Back in NZL-Summer!

I have now been back in New Zealand for nearly a month. New Zealand is having an awesome summer so it has been really sweet. I have caught up with friends and family and been keeping up with a bit of paddling. I am heading up to the Coromandel to spend New Years eve with some friends. At the beginning of 2009 I am going to be living in Rotorua, doing some work and kayaking.

Happy New Year!

Home

After about 40hours all up of travelling and stopovers I made it back to the two beautiful Islands in the South Pacific(also known as New Zealand!)

I feel very excited to be home!!But also very sad to have finished my amazing trip.

I have been looking back at photos of all the good times I have had!There have been so many good moments and amazing days!
I am now going to go back 7months to when I first left New Zealand and give a small recap of my trip...

It began with a 24hour flight with whitewater kayaker Sam Sutton.

After 5days of English life in Nottingham I flew to meet up with Olympic hopeful James Dawson, and also meet what was soon to be our pride and joy...the Skoda Rapid(Car)!

Me and James spent many weeks kayaking in Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Germany training hard in preperation for the Canoe Slalom World Cups. In this time we were fortunate enough to get to know many of the international kayakers...incl. the Canadians, Slovaks, Czechs and many others.

We met up with the rest of the New Zealand team and competed in the Canoe Slalom World Cups in Germany, Czech Republic and Slovenia.

I then caught a ride with some of the Japanese to La Seu where I spent an awesome week training and then racing at the Pre World Championships!

Soon after I became an au pair on the coast of Spain for a month!I spent 5days a week working with 3 cute kids, taking them to the pool, beach and around town. I lukily got to know some of the locals who helped show me how to party in Barcelona and in true Spanish style;)

I was missing my kayak...so I tripped it to France and camped by the river for a week with some people from the Netherlands.

After my month in Spain with the family I flew to Germany to once again see Kathrin!!and meet up with some other Kiwis Mike Dawson and Mark Youngnickel and of course my true love...the Skoda Rapid!:)

The Kiwi boys and I then drove to Slovakia and stayed in a sweeet apartment!We raced in the Slovak Open and Danubia Cup. We partied in Slovenia(lucky the race was cancelled!).

I then tagged along with the Canadian crew to Germany to compete in the German Open!

And that is where I was fortunate enough to meet joe Morley from Nottingham, who happened to have a spare room in his house!

I cruised the German Autobahn with two British Chicks Hannah Burgess and Sarah Chinoweth. We went all the way across France and hopped on a ferry that took us across the channel into England!

I settled in to Joe's house fairly quickly. I then spent the next two months discovering the English way of life. I was living with Joe, Victoria Richards and Peter Hall. It was a very entertaining 2months! I picked up a job within a week!Many thanks to Louise Donnington who pointed me in the right direction!

I went wakeboarding, kayaking on the whitewater most days and of course discovered the sweet nightlife. I also turned 20!

That about sums up my last 7months in the shortest way I can!

Wow, what an amazing journey, and one I will never forget!

Winter time!!!

It sure is winter time here in Nottingham! The town atmosphere is full of Christmas buzz.

Kayaking on the icy water continues!!!

Sweeet times

I have finished working here in Nottingham now. So life is super cruizy! My days consist of a bit of training, watching some 'Flight of the Concords' or 'Shameless(A British tv show)' followed by going round to someones house for a cuppa or a cold beverage. One night we went out and watched some fireworks!was sweeet!

The town here in Nottingham has begun to look really christmasy. It has decorations up in the main centre and there is an ice skating rink in the middle of the town square! I can't wait to hit it up!Esp. at night time!

I have 1week until I fly home to New Zealand!I am really looking forward to going home and seeing everyone and being under the sun again!But it definately hasn't sunk in yet that this means my trip here in Europe will be over. The last 7months have gone so fast!

Flat Water training begins

After heavy rainfall on the weekend all the rivers in the area were up. This meant the slalom course closed a day early. The good news though was that lots of play waves had formed. So yesterday Tim, Ettiene and myself drove up to Trentlock. We were joined by two other carloads of kayakers. At trentlock there is a big wave that is really good for surfing. It was awesome!
Unfortunately I havn't got any pics but some of the other guys had cameras so I may be able to get some off them. Today I began training on the flatwater!

Leeds

It was my flatmate Joe's sisters 21st so Joe, Pete and I headed to his family home in the English city of Leeds! On the Thursday night we headed into town to a student house party. We spent Friday wandering round the British Armery Mueseum. It was really amazing. It had weapons from far back in time and many different countries. We also went for a small ride on Joes motorcross bike and checked out the city a bit. Friday night was spent at the local pub just down the road from Joes house. It was a really typical english pub. On Saturday we watched New Zealand kick Scotlands ass in the rugby!and then headed into town with some chicks from a student hall in the centre of Leeds.
It was an awesome as weekend!I really liked Leeds as a city, cool people and cool place!
I am now back in Nottingham making the most of the final week of whitwater. As of next week the Whitewater course here in Nottingham will be closed as they are going to be making improvements to the course. I have moved in to Tim Baileys for my last few weeks here as Joe's best mate from home has moved in.

Snowboarding!!!

Today my flatmate Joe took me and another chick Harriet to an indoor ski place!!!It was fun being back on a snowboard again, good good times! Although not the same as being on a real mountain!

London and Praha in two days!!

This week has been real good. On the Thursday I caught a 5am bus into central London to meet up with my friend Jana from the Czech Republic. We then spent the Thursday and Friday cruising around Londons hotspots!We made it to London Tower, London Tower Bridge, Picadilly, Trafalga Square, on the London Eye, The British Mueseum, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, Hyde Park and of course Big Ben!!!!We used the London underground to get around. It was super fun and I really enjoyed it. Cheers to Jana and her friends for two great days out in London!
On the Saturday morning I boarded a 7am flight to Praha. My other friend from the Czech Republic Tank(Vavra) kindly picked me up from arrivals and took me out to the boat house for lunch and we cruised around Praha for the day. It was really fun and cool as seeing Tank again!Cheers man, was sweet! At about 4pm Caiman came and dropped off my new boat at the airport, along with two other British guys boats. I managed to get all three boats onto my flight back to England no worries!Was very stoked.
So today I have the task of putting together my new boat(Which is looking very cool, red and black with sparkles!!). I look forward to checkingit out!
Cau

British Open

This weekend we had the British Open in Llangollen, a small town in wales. It was an awesome event with lots of competitors and a good atmosphere.
We started the weekend off with dinner and some games of pool at the local pub on the Friday night.
On the Saturday we had the Qualifications for the British Open Canoe Slalom Championships. I had two very average runs with 6secs worth of penalties. I finshed up in 12th. Luuka the other Kiwi finished in 15th. So we had both qaulified for the Semi Finals(Top 20).
That night we all got dressed up with very formal wear, it was quite the contrast to the usual kayak etire. It was a really fun night with all of Britains top athletes being awarded for their achievements.
On the Sunday the river was up a lot and raging for our Semi Finals race. My first run was okay but I had a big paddle back for the last gate. I fortunately managed to slip into the final in 9th place.
My final run was okay but again I struggled with the fast flow on a bottom cross that lost me a bit of time. I ended up in 8th. Luuka unfortunately picked up a 50second penalty so was out for the final.
All in all it was a really cool weekend!!!Very enjoyable:)
Top Placings...
K1Mens: 1st: Huw Sweatnam, 2nd:Danielle Momentie, 3rd:Joe Morley
K1W: Louise Donnigton, Lizzy Neave
C1M:David Florence,
C2M: Scott/Bailie

Wales!

Last weekend we had a British Prem race in a small town called Llangollen in Wales. It was a really nice little town and the water was quite good. It reminded me quite a bit of New Zealand. I had 2 average runs. I don't remember my times but when I get hold of some results I will put them up. This weekend coming it is the British Open. It will be back in Llangollen again, so this Friday we are heading back for the weekend. There is going to be a event on the Saturday night. It is known as "The Oscars". It is like a ball, everyone is getting very dressed up. Then on the Monday my flatmate Joe is taking me back to his home town in Leeds. We are going to hit up an indoor Ski place!!Sounds pretty fun!I can't wait to get back on a snowboard again!!!

Better go...

Nottingham

This week has been pretty chilled!I havn't been working much lately so have been focusing on my paddling a lot. This weekend there is a race in Wales that I will be going to. It is a UK Prem race for the top paddlers in the country.

I have started the countdown for getting my new boat!!Only 2weeks to go!!!!Its going to be sooo good to have a new boat, it will make paddling more fun too.

Heres some pics of the white water course and me paddling here in Nottingham

Click on Pics to enlarge and to see better.

Ciao