Did your year start off with a bang? Mine certainly did!

“Happy New Year!” we shouted while we shot a champagne cork at the fireworks above our heads. The water below us coloured bright red and yellow, reflecting the spectacle above our heads. We could feel the sound of the big bangs vibrating in the water while we paddled up to each other for a New Year’s hug.

What a way to start the year: we had met up in east London around nine, to get ourselves ready and to pick up the sea kayaks from our club. We were six friends, all members of Tower Hamlets Canoe Club, and experienced kayakers. At exactly quarter past ten we radioed London VTS, the traffic controllers of the Thames, to let them know we were on the water, and set off.

The tides were almost perfect; with high water at 1 am, the water would be pushing us the whole way to Westminster. The water was black, glittering with the reflections of the lights of London and the air was full of excitement and expectation.

It felt wonderful to be out on the water again, to feel the water rocking my kayak gently from side to side, to feel the push of the tide under me, and to be with this wonderful group of people. I looked at my friends and let out a whoop of happiness.

Even without my whoops of joy we didn’t go unnoticed: People in the waterside pubs and on the embankments noticed us and shouted out at us to wish us a happy new year. Thousands of people lined the embankments in expectation of the fireworks; the excitement in the air reminded me of the day of the Queens Jubilee Pageant, what energy!

With the tide at its strongest hour, we quickly reached the volunteer RNLI rescue station at Waterloo Bridge. Closer to Westminster was an exclusion zone to keep us safe from the fireworks, so we decided this was the best place to wait.

The music on the banks was so loud, you could feel it in the water and my spraydeck vibrated like the membrane of a drum set. We entertained ourselves –and the crowds on the riverbank- by trying out some kayak dancing. A good way to keep warm too!

The fireworks were spectacular, but the best part of the evening was to be on the water with friends and to feel the excitement of the crowds. And if the amount of New Year’s wishes I received, not only from friends, but also from total strangers that evening have any power of all: 2014 must become an amazing year!

I wish you all a Fit and Happy New Year!