Citroen Extreme Race, Kawerau River!

 After two weeks of solid study at Uni in Palmy I was pretty stoked to escape down to Queenstown! I arrived just in time for the Citroen Extreme Race, probably the best venue being used for extreme racing in New Zealand at the moment. This rapid is a few hundred metres long and really sweet! I had a primo day of racing and ended up placing 2nd in the final after South Islander- Sophia Moulder. The mens was taken out by Chilean Lorenzo. The sun was out and it was a really well run event, I am always stoked to be here for it.
On the Sunday 18 of us (including 2 of us ladies) charged  down Nevis Bluff in a mass start form in memory of our good friend and legend- Simon Davidson! It was a skins day as it was super hot, everyone was stoked as. I then continued to do another lap of Nevis Bluff followed by a run down Citroen, Retrospect and the Roaring Meg. The next day we repeated the run- so epic! These are all really big water rapids and retrospect has a massive hole- probably one of the biggest I have been through. Stoked to stay in Wanaka this week playing on the new wave here and enjoying some sessions on the water with NZ Junior ripper Jess Bailey!

 Above- Soph and I in the final. Below- Moonlight session on the new wave with Roy Bailey, Pete Simpson and Ray.

 Below- Following John in the runnout of Nevis.

 Below- NZ Junior Ripper Shaun charging into Retrospect!

 Below- Me hitting the middle of Retrospect

 Below- Looking back upstream...Nevis Bluff

 Below- On water view of Retrospect!

PAU HANA- SUP!

Great for relaxing too;)

The Coromandel is a beautiful part of New Zealand's coast. On the weekend I went up there to celebrate my Mum's 60th Birthday with all of my family. This was a great opportunity to take the SUP out for some exploring. SUP's give a great perspective on the ocean with a high viewpoint making any adventure more interesting. If is also a great cross-training tool as it targets balance and core stability. For a challenge my sister and I had a go with two people on it:)
Thanks Pau-Hana for your support, it is great being able to see the ocean from another perspective.

NZ Extreme Race Series- Kaituna/Wairoa!

The New Zealand 2013 Extreme Race Series has had a cracking start with the first of the two races here in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. The Kaituna time-trial involves 2 combined timed runs down the Kaituna river. On the Saturday the fields were small but strong and with a Kaituna flow of 200's there was more flatwater sections then the previous year. In the Men's race the competition was taken out by Czech Republics Vavra Hradilek, just ahead of Kenny Mutton and Jamie Sutton. In the Women's racing it was Luuka Jones who took the win, just ahead of myself and Louise Urwin in 3rd. On the Sunday we had the Wairoa Extreme Race and this involved a timed race run from the put in to just above first waterfall. In the Mens I think it was Kenny Mutton who won ahead of Jamie (Not totally sure)... 

The Women's was taken out by myself, less than a second ahead of Luuka and Toni George in 3rd. In the Head to Head race it was Kenny Mutton that came out on top ahead of Tyler Fox and Jamie Sutton.  Louise Urwin took the trophy home for the Women's with Toni George in 2nd and Luuka Jones in 3rd!

Some really fun and good racing! I was really stoked to have some clean as lines in some of my runs. Not so stoked on my head to head run where I ended up in the toaster..but all ended well:)

So stoked for Lou Urwin taking out the win and having so many wicked chicks out at the race! It was rad having everyone out there! 

Big thanks to Tyler Fox, Louise Urwin and Brendan Bayley for organising! You guys rock and it wouldn't happen without you. Also thanks to all the sponsors of the event- Bliss-Stick, Andi Uhl (Paddle Power), Waikato Exclusive, Frig etc..

All photo's are credit of 'Dscribe Journalism'

The Creation of Tits Deep- 1st Edition!

If you are wondering what 'Tits Deep' is...this is it! Its about women pushing themselves in extreme sports...being stoked to be a chick and living your dreams:) This edit was from our trip in the United States of America! Mainly in the South East but also around West Virginia and Washington DC. Sooo much winning!

Okere Dreaming

 Life here in NZ is pretty dreamy. Last week a sweet crew of Okere ladies (and Sam) went mountain biking in to Waihaha hut which is out towards Tihoi. It was a really nice day and I was stoked to get back out on my bike. I have been enjoying heaps of surfing lately as I picked up my new board:)
I have also been working on the yacht that charters out on Lake Rotoiti, been loving being back on the boat!
This week I start studying to be a teacher...this will be occupying a lot of my time for the next 10months!Ahh!

Rio Fuy

Here is an edit put together on our trip on the Rio Fuy in Chile:)

Tits Deep- Movie Trailer!

Women of the 2012 Whitewater Grand Prix!

Check it!

Okere Champions Race!

Photo credit above: Douglas McCormick

The last few weeks have been really awesome being home:) Morning surf sessions, mountain biking and some competitions. Last weekend we had the Andy Duff Memorial Race which was taken out by Kenny Mutton in the Mens and myself in the women’s. The following weekend we had the Okere Champions race which includes a run, bike, swim, kayak and finally a run to the store to skull back a beer. Tim Pickering held his own once again in the mens finishing just ahead of Jamie Sutton. For the women it came down to the skull for the fight for the win. I managed to pull through just ahead of Martina and Soph Hoskins, must be all that winter training I did;)

My final year of study to be a teacher starts in 1week so I am making the most of time before then!

Aotearoa- Land of the long white cloud

After many hours of traveling I finally made it back to New Zealand! Since I have been home I have settled back into Okere Falls and have managed to line up some work for the next few months. I have been out surfing a lot at our local spot- Nudics and have been back in my kayak. The other day I joined Soph, Leela, Sam, Leaf and a few others for a trip down a small grade 2/3 creek just out of Te Puke. It was really really beautiful and the walls of the river had moss all over them! The weather was stunning and this combined with the amazing scenery was soo good!

Today I followed Brendan, Tyler, Soph, Leela and Elsy down to Access 14 of the Tongariro River. This section of river is beautiful and a good read and run class 3/4. It only runs about three times per summer so I was really stoked to get on it finally! The take out is at Treetrunk Gorge drops but this was just a bit too high to run today. 

On the weekend we had the 10th Andy Duff Memorial Race here on the Katiuna river. With 5 classes- Short boat, Long boat, Topo, Swimming and Rafting this is a really good day that brings every man and his dog out to the river. I was stoked to take out the long boat class as there was definately some hot competition around with Olympian Luuka Jones and Toni George. The mens was won by Kenny Mutton. We also had a primo all ladies raft crew that owned the raft race!

So stoked to be back here in NZL! Hanging out with good friends again:) Getting out on the lake with friends on the boat water skiing, kayaking, surfing and easing back into work!

2012 Finito

Since the WWGP finished I have joined up with a sweet Kiwi crew of Blair Trottman, Matt Burton, Dean Woodgate and their Canadian accomplice Mitch! It has been great to reunite and hang with some Kiwi boys again. We cruised to the Rio Gol Gol for Christmas and joined up with Blairs lady, Leith and Natalie and an awesome Auzzy couple. Unfortunately the rain gods had really gone to town and left the Rio Gol Gol in serious flood. So instead of going kayaking on Christmas we spent the day indoors enjoying hot wine and playing board games, it turned out really sweet.
After boxing day we headed back to Pucon to jump on the Nevados. The boys Natalie and I went right up into the upper canyon gorge and finished just above the Demshitz drop. I had not run the upper canyon or Dulce Amour so was really stoked to rally down the whole Nevados with our sick crew! I had one of the best days I have had on the water in a while. Just stoked to be paddling with some Kiwis again and with a good crew.
Mitch, Dean, Matt and I then departed Pucon for Santiago on the night bus and then continued on to Pichilamu- Chiles sweetest surf spot. It was so nice to be back in the pacific ocean although the waters were definately cold. We hired some wetsuits and surfboards from a shop on the beach and spent the next week eating, surfing and sleeping. We celebrated in 2013 with a steak meal and wine followed by watching fireworks on the beach and a midnight dip in the ocean.
Its time now for me to head back to New Zealand. I will be straight into working and potentially back studying. But my plans are to continue kayaking and get back on the charge!

WWGP Finito

 The 2012 Whitewater Grand Prix was the most incredible competition I have ever participated in! It was such an unreal experience to be part of and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to hang out, paddle and party with such an amazing group of talented paddlers from all over the world. From the 1st to the 15th of December 25Men and 7 woman from all over the world came together and lived in each others space, paddled together, raged together and raced on some very technical and intense white water rivers here in Chile, South America. Every person that was part of this event was different in one way or another yet I had huge respect and appreciation for each and every one of them. We had 1-2days training before every event and this was all the time we had to get to know the lines on the rivers that we raced. On training days we grouped up with people that new the run and paddled down together figuring out the fastest lines. On race day the athletes were split into two groups and this allowed for each group to set safety for the other. This meant that safety was really well set up and under control. 

Me on the clean 20footer racing the Rio Nevados! Photo Credit Sergio Vidal

When moving from one event to the next we convoyed together with the media team and all of the athletes, this meant long drives in each others space...fortunately we had such an amazing crew of people on board. Our accomodation throughout the competition ranged from platforms to cabins but we were always super well looked after by our organisers and the owners of the venues. When off the water we were always keeping life occupied with card games, drinks and other random activities. Hanging out with everyone was a pleasure. 
The racing was pretty full on but I absolutely loved every race course and had so much fun competing in every stage. Huge respect to Nouria Newman who totally dominated the woman's field and Dane Jackson who destroyed the Mens!
For me I was just so stoked to be kayaking again after my injury and going into the event I believe my motivation for success in the races was lower than it should have been. I am a bit gutted that I did not perform as well as I should have but at the same time I am really really stoked to have been part of such an incredible event and stoked that I made it through each stage still holding my ground and putting down some clean runs. 
The standard of the events was the best that I have seen and the calibre of athletes was outstanding. No one was undeserving of being at the event, every athlete charged hard and brought strong game to the competition. 
I believe the White Water Grand Prix is the future of White Water Extreme kayaking and I really hope this event can find the funding to continue. 

Final results:
Mens: 
1st Place: Dane Jackson (USA)
2nd Place: Eric Deguil (FRA)
3rd Place: Evan Garcia (USA)

4th Place: Isaac Levinson (USA)
5th Place: Todd Wells (USA)
6th Place: Michele Ramazza (ITA)
7th Place: Joel Kowalski (CAN)
8th Place: Lorenzo Andrade Astorga (CHL)
9th Place: Galen Volckhausen (USA)
10th Place: Jakub Nemec (CZE)

Woman:

1st Place: Nouria Newman (FRA)
2nd Place: Martina Wegman (NLD)
3rd Place: Katrina Van Wijk (CAN)
4th Place: Lu Urwin (NZL)
5th Place: Natalie Anderson (USA)
6th Place (tie): Nicole Mansfield (USA)
6th Place (tie): Louise Jull (NZL)

 

Big thanks to the organisers Patrick Camblin and Emily Meredith, they did an incredible job and made this all happen! Thanks to Duemstuff for supplying me with awesome gear for the event and Bliss-Stick for my beautiful kayak. Also big thanks to Sergio for sorting me out a kayak for the event as mine was destroyed on the Rio Palguin. 

 Ladies charging in the Head to Head 'Mass or Menus' Rio Futaleufu

Living on the banks of the Rio Futaleufu for stages 4 and 5!

 Welcome to Patagonia!

 Enroute to Futaleufu from Pucon- travelling the Chilean coast

 White Water Grand Prix Athletes enter Inferno Canyon- Rio Futaleufu

 All the awesome ladies stoked after finishing Stage 1!

 Ladies after Stage 3- Rio Nevados!

 Party Bus!

 Party Bus ride between stage 1 and 2!

The epic slide on Rio Nevados!

All of the photos above are credit of the photographers of the White Water Grand Prix Event. Please checkout the White Water Grand Prix Website- www.whitewatergrandprix.com