Rafting parties

Our first afternoon parked up at the campground in Munich, and I'm not sure if I'm at the boundary of an old quarry with big trucks coming and going and clanking and carry on, or in some time forgotten concert where they perform Robbie Williams - Angel - followed by a heavy metal favourite. 

Just after we arrived and got settled, heather said she wanted to suss out where the party was. We kept hearing bands , sometimes playing old folk favourites, odd country music, pop hits, then some German number we couldn't name, followed by sections of accordion.

Heather called me over to see the craziest spectacle. Huge log rafts were floating down the river with live performing bands and beer guzzling revellers dancing away and singing along. 

It was a hot sunny day, and the river icy cold from the mountains. And we just happened to be positioned at the point in the river where these rafting trips ended. As the rafts pulled up, the band would carry on for 1 or 2 last popular numbers to end the journey with jubilant cheers from the rafters. 

Crazier still, was once the people had merrily dispersed (and empty kegs rolled off the rafts), the rafting crew would dissemble the raft, and a massive logging truck would drive down to the rivers edge, and load up the giant logs. Presumably to return them to the start position for the next trip. 

And note - the guys working on the ground alongside the hydraulic claws which grabbed the tree length logs wore no safety hats Zac!

Post Script - after a bit of Google time I learnt that the area 5-6 hours upstream where they depart from has a long history of rafting as a means of transport, and the party rafts we saw are built the same traditional way.