December

It is nearing the end of 2010. Christmas for me was celebrated here in Okere Falls with my parents. There was the annual Okere Falls Xmas river run at 10am and this provided a wicked atmosphere. The slalom shots were taken by Kenny Mutton. The little ripper Zach is charging!

Waterfall Hunting...

Its well into summertime here now in New Zealand and for most people the idea of rain is not a welcome one. For the small breed of kayakers however the wet weather is no intrusion but a glorious sight that is welcomed with pleasure. Yesterday we heard rumor of the Turakina river to be in flood, unfortunately this was a false alarm. After driving a few hundred Km across the Central Plateu of the North Island we were a bit gutted. So we moved on to scouting out some waterfalls! 15km South of Turangi we came across this little beauty. Here is a picture of Tyler Fox styling it, he ran the falls along with Willz and Jamie G.

Panekire Bluff to the depths of the Kaimai Ranges!

Wow...where to start. This week has been absolutely awesome! After a solid 6week training block in my slalom kayak I decided it was time for a break. So along with my flatmates (Sam, Flick and Jamie) and Nick and Harmony we headed to one of New Zealand's Great walks- Lake Waikeremoana. A beautiful 46km four day tramp was just what I needed to rest my body and mind from the river. We were treated to some nice weather for swimming in the first few days, and this was followed by rain and some cosy nights snuggled up in sleeping bags in the huts, drinking a lot of tea and wine, cardgames and flax weaving.
From the high peaks of Panekire we then tripped back to Okere Falls to arrive home to copious amounts of rain that has been flooding the Bay of Plenty creeks and streams. We had been home barely 10mins and Sam, Jamie and I were back out the door and on our way to the Kaimai ranges. We met up with the Sutton brothers, Willz, Chris and co., Tyler, Brendan and Ryan Lukus and ran 'Tuakopai stream'. It was soo wicked with loads of stout waterfalls, 20footers, Spa Falls, mustache, all super sweet. I actually dropped into a pocket at one rapid and got a bit stuck so pulled tag, I payed for it at the end...
Then this morning the crew of Okere boys came round and we all boosted back to the Kaimais for a second round of creeking, this time we hit up 'Waipapa stream', like yesterday it was totally sick mission that took us 3-4hours! Massive waterfalls and a few knarly sections. We had to portage a few rapids that were super sketch with not enough water, just a bit too rocky. I portaged one of the first waterfalls, 'Jizzm' It required a fine line and hard
boof that most of the boys dominated. Big thanks to all the boys, couldn't have asked for better people to paddle with- Sam R, Jamie G, Sutton Bros, Ryan L, Bernard O, Tyler F and Brendan B.

The Latest

As of the 1st of December Summer officially commenced here on the Southern side of the world, however for me, summer began weeks ago! The weather here in Okere Falls continues to be stunning with stella days that just keep on rolling by at a steady pace.

Our new flat in the Taheke Hood that is occupied by Jamie G, Sam Roil, Flick and myself is all class and has been host to a few bbq's and sunbathing epics. Taheke is a sweet little neighbourhood with Nick and Harmony who provide the table tennis matches and Johann and Greg B as our neighbours! Friday night has become the locals night for some awesome games of ultimate frizbee in taking place in the outback of Okere Falls.
As you can see from the pictures I have been pretty busy Kayaking, Rafting, Watching Sam Paraglide, Mountain Biking and training...oh and working as a waitress down the road in Okawa Bay, serving the wealthy, the rich, and the famous.

Training Camp- Thornton Beach

Training has been going well. On the weekend we headed to Thornton Beach just out of Whakatane for the Waiariki Academy of Sport training camp- incl. Mountain Bike, Golf, Kayak, and car racing squads. It was really awesome and great to reunite with the Ocean! Luuka, Sam, Brent and I paddled out to an Island just off the Coast! It was really cool! Photo Courtesy of Sam Thompson

Okere Falls- Summer begins!

I have moved back to Okere Falls for another awesome summer here.
I am currently living with two smelly boys, yoga Tom and band boy Calum-who wakes me up in the mornings with his tunes. I will be moving into another flat closer to Okere Falls central in 2weeks and will join Sam, Jamie, Flick and Leo.
I have secured a job waitressing for the summer and training is back on, it is hard but I am amped for the up and coming season!
Photo Credit: Calum

More Snow and Migration North

It was my good friend Luuka Jones Birthday so after my few weeks of study I headed North, picked her up along with our friends Lucien and Toni and we headed for the Mountain! We were lucky to get a BlueBird Day up Whakapapa Skifield, it was awesome! We had a lot of fun and were pretty tired by the end of it.

I then stayed in Okere Falls for the week and went to my Bar/Barrista course that has been set up by Waiariki for the Academy of Sport Students. Its totally awesome and the guy that runs it is awesome!

Now I am back in Otaki with 3days till my first exam, its good to be home, I have felt really stressed for the past few weeks about exams now. I cannot wait till they finish.

Springtime

I have been staying here in Otaki at my parents place for the last week now. Getting loads of University work done! I have become a full-time student! Just over 2weeks till exams...But I am starting to crave the snow or river!!
Check out our cute Lambs!

Snowtime and back to Uni

After four amazing days up Mt Ruapehu I am now back in Palmy working on a whole bunch of assignments and getting in some prep before exam time! It was awesome to be up the Mountain and I managed to catch up with some good old friends from when I lived in Wanaka! The day before my Birthday Heather and I walked to the top of Mt Ruapehu, was a hard trek but stunning at the top! Just icy on the way down, although we had the whole skifield to ourselves! The snowboarding was just the fix I needed!
Last night I was awarded a Massey University Blues award to celebrate my academic and sporting successes. Back to the books for now...

Mountain and back to the Falls!

Since I have been home I have been enjoying catching up with my family, last week we all(minus Izzy) went to Ohakune and celebrated my bros 30th! It was great! And as I am resting from kayaking at the moment I got to enjoy loads of poker games and rock climbing! It even snowed in town which was really cool, unfortunately the Mountain was shut a lot though due to bad weather.
I am now back up in Rotorua. I have already been for a few runs on the Kaituna, it was even warm enough for T-shirts! I have been trying to find a job for summer, looking like I will be waitressing.
I am heading back to the Mountain for the weekend with hopes of good weather! and then home to study for exams which are coming up!

Winter

As the title suggests I have come home to winter! Rain, wind and for the Mountains a lot of snow! The other night we were treated to a powercut due to a storm that hit the central North Island. I have really been enjoying being home with my parents though and have even made a trip to Mangahau to put up Slalom gates (In the rain and freezing cold) with my father and Ian Campbell. Bad weather always gives time to catch up on Uni work too, with exams coming up! Daily reports of 10-20cm fresh snow on my favorite skifield Turoa have me amping. I have picked up a Spring Pass for really cheap and have dusted off my snowboard gears, its time to hit the slopes!

Wrap up- 2010 Canoe Slalom World Championships- Home

Photo credit: Jana Drahalzova

Semi-Finals day for me in C1 was an absolute disaster. It was the end of a long week and I did not have the strength to pull myself together on race day and perform to the standard that I knew was possible. Tacen is not an easy course however and sometimes the drop will dominate. It sure did dominate me, forcing me into a series of Eskimo rolls/power flips. I recovered and had an okay middle section but could not hold it together at the bottom. A few more rolls and 50sec penalties and it was game over. I ended up in 20^th position.

Mike and Aaron did not race to their potentials placing in 28^th and 37^th. Daniele Momenti won the Mens and this was followed by Vavra Hradilek and Jure Meglic in 3^rd. Some intense racing to watch.

To end the Worlds we had a big night out with all of the Nations. It was pretty awesome. A good way to end a disappointing World Championships. We then packed our bags, said ‘Au Revoir’ to our friends and took off to Munich to drop Luuka and then Augsburg to stay with our friend Kathrin. Brent and I then flew out of Munich on the Wednesday to arrive back in freezing NZ on the Friday. I arrived home to hot soup, a bath, buckets of rain, 13 new additions to the farm(Lambs), and a windy/wintry conditions! But have been told a Massive dump of snow is expected with 15-30cm freshys! Pow Pow time!

The 2010 Europe Campaign has definitely had a lot of ups and downs for me. I have learnt a lot and despite some hard racing I believe become a lot stronger competitor and most definately more determined and moticated. My paddling has improved a lot and I really looking forward to a hard summer of training to lead me into next year!To wrap up the 2010 World Championships I would like to give a massive 'Thank You' to a few people in particular! There are so many people that have helped me out this year in my lead up in one way or another, so thanks to everyone, you know who you are! Esp. Jane Borren, Sue Clark, Les Dawson, Mum and Dad, Sam Thompson, Thomas Masuy, Kay Dawson, Physio Team, NZL Team mates, Friends, International Friends and many more:)

K1W/C2M Semi-Finals and Teams!

Today we went down to the course to cheer on our favourites! It was great to watch the action live(of course we would have much rather been racing though). It was awesome though to see three Auzzy chicks in the Finals! The Final results were: C2Men- Hochshorners- SVK, Gaugand/Lafevre- FRA, Houndslow/Florence- GBR
K1W- Kuhnle- AUT, Dukatova- SVK, Oblinger-Peters- AUT

This was all followed by teams racing. Jane, Luuka and I put down a fairly clean run and placed in 8th! Pretty sweet really!!! I actually felt awful as I didn't paddle well and rolled on my way into the first upstream and took a few spins...recovered well however.
Tommorrow I race C1 at 932am our time. Mike Dawson will race at 1152am and Aaron Osbourne at around 1230.