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20th December 2016
12:10am GMT
This month, we're giving away an amazing surf holiday for two, with thanks to surfholidays.com and Aer Lingus. To find out more, and to vote for this story to win, see below!
By Ann-Marie
Once upon a time a bunch of us from our college kayak club left Ireland for the French Alps for two weeks of whitewater kayaking.
Anyone who has tried to book a surfboard on a plane has had it easy – airlines are not so kayak-friendly. Luckily, we managed to borrow a van from a generous local businessman with a penchant for paddling and load it up with our kayaks.
Two of the lads drove across on the ferry, and the rest of us flew to join them, renting a few cars to get the people around, while the van carried the boats.
One day after our arrival to very high water levels, kayaking was officially banned in the area, so we moved on to a campsite bas in Slovenia, and from there to Italy, where we planned to enjoy some new rivers.
Our trip was essentially a kayaking holiday, minus most of the kayaking
On our way, one of our trusty van drivers (he knows who he is...) forgot that we weren't in Ireland, and should be driving on the "opposite" side of the road. And so, after making a dodgy turn, our borrowed van crashed into a local Italian driver.
The "carabinieri" arrived on scene sharpish, sporting some fine Italian moustachios and even better motorcycle boots, and tickets of various sorts were issued.
But here was the real clincher: the local newspaper published a photo of me, our unlucky driver, and the van with a caption that translated as: "Irish Canoeists Crash into Local Pensioner".
Our trip was essentially a kayaking holiday, minus most of the kayaking, with a crashed borrowed van, and some bad press to boot.
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'One Of The Cooks Came Out To Protect Us With A Meat Tenderiser In His Hand, Fresh From The Kitchen'
'A Hoard Of Men With Guns Came Into The Bar, Screaming At The Guys We Were Sitting With'
'He Took Out A Gun And Casually Started Loading It, While Telling Us How Much We Owed Him'
'It Was Only Afterwards That I Realised I'd Entered The Country With Rifles, Ammo And Forged Papers'
'I Ended Up In Berlin With A Rectangular Scar In The Shape Of Hitler’s Moustache. Not Ideal.'
'Apparently Her Back Just Went When They Were 'Watching The Sun Come Up Together''
'The Italian Newspaper Published A Photo Captioned: Irish Canoeists Crash Into Local Pensioner'
