The Jull house here in Otaki has become universal with residents from Switzerland, Thailand, Czech Republic, Ireland, Canada, Holland and of course New Zealand. The 2011 New Zealand Selection races 3 and 4 will be combined this weekend with the Oceania Championships. In preperation for the races we have been training daily at the Mangahau course along with trips to the beach, whale watching, IRB rides and kneeboarding. For more info on the races checkout: www.slalomnz.org.nz or for results click here
Saturday: Having not raced since the Worlds in September I was feeling a bit nervous on the start line. It is always hard to know where you are at and how your training is progressing so I was intrigued to see the results. I set a solid race plan for Run 1 and stuck to it putting down a safe and solid clean run. It felt awesome to get to the bottom of the run and know that I had executed to plan, maybe not as fast as I had hoped but there were some good sections and things to take out of it. I finished with a 111 clean, 2nd after Luuka who did a 102+6. Going into my 2nd run I was feeling a lot more relaxed and was ready to bust out some aggression. The top was mint and I was going well until I messed up a move and lost composure. It was disappointing as I was hoping for a better run but all good. I finished a second slower than my first run and was given a 2second penalty.
Sunday: Today the tropical cyclone hit the Islands of the South Pacific! Waking up to the rain is always a good feeling and for my flat and many friends around, it was a wake up to an epic day of creeking! For me, I was back to Kawerau for selection race number 2, only to find it has been cancelled!!!!!!!!!A bit funny really, to cancel a kayak race due to rain. Back to training now on the high waters of the Kaituna! Gutted for my mates too as the rivers are too high to run..they will have to wait for them to go down before they shred them up!
Katrina Van Wijk (Awesome Canadian chick) has also returned to NZL for another epic summer! Heres some pics we took the other night when we, along with our German friend Lisa, went for a sunset paddle on the lake next to my house.
Last weekend was the Andy Duff memorial Race- a race brought about in memory of a local paddler that passed away several years ago. It is always a great race with loads of people attending, both on and off the white water. The Race is mass start and on the wkd it saw 70 or so boaters busting down the river in fight for the overall glory. The mens was taken out by Mike Dawson with Sam Sutton in 2nd, and the Womens was won by Luuka Jones followed by myself.
The countdown for New Zealand Canoe Slalom selection races has begun. The first two races will be held on the Tarawera River in Kawerau this weekend. For more info on the race go to: www.slalomnz.org.nz Here are some pics from our epic surf sessions and some angles I got when I swum the Kaituna river the other day...enjoy.
For me 2011 began with a splash and a bang in the biggest Lake in the Southern Hemisphere- Lake Taupo! Anna White has a sweet bach on the waterfront of Lake Taupo so about 30 of us boosted there to meet up, swim, sunbathe, talk smack and of course celebrate the end of what has been for many of us an absolutely epic year! Seeing in the new year with a dip in the lake followed closely by a soak in Anna’s hot tub and some sweet boogying on the D floor was just the style I was hoping for 2011 to bring...Raging good times! The days following have continued to bring all sorts of fun and sweetness along with the occasional bit of work at the restaurant. Yesterday was full on beginning with a 6am surf at Maketu with a whole lot of the local chicks, followed by some training and then the most amazing afternoon on the Waikato river in Oraki-Karako! Sam, Flick, Josh, Harriet, Sams folks and friends and I all cruised up Lake Waikato in the Roil’s boat. We spent the afternoon enjoying the sun and making the most of the cool waters with some swimming and wakeboarding, it was radical! This was followed by an adventure into the forest, through some caves and walking up a hot water stream to land in a hot pool resting at the foot of a hot waterfall. Awesome days with awesome people! This year has gotten off to a great start, let the good times continue...
Also check this sweet video Josh made from our preemo day:)
2010 has been a rollercoaster ride with wins and loss's, injury and recovery and some interesting journeys both here in NZ and abroad! Highlights include: South Island Creeking missions, Living here in Okere Falls, Teva Mountain Games- Colorado, Racing World Cups in Prague and Spain, Canoe Slalom World Champs, Full Kaituna River Runs, Cruising Croatia with Izzy, Spring Snowboarding with Heather, Training on Tacen again after injury, Kaimais creeking with the Okere Boys, Early morning surf sessions with Izzy in Papamoa, Mountain Biking with Rach and the chicks, and spending many epic moments with many awesome people! Happy New Year to all, heres to 2011! Cheers!
The Jull house here in Otaki has become universal with residents from Switzerland, Thailand, Czech Republic, Ireland, Canada, Holland and of course New Zealand. The 2011 New Zealand Selection races 3 and 4 will be combined this weekend with the Oceania Championships. In preperation for the races we have been training daily at the Mangahau course along with trips to the beach, whale watching, IRB rides and kneeboarding.
