South Island- Creeking, River running, Races!

South: Murchison- The Buller festival is an annual Kayak festival that brings the small Southern town of Murchison alive with kayakers flooding in from the North, the South, the East and the West. Probably one of New Zealand’s biggest kayak events in terms of participation it is always successful and a lot of fun! 2011 once again provided a primo event with a good turnout.

After a scenic journey along the rugged West Coast we came to rest in the small town of Hokitika, with no time to waste Phil, Martina, Collin and I hiked a dreadful 2 and a half hours into the Styx River. It took longer than usual due to landslips. Our same crew then saw Monday in with a Helicopter Kayak trip into the Classic West Coast run- Arahura! A few rapids had changed since the last time I ran it (2years ago), but it was still primo!

There was a big crew staying in Hokitika for the week which was awesome. We had heaps of grills out the beach and hung out with our new mate Don who was quite entertaining to say the least! Wednesday came and a big crew of 10 of us flew into the Hokitika river- Sutton bro’s, Mike D, Martina W, Willz, Ryan L, Fabian (Argentina), Brad L, Issac L (Team America) and myself. It was an awesome day and I loved the run, probably one of the best days I have ever had on the West Coast!

Another long yet beautiful journey along the Western Coastline (via Franz Josef Glacier) landed us in what I call my second home...Wanaka! Stoked as always to be back and back staying in my home away from home, the Bailey household. A bit of casual training on the local slalom course and then on to the Kawerau river and Citroen Rapid (Venue for this weekends Extreme Race).

Citroen Extreme Race: New Zealand Extreme Kayak Nationals- I was feeling super pumped for this event. I love the river here and the atmosphere is always top class! Martina Wegman (Netherlands) and I were the only chicks so we decided to join the 30 strong mens class for a couple of rounds before racing off for the final. This meant my first heat involved myself, Sam Sutton, Bryden Nicolas and Martina- very sweet! The river was flowing at about twice the level of last year, pumping a solid 200+ cumecs down the valley, this created some massive waves and holes and some very entertaining races! There was a lot of tight racing and our women’s final was no less. It was a wicked race, both Matina and I had a pretty solid run, I managed to just take her out at the end of the run to be crowned Women’s Citroen and New Zealand Woman Extreme Race Champion! Stoked! Big ups to Lukus P(Poland) who took out the mens race, followed by 1st New Zealander Willz Martin and then the Sutton bros. Now I am resting up in Wanaka alongside some training with the future of NZ Women’s kayaking- Holly and Jess Bailey!

Pictures from top:

Citroen Extreme Race

Helli-Kayaking Hokitika River

Queen Charlotte Sound

Study, Surf and Southern adventures to come..

On arrival home to New Zealand I was greeted with some very sad news. While I was in the air crossing the ditch back to NZL from AUS a large 6.3(Riktor Scale) earthquake shook the Southern Island of New Zealand and destroyed our second largest city, Christchurch. An absolute tragedy for our country and especially for those in the area. Over 100 fatalities have been reported and there are still many missing people. Since I have been home we have been getting constant live updates on the news. Its really depressing to watch and hard to process as it seems quite surreal.


For me I am back into full-time University study! I have the week off training so am making the most of getting some work done before I head to the South Island next Thursday morning to partake in what is considered New Zealand's biggest participated Extreme Kayak event, Bullerfestival. This will be followed by a few helli kayak trips on the West Coast and the New Zealand Extreme Nationals on the Citroen Rapid just out of Queenstown. It is going to be an epic week!
Below is a picture from the surf spot I went to last night (Little Waihi, of Maketu). The surf was massive, I spent about 30mins tackling the waves to get beyond the break (This photo is from the night before when it was a bit more mellow)!



















Here is a photo I found on Bullerfests website of the race last year...

Racing- Australian Open!

The 2011 Australian Open provided a stacked field of Internationals and a great venue here on the Olympic Stadium just out of Sydney. A nice flowing qualification course that weaved its path around the features was set and the pace was demonstrated by the C1Men that were 1^st off the start for a full on day of racing. The women were up next and it was time to cut the 51 strong field to see 30 into the Semi-Final. I was feeling okay for my 1^st run, just very mellow. I had no real urgency and was lacking strength. I finished with a 123+2 placing me into 23^rd position. I knew I had to lay it down in my 2^nd run in order to go through to the Semi-Finals. So I set a new plan and got myself into a better and more competitive zone. My 2^nd run was 9seconds faster with better lines and more aggression. I picked up two touches that set me back a bit but otherwise it was solid. I finished with a 114+4 in a safe 25^th position, 13seconds off speedy Ursa K from Slovenia who led the K1W class. Luuka was also through in 21^st and Ella N in 30^th.

SEMI-FINALS: The Semi-Finals course was set late on the Thursday night leaving little time for familiarization with the course for the K1W and C1M. The new course like the first included some good sections that used the features well but provided a bit more technical trickery. I was feeling good and ready but this was not reflected in my performance. I put down a slow and offline run that well clear of penalties was not clear in action! I finished with a 133+0, around 20secs off the winner. I was quite disappointed that I did not pull it together for this run but hopefully with time I will learn to race better. I placed in 22^nd position which for me is an okay result considering the field. Luuka finished in 16^th after taking a Eskimo roll halfway down the course. Aaron O was the only Kiwi K1 man in the Semi, finishing in 30^th. Ben Gibb finished the best out of the NZ C1M.

For a full list of results checkout: Here

2011 Australian Open

240 Competitors
29 Nations
The 2011 Australian Canoe Slalom Open will begin Thursday with the Opening

Friday: K1W, C1M, C2M, K1M and C1M Qualifications
Saturday: K1W, C1M Semis and Finals
Sunday: K1M, C2 and C1W Semis and Finals

For Info and Live results go to: Australian Canoeing Website

Australia

Travel to Australia has never gone so smoothly. Flying out of Rotorua with our kayaks direct to Sydney was a breeze. Mike, Ciaran, Luuka, Katrina and I were stoked to arrive to a moderately temperate climate that followed a record heatwave of fiesty 45degree days.
Training on the white-water course here is always good fun and involves requires a lot of minerals as it is a demanding course with a lot of wicked features.
Luuka, Katrina and I are currently staying with Danno, Fanpelt, Robin and Matej in the Pyramid Ghetto of Penrith. Today we had a rest arvo from training so trained out to Bondi beach with Canadian's John, Babacar and Kathleen- super nice. This was followed by a trip with Danno, Fanpelt and Phil to jump off a cool tree. Back to training tommorrow!

February

The rain has finally stopped and the sun is out! We are now back here in Okere Falls training and preparing for take-off to the land of Australia on Tuesday. There we will be getting in some quality training at the Penrith White water stadium, the venue of the 2011 Australian Open competition. This event will take place in two weeks and will be a good comp with a large International field.

Oceania Championships Video

Here is a quick vid put together by Jared Meehan of the weekends racing! Checkout Katrina Van Wijk at around 5min 30secs. Enjoy...

Oceania Champs Finals- NZ Team Selection Fineto

It is always a pleasure to race on Mangahau. The river provides a range of great features and the flow is fast. By New Zealand standards it is ‘A class’ with electronic timing, permanent gates and a scenic backdrop of the Mangahau Valley. Sitting on the start you always get the best of convo’s with the infamous Carol and Ju Walkley and at the event on the weekend there were even live results! The Oceania Championships was an awesome event that ran very smoothly. With Athletes ranging from rugrats to World Champ medallists the competition was good and left little room for error. There were several World Champ Finalists, including the three Auzzy women- Kate Lawrence, Jess Fox and Sarah Grant, and in the men- Pierre Bouriland alongside World Champ silver medallist Vavra Hradliek.

Both Saturday and Sundays racing counted towards New Zealand Team selections as well as the Oceania competition. On the Saturday I was feeling a little nervous but put down some solid clean runs to see me through to the Semi-finals in a comfortable 6^th position and place me as 2^nd boat on the New Zealand team. On the Sunday I was very relaxed but went out of the start blocks hard. I put down a good first run that saw me through to the final in 5^th position, I then performed a similar run with good lines and finished in 3^rd after Kate Lawrence in 1^st and Sarah Grant in 2^nd. This also placed me as the Under 23 Oceania Champion! Stoked. The race had been a sucess, I had set some good plans and delivered. I was feeling a little disappointed that I could not put down a faster time, as I was hoping to go three seconds faster in my final run, but I was content with my performance. I have definitely improved a lot since this time last year, I feel a lot fitter and stronger and more reactive on the white water.

In the K1Men Switzerlands Mike Kurt dominated taking away gold, with Czech’s young Jiri in 2^nd and Sam Lyons in 3^rd. C1Men was taken out by the Frenchmen with Denis G in first followed by Martin Thomas and Pierre Antone Tillard. For all the results go to: SlalomNZ

Oceania Championships- Selection 3 and 4

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

Photo Credit: Ciaran Heartau

Race Day- New Zealand Selections

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, 2^nd after Luuka who did a 102+6. Going into my 2^nd 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.

Full race results can be found on: Slalomnz

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.