Simon Davidson- Never forgotten

Simon Davidson was a talented, loving, enthusiastic, athletic, energetic 20year old and an amazing friend. A handsome young man with a magic smile that was infectious to all. He was so gifted and held the power to make people feel good, he was a charmer. Simon was a styly boater and a pleasure to paddle with. Simon loved people and he loved to party! Him and Matt were always rocking the beats and wearing some of the best attire for the occasion. Having him to stay in Okere Falls over the summer was so much fun, he was always keen to boat or go for a smoothie at the store. Conversations were always loaded with banter and laughs, he had a great sense of humour. Pushing the limits, he was a solid boater and always encouraging me to push myself, try new lines and use the white-water but at the same time he made me feel safe.
I spoke to Simon about 2weeks ago when I arrived in Prague, he called me on skype. We had a 3way convo with Matt and Leela and it was soo funny! He was on form and in his usual excited self; life was always exciting with Simon around. He carried passion and drive and was full of ideas and dreams. I feel really privileged to have had the chance to get to know Simon, he was a really awesome guy, one of the coolest guys I have met. Although I only knew him for a short time, I wish I could have known him much longer. He will be missed by so many people, he was very well respected and loved. I know everyone in Okere Falls was really excited for him to move there next NZ summer!
The accident happened when he was out kayaking with his ‘Dash Hound Crew’, aka Leela Samuels and his very Best friend Matt Burton. Some people say that if you are going to leave the world it should be doing something you love. But in this case I totally disagree; Simon should be living doing the things he loved! He had so much more time before him and he was meant to die old and crusty with thousands of crazy stories.
A quote from Josh Neilson that sums Simon up nicely- ‘You are an Inspiration, happy, motivated, biggest smile, one of the nicest people on earth.. the list goes on and on! The world is a brighter place because of you and that massive smile bro! See you on the other side some day! Aroha Nui’
Sending lots of Love and strong vibes to all his Family and Friends at this hard time, my thoughts are with everyone.
Checkout Simons blog- www.flowadventures.blogspot.com
We will always remember you, your wicked personality and the good times. xoxo
I have my first World Cup here in Slovenia in two days- you will fuel my fire Simon!

Parallel Slalom in Ljubljana

Checkout this video of Luuka Jones, killing it in the Comp!

Along with the rain came a flood of National kayak teams into Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana. Austria, Australia, Holland, France, Slovakia, Germany, Togo, America, Canadia, Swiss, and Italian Teams..to name just a few..the list goes on...

The atmosphere both at the course and in Ljubljana centre is buzzing with excitement with the first World Cup to kick start the 2011 International Racing Circuit coming up this weekend! It has been great to catch up with so many friends from all over the world and be once again following the European summer. Tonight there was a parallel Slalom race that was held in the centre of Ljubljana on one of the canals that runs through the city. It is always a really wicked event here and great for spectators in this amazing night-time city setting. With 1000Euro prize money up for grabs the race was on! Peter Kauzer (2009 World Champion and Slovenian sports star once again took the win to beat the Czech Rebublics Vavra Hradilek in a close 2^nd. The womens was dominated by Corrina Kuhnle (2010 Womens World Champion) and runner-up was Australia’s Kate Lawrence with Luuka Jones and Roz Lawrence in 3^rd and 4^th.

Tommorrow it is back to the mighty Tacen White-water for my 2^nd to last session on the course before the race which will kick off on Friday with Qualifications.For Race info for this weekends World Cup checkout: Sloka's website

Rain and Rest...

This week continued to be a good week of training with summer days. On Friday afternoon Luuka and I cruised into the mountains and had a picnic by Lake Bohinj, just past the infamous Lake Bled.
Last night the rain gods let loose and today the River was raging! It is my rest day today so I was not too bothered and chilled out. Several teams arrived today including the Canadians, Austrians, Italians and some Germans.

Ljubljana:

-Lunch or dinner served by the testers in Mercater Supermarkets is a cheap and convenient option.

-Naked people on the side of the river is legit

-Illegal car manoeuvres are all good when you are driving a Czech car

- Don’t bother buying a motorway pass- just drive fast

-If your landlord looks like a prostitute she is probably running a brothel

-If you can’t understand you can claim innocence

-The dancing lady on the side of the river is not crazy really

Ljubljana- Slovenja

Ljubljana is definitely my favourite city in Europe and it just so happens to host one of the best slalom courses along with being home to many Champions in Canoe Slalom. Luuka and I have a sweet set up out in the countryside in a nice apartment, Villa Jana- Cerklje na Gorenjskem. It is beautiful and peaceful out here and not too far from the course. Being back on the White-Water here is awesome! I love the course and we pretty much have exclusive sessions at the moment as there are not many people here yet. Training is going really well and I am very excited about our the 1^st World Cup that will be here on Tacen next weekend.

Czech Republic- Slovenja

To sum up the 2011 visit to the Czech Republic:

Great dinner last night in Praha with Jana:)

Crazy drivers

Awesome week staying in Zbuzany in the Hradileks Mansion!

Communal showers

Traffic Jams

Awesome Training

Friendly people

Sparkling water

Big lessons:

Don’t leave car keys in Tesco (The local supermarket)!

Check the water before you splash your face for dead rats!

Don’t follow learner drivers they will stall

And if your ham looks green it is probably not okay.

Next stop- Ljubljana Slovenia!