NZ Summer:)

2014 Okere Enduro Teaser from Josh Neilson Photography on Vimeo.

Stoked to be back in New Zealand and getting ready for another sweet summer. I have been doing a bit of paddling down the Lower Gorges of the Kaituna and around when I get the chance.

Checkout the Teaser for the Okere Enduro Race that will be in mid December. This race is 6 hours long and must have at least one female in each team. The race is like a relay down the Kaituna and running back up the road, a super hard event but really fun. We had a good laugh making this edit.

2014 Edit

Here is an edit I have put together from some of my highlights on the water this year. Thanks so much to everyone I paddled with and all of my sponsors for helping me out. I am stoked to be back in New Zealand working towards next year!

Hawaii

Watershed Drybags are hands down the worlds most versatile Drybags and they kept our gear really dry:)

 At the beginning of the coast

 SUP- one morning we got up really early to do some Supping!

 Clear waters...

 Along the coast there are a lot of waterfalls that fall into the ocean!

 We took good gear to protect us from the sun but in the end we just wore our bikinis anyway;)

 This beach you can only get to by swimming and its just across from where we camped in the Kalalau Valley

 We took candles to light the cave with our hammocks!

 So many epic caves along the coast

 So many Guavas and bananas in the Kalalau Valley!

 Sunset was stunning

Looking back at the beach we camped at in the Kalalau valley- so pretty.

After landing in Kauai I was taken straight to watch Micheal Franti live in concert. The next day we went surfing with turtles! Then at sunrise the next day we launched into the ocean with a 2person sea kayak & chased rainbows along the Na Pali coast, were greeted by dolphins, saw waterfalls into the ocean and went hiking in the Kalalau Valley that has an abundance of guavas and bananas! We slid down natural water slides, slept in a candlelit cave in our hammocks and swam to a deserted beach. Finally we made it out to meet my niece Arlo & Joe! We completed the 17mile coast in 2days and it was probably about 5 hours of paddling all up. I would fully recommend this trip to pretty much anyone, it was awesome!!!Thanks so much to my sister Heather for such a magical time. And thanks to Watershed Drybags for keeping out gear dry. 

BC!

 50/50 on the Ashlu! This picture was taken right before I was swallowed and thrown deep into the pit of this drop. I experienced both good and bad lines on this drop. Photo credit: Mathew Swanson

 Camping out by the Elaho is pretty magical;)

 Getting my bow up on the first of the small drops on 'Fear Canyon' of the Elaho.

 Andraz Krpic on the first drop of the Upper Cheakamus- a sick class 4 section of continuous whitewater

 Looking down into 'Fear Canyon'

 Aniol Serrasolses showing us how its done on 50/50 of the Ashlu

Stoked to meet up & paddle with Spanish charger Ali, this chick is progressing super fast and crushing her lines:)

Andraz on his way into the Ashlu Box Canyon

Testing out my new gear with full submersion;) My Palm Equipment Drysuit passed the test and was necessary for most rivers in BC as the water can be cold!

I have been dreaming of visiting British Columbia for the last few years and now I have finally made it! The month of August this year saw the opening of good water levels for the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. Well the car I headed North with was on their way there I was just stoked to make it as far as Whistler to get a taste of what BC whitewater is all about. I was fortunate to meet up with a good mix of the locals and international paddling crews that were meandering about the Whistler/Squamish area. Together we explored some of the local classics and had a great time camping out in the beautiful BC backyard!

My time in BC pretty much wraps up my international tour for 2014. I was stoked to get multiple laps on the Upper Cheakamus, ‘Balls to the Wall’ section of the Cheakamus, Fear Canyon of the Elaho, Ashlu Box Canyon & a run on the ‘Soo’ river as well as the ‘Mine’ section of the Ashlu. I was definitely feeling tired towards the end of my trip and had a couple of swims that I think reflect the need for rest! Its so important to listen to our bodies and this is something that I am stoked to develop more and more. All up I was really happy with my paddling and time in BC! I definitely want to come back for more and get back on some of these runs. The Ashlu was probably my favourite as it was so epicly beautiful and had a good mix of river terrain. ‘Fear Canyon’ came in at a close second as it was super exciting and challenging:)

Thanks so much to the crew- Richard Kemble, Ric Moxon, Kristoff, Dave, Hector, Hannah etc. 

Norway!

 Nicole cooking at camp 1

 The chickas!

 Campspot 1- Glomaga. We rated this a 9;)

Looking down at the Lake on the Glomaga halfway down the run, SO BEAUTIFUL 

 Nicole and I chilling on the Glomaga:)

 Nicole making her way down a boulder garden on the Glomaga

 Dag the Norwegian Viking on the Glomaga!

 Diego on the Rana

 A typical roadside Norwegian stout!

 Ron crushing one of the drops on the Upper Susna

 Katrina & Mariann on there way into the Lomsdalselva!

 Campspot 1 on the Lomsdalselva, Rating 9

 The put in for the Lomsdalselva

 Nicole on one of the first drops of the Lomsdalselva

 Our view from campspot 2 of the Lomsdalselva: rating 10!

 Ron on a sweet double slide on the 2nd day of the Lomsdalselva

 Coffee & Cake at the takeout of the Lomsdalselva

 Me on one of the first runs we did, the Krataga. Photo Credit: Ron Fisher

 Lomsdalselva Goods

 At the bottom of the double slide on the Lomsdalselva

 Checking out the Icebergs on the way into the Lomsdalselva

 Making a boot on the Krataga

At the bottom of one of the slides on the Krataga

  Chilling at one of the most beautiful campspots- Marianns property in Northern Norway!

 At the top of one of the slides on the Krataga

Katrina, Nicole & Mariann on the ferry on our way North of the Arctic Circle!

Booking tickets to Norway for a 3week trip with a bunch of my friends was definitely one of the better moves I have made in 2014! With Norway having its hottest summer in 100years we were in for quite a different Norway trip compared to the typical rainy Norwegian summers! 

We had an awesome crew with Mariann, Ron, Katrina, Nicole, Diego and I along with the people we met up with along the way. This included Dag, Fillipo, Betty, Adriene, Phil, Philip, Thilo, Stephan, Antoine, Julian, Toni and Jamie! We paddled a different river pretty much everyday making the end tally to 15 different rivers! We did the 2nd decent of the Glomaga River in 3days, this river flows in-between Norways two biggest Glaciers. It had a pretty epic hike in with some stunning lake crossings and we got to slide our way down some snow. Thanks to Fillipo we made some pretty cool carry systems with ty downs, they worked well but were a little hard on the back. 

The scenery on this run was pretty amazing and the river had a fun creek style that became more big water as we got further and further down the run. We portaged some really big drops at the start of the run and towards the end we had a big portage around a gnarly unrunnable gorge. Towards the end of the run it opened up a lot but still had some smaller gorges. Most of the difficult rapids on this run could be portaged. We also got on the Lomsdalselva which is an amazing multi-day with granite style classic slides, drops and some really cool boulder garden gorges. This run starts with a epic hike in up hills and across lakes. Finishing in the Fjords we were greeted by a cute couple who served us coffee and cake before giving us a ride in there boat across the fjords to our vans. I would rate this run highly and definitely be keen to get back on it. Well the flow was okay for us I think more water would make it a world class classic! 

I could write for days about the different rivers we explored over the 20days that I was in Norway but instead I think it is easier to just put up some of the beautiful pictures:) 

To summarise our trip: Epic sunny weather, many fun slides and drops, Ron’s homemade brewed beer is the best, when in Northern Norway take insect repellent, Every campsite in Norway is class 5 amazing! we started up near Mo I Rana went to Sjoa and ended in Voss. 

Rivers we paddled: 

Vefsna (Lower Section)

Krataga

Susna (Classic Section)

Unker Elva

Vefsna (Town Run)

Glomaga (Multi-day)

Rana

Fiplingdal

Susna (Upper into classic section)

Lomsdalselva

Rauma

Sjoa (Amot section)

Bovra

Sogndal

Marine Canyon (Raundalselva)

Huge thanks to everyone for such an amazing trip! Especially Ron and Mariann. Also thanks to my sponsors for helping make this trip possible and gearing me up with the best gear in the business- Watershed Drybags  Lettmann