! On to the water!

The paddle itself is an experience of death defying flying and long periods of flat water. There is everything from small rapids to waves that engulfed any paddler unlucky enough to favour a low seated kayak, concrete slides that lead to flumes of water ready to carry you face first into trees, rocky drops and finally warden’s gorge. All in all, an adrenaline junkies wet dream!

If kayaking for a minimum of 4 hours isn’t tiring enough for you youngsters, a night at the Ceilidh will have you so exhausted you’ll be passing out on table tops! Or as some of this year’s frequenters: on top of pint glasses. Don’t worry about getting lost in the crowds of universities though! Neon green L.U.C.K shirts are sure to keep everyone aware of each other.

On to the dancing! Follow the man in the ridiculous suit and everything will go swimmingly! Ready?! Get in lines of 8 facing each other, come together, back into position, line A raise your arms, line B go under! Spin your partner until the floor is on the ceiling, back into line formation, front couple go between the lines doing something ridiculous! Think you can handle that?! Start the music!

Would I go again? Sign me up for next year!

Tyne tour; a fun filled weekend of drinking, rain, mud and kayaking! Bring lots of thermals.