This man-made obstacle is the major hurdle on Day One- portage or shoot it - the choice is yours. Close inspection the day before is necessary to decide your route as it will vary according to the water level. Also the rocks may move from year to year.

1  looking upstream at weir, showing river left channel at low water, (between 10.5m & 10.8m at Stirling Terrace, Toodyay - find water levels at WRC website)

2  Former Avon winners, Dave Worthy & Paul Genovesi (rear) take care to find the gaps between the rocks at the top of the river left channel.

3  Ain't it easy? Veteran Avon paddler, Merv Francis, glides down the river left channel.

4  A whirlpool at the bottom of the river left channel makes it difficult to avoid the mass of foam & a rock wall at the bottom - K1 winner, Graeme Lawson.

5  Most paddlers ended up in this! Much harder for longer boats.to steer clear- Paul and Dave again.

6  Barbie Doll (aka Naomi Edmunds) entering the river right channel, rocky at the top.

7  Surf ski paddler, Simon Roll, makes it down the twisting river right channel, not as easy as he makes it look,

8  K2 paddlers miss the river right channel & find rocks - Rob Devenish (front) and daughter, Belinda.

9  These guys missed the river right channel too, but are unscathed ready for a straight run down the river- Geoff Wilson & Andrew Kelly.

10  Lots of paddlers portage Extracts' in the walkway provided on the river left bank - veteran C2 paddler, Geoff Barr. It is also possible to portage on the river right bank.

Extracts' Weir was built in 1951 to provide cooling water for the boilers at nearby "Industrial Extracts Ltd", which produced a wood extract, used mainly in the leather tanning industry. Originally the water was thirty feet deep behind the weir and it was the local swimming hole fitted out with diving board and jetty. Nowadays it is much shallower due to the silt brought down by the river over the years. The factory closed in 1971 as it became uneconomic.