Manuherikia Creek

Well this is the first creek I have paddled since February 18^Th. the day I went under the knife. I am pretty happy sitting here writing this as the shoulder came through all good, its probably at about 80% so not rushing back into it to hard. Manuherikia creek is a cool wee class four run in Central Otago the landscape here isn't really suited for creeking so thats why it makes this wee gem a must do when the snow starts to melts. Here are some screen shoots and a cheeky we clip. Enjoy!

Bring On Summer

 Well there hasn't been much happing here on the paddling front as things have been a tad to cold and the motivation to get out on the flat water when there is a foot of snow around is very low. The shoulder is still on the mend, not 100% but that will be wile away yet fingers cross ill be up and running by summer. So with the kayak tucked away in the shed for the mean time it was time to don on the boots and head into the hills to look for some new runs. Of the five runs three of them looked “good to go” with a bit of rain and there are another four still in the bank waiting to get cheeked out ill keep you posted. Along with a bit of hiking there as also be a whole bunch of riding being done in and around the Southern Alps. I am now in Wanaka on teaching placement and making the most of the snow wile it last. The school is about 40 minutes from the school gate to the top of the mountain and thats were we will be found most afternoons. Being an outdoor ed teacher at this school is a dream job!

Here are some pictures from what I have been up to lately enjoy.

 Lake Wanaka

 The trails in Wanaka are not to bad 

 The day after a big snow fall.......

Trying to stay warm in the pisa range 

 Shitting with a sunset 

 Hard at work 

 Dayna checking out some lines in the back country  

Its all good

The North Island of New Zealand

I got the chance at the start of this year to check out what the north of New Zealand had to offer. Starting in Rotoura then up and around the East Cape, down to the bay then across to Raglan then onto the Coromandel. Here are some pictures to fill in the next few minutes of your life.






Chilling in the east cape







Some wee Maori boys play hut





Life is easy in the east









Coromandel Gold?





Wild horses kicking it on the beach in the east cape

 


 An Okere Massive night sky




My drive south to catch the ferry




J-dog taking it all in on the way south




The view from jamies eys on the ferry south



 

Life is super hard !



The Kid With The Huge Heart

My first North island trip started off In the summer of 08 when I pulled into the Wairor river parking lot upon getting changed this tall blond hair joker comes up to myself and Sam and says “ you fullers going for a run, mind if I join”.. “sure “ I am shocking at remembering   people’s names so we jumped on and down we went at the take out I remember this “guy” being full of life and just so stoked and I was thinking to myself man this guy has energy. So as the summer rolled it was back to studying at cpit the first day involves the whole course getting together for a bit of a meet and great being the “cool” 3^rd years we strutted on in to a hall packed with 200 or so people and I hear this cry of “JARED BRO” I look up and see this “GUY” and I am thinking shit, shit, name, name come to me and it did for some reason I don’t know why but it did. Simon was that “GUYS” name so I sat down and we yarned the whole way through the instructions that we were given for the day. So when it was time to move we didn’t have a clue what to do or where to go so the words that I was just about to hear next out of Simons mouth just made day “should we just go for a beer bro” my eyes light up and my smile gets bigger and bigger “fucking ay” I say, I knew from this point I had just made a bloody good mate.

What followed was a year of fun, laughter, and good boating this was all because of the presents of Mr S Davidson whether we were  talking about code, bitches( and only Simon know what I am on about here) or boating the kid had it all. I can sit here and list a million ways to describe what kind of person Simon is but I’ll be here for the next week! The people that new Simon  have had their life enriched somewhat and that’s something special each and every one will hold close to their hearts for ever. I want to say rest in peace but I don’t think this term is appropriate for you Simon because I know where ever you are you won’t be resting you will be that same bright bubbly kid that’s just full of energy. So what I will say is keep going hard where ever you maybe just like you did down here.

Noho runga a-matou hoa

Thanks Macpac

I would like to thank Macpac who have just come on board to help me out with my adventures. Macpac provide some of the best outdoor equipment around so check out the stock online by clicking on “Macpac” on the right hand side of page.

The Crippled Life

  Labrum anteroinferior inferior labral tear extending from 3 o'clock through to 7 o'clock. Rest of glenoid intact. Subscapularis intact. Anterior pulley intact. Rotator interval intact. Proceed to anteroinferior capsular labral repair. Three Pushlok 2.9 mm PEEK anchors used with Fibrewire loaded through the 60° spectrum. Three good passages of tissue through the mobilised labral structures. Anchors placed at 5:30, 4:30 and 3 o'clock. Good capsular labral reconstruction. Proceed to inspect posterior labrum. No significant tearing here requiring repair however superior labrum was mobile and frayed therefore a superior labral repair was undertaken with one  anchor at 12 o'clock

No contact sports for six months!

If you don’t know what I am referring to well that was state of my shoulder after a West Coast summer then 3 months in California and then another West Coast summer. I first injured it back in 2009 at the end of the rugby session but there was no time for rest for the upcoming Nz and Cali summer. But hay on the bright side the the U S of A have some bloody good pain killers so I chewed on them for the whole time I was over there and also when I got back. So under the knife it was. The operation went well so they said and now two months after I am back on the flat water re building. The pain is still their but is slowly going away I hope to be back in a boat by August and ready for the southern hemisphere session.

Here are some old pictures and some not so old pictures that I have dug out of the archives.

 The start of the Styx hardman race

Kakariki Canyon Hokitika river

  

 Its getting cold so you will be seeing more of this

 Yes josh that is how you grow a mo.

 Nothing beats a the New Zealand back country

 The beautiful Whitcomb valley

The Upper Upper 2 Day Perth

The 2 day Perth is a must do for anyone coming to the coast. The scenery is stunning and to top it off the paddling is splendid. This trip didn’t get off to the best of starts. Eddie Murphy forgot his spray deck and the pilot turned up in the wrong helicopter (as you do). After an hour and a half of fluffing around we were airborne, looking down on the Perth Valley with a grin from ear to ear. The plan was to fly at 3 pm as this gave Trent Granham ample time to finish flying his own clients around Frany J and make the mad dash up the road to meet the awaiting chopper. Mid-air we passed Scone Hut and soon after we were due to identify our landing spot. But hmmmmm maybe the Christmas floods had washed away our once marked landing target?


We reached the put in at around 4.30 pm expecting a ‘leisurely’ two or three hour paddle back to Scone Hutt. Being the only person to have done the two day Perth, I knew most of the lines so the word was, “just read and run, there are two bigger rapids that you might want to look at.” As we paddle down I contemplate to myself, ‘shit a lot of stuff has changed in here.” I’m starting to get a few odd looks from the boys and clearly as courteously mentioned by Trent “This shits not f**King read and run.” CLICK! and whoops! It appears we had been kindly dropped a lot higher than the normal 2 day Perth run. This top section has only been done a handful of times and I have heard it had taken a generous six hours to Scone Hut. We did not have 6 hour to spear neither did the disappearing sun. Needless to say we got the skates on, and just like Tiger, we went for it.
Trent Granham classy as always

If you are flying in the morning this section would be a sick addition as there are copious amounts of long class five rapids that are all good to go. Arriving at the Hutt at around 8.30 pm to find five DOC workers in a six man hut wasn’t what we were hoping for. So under the stars it was. Day two is nothing but class right down to the confluence of the Whataroa. After an enthralling trip we were looking forward to cracking open an ale. Murphy then had the grim task of informing his severely dehydrated (beerdrated) crew that he had in fact given away his dozen to the American who had kindly lent him his spray deck.


Sean Manchester getting it done on day 2

Apologies about the shithouse pictures. All I had was my wee point and shoot. My SLR has craped itself.

Citroen Extreme Kayak New Zealand Championship

Check this out and just remember .You are all Champions in your own way. That doesn't mean you have to be number 1 or be the best. Just do your best. If you aren't first, then make those people ahead of you break records by pushing them with your personal best. Consider for a moment what we achieve from athletics - the sheer fun of competing - the building of a healthy and alert mind and body - stamina, courage, perseverance, dedication, commitment, selflessness and most importantly, the will to excel.

www.citroenextremerace.blogspot.com

P.S stay tuned I have been on the hunt and have found some huge drops and good creeks !