Mokihinui
Date: 15/10/2012 - 16/10/2012
Location: Mokihinui river north branch
Weather: clear
Group: Greg Lee, Rata Lovell-Smith, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Chris Harvey, Sara Dwyer, Tui Krall, Jacob Schrama, Jake Willet, Zak Shaw and Myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 2 days
Flow: Medium - High
Incidents: one swim from Tui one from Sara and two from Jacob
The trip of the year! all year we have been talking about finishing the year on the Mokihinui i have been looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. Flying out early on Monday morning and putting on around 10 am. the first few rapids were slightly spaced out which gave us a little time to warm up before things tightened up and got bigger. taking our time and looking at some things before we hit them. One drop had a lead in where you crossed over a nasty drop unfortunately Tui missed her line and went down and was worked in between a hole and a rock she eventually swam and caught her ankle on the way out. later on we found out there was ligament damage. we carried on and at one rapid jacob got worked in a large hydraulic and after about 2 minuets he swam out very disappointed. once at the hut we set up and light a fire on the bank. drank some whiskey and wine with our back country meals before getting some much needed sleep. day two started with a large rapid with a huge curler. running blind i dropped in and the curler ate me and looped me and i rolled up in the pool below. Jacob had the same fate only he couldn't manage to roll back up and swam again. the second day had much more flat water and there was lots of paddling to do with the odd grade 3 rapid thrown in and one more grade 4 where Sara rolled and ended up on the chompy side of the rapid and swam out the bottom. once at the take out we were very stoked with the two days we had just done. What a way to finish our two years together on the coast.
Sunday, 16 December 2012
Kayak - 9 mile
9 mile
Date: 14/10/2012
Location: 9 Mile Creek
Weather: raining
Group: Rata Lovell-smith, Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Jake Willet, Jacob Schrama, Dan Morgan and myself
Grade: 3
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: flood
After two years of trying to catch nine mile slide at a good flow we finally got it in the last week of living on the coast. After a bunch of debating whether or not it would be going we loaded up boats and had a look. we were stoked to see it going at a great flow. gearing up as fast as we could in the torrential rain and putting on. the first run was slightly chaotic. minimal eddys and unknown where the large slides where with some solid class three through the rest of the run made for some fun. the first slide was a hard one to style. it went down in to a large hole which loved to back loop everyone who didn't get in that late right boof. the second slide came up almost directly after. this one was the big one about 100 m long dropping roughly 30 m in to a rock ledge which caused a giant kicker of water it was intimidating to say the least. We each had our turn and once at the bottom we raced up and ran it again and again and again. A great run to get something different in and look forward to trying it again some time.
An video I made from some of the footage from the day. Thanks to Owen and Jake for the footage
http://vimeo.com/51592629
Date: 14/10/2012
Location: 9 Mile Creek
Weather: raining
Group: Rata Lovell-smith, Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Jake Willet, Jacob Schrama, Dan Morgan and myself
Grade: 3
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: flood
After two years of trying to catch nine mile slide at a good flow we finally got it in the last week of living on the coast. After a bunch of debating whether or not it would be going we loaded up boats and had a look. we were stoked to see it going at a great flow. gearing up as fast as we could in the torrential rain and putting on. the first run was slightly chaotic. minimal eddys and unknown where the large slides where with some solid class three through the rest of the run made for some fun. the first slide was a hard one to style. it went down in to a large hole which loved to back loop everyone who didn't get in that late right boof. the second slide came up almost directly after. this one was the big one about 100 m long dropping roughly 30 m in to a rock ledge which caused a giant kicker of water it was intimidating to say the least. We each had our turn and once at the bottom we raced up and ran it again and again and again. A great run to get something different in and look forward to trying it again some time.
An video I made from some of the footage from the day. Thanks to Owen and Jake for the footage
http://vimeo.com/51592629
Kayak - Tech week
Tech Adventure Boating week (TPP)
Date: 24/09/2012 - 28/09/2012
Location: Arnold River, Arahura River Cesspool Gorge, Totara river, Kakapotahi river and Lake Brunner
Weather: Heavy rain on Tuesday night and some of Wednesday otherwise fine.
Group: Phil Palzer, Greg Lee, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Daniel Morgan, Tui Krall, Ben Searle, Chris Harvey and Myself as students and Zak Shaw, Keith Riley, Dave Ritchie and Phil Johnston where our tutors.
Grade: 2/4/3/4/2
Duration: 5 days
Flow: Low we were on Low level flood runs like the Totara and Kakapotahi after the rain
Incidents: Dan injured his back on the first day on the Arnold and was out for the next three days. One swim from Ben on the Totara.
A Perfect week to finish off our time at TPP. We have been looking forward to this for the whole year and it did not disappoint. day one Rata, Phil, Greg and I went over our rescues on a Kayak 1 level will Phil Johnston to see how we stacked up. it was clear that we still needed a lot of work on the them to be up to the standard. Day two we went down to Hokitika and based ourselves at the Ruatapu Kayak School (AKA Keiths house). We spent the day on the Arahura walking to the half way point of Cesspool Gorge. From there we abseiled down with all our gear and put on at the end of the first rapid. paddling out we worked on our timing of strokes and boofing hitting as many drops as we could on the way down. after a night of rain we got up and headed off the the Totara River. I had only been there once at a very low flow before and it was quite different much pushier and bigger very sweet day on the river. day four we put on the lower Kakapotahi Jacob and Tui ran the main drop for the first time they both had good lines. today we were with Dave and he went over rescues and role modeling good technique throughout the day. on Friday we were back in Greymouth and spent the morning at lake Brunner completing our all in rescue and a few teaching progressions. the afternoon was all about rescue from assisted ferry glides to unconscious swimmers to throw bagging. along with just having a paddle around. A great way to spend the last day off our TPP time.
Date: 24/09/2012 - 28/09/2012
Location: Arnold River, Arahura River Cesspool Gorge, Totara river, Kakapotahi river and Lake Brunner
Weather: Heavy rain on Tuesday night and some of Wednesday otherwise fine.
Group: Phil Palzer, Greg Lee, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Daniel Morgan, Tui Krall, Ben Searle, Chris Harvey and Myself as students and Zak Shaw, Keith Riley, Dave Ritchie and Phil Johnston where our tutors.
Grade: 2/4/3/4/2
Duration: 5 days
Flow: Low we were on Low level flood runs like the Totara and Kakapotahi after the rain
Incidents: Dan injured his back on the first day on the Arnold and was out for the next three days. One swim from Ben on the Totara.
A Perfect week to finish off our time at TPP. We have been looking forward to this for the whole year and it did not disappoint. day one Rata, Phil, Greg and I went over our rescues on a Kayak 1 level will Phil Johnston to see how we stacked up. it was clear that we still needed a lot of work on the them to be up to the standard. Day two we went down to Hokitika and based ourselves at the Ruatapu Kayak School (AKA Keiths house). We spent the day on the Arahura walking to the half way point of Cesspool Gorge. From there we abseiled down with all our gear and put on at the end of the first rapid. paddling out we worked on our timing of strokes and boofing hitting as many drops as we could on the way down. after a night of rain we got up and headed off the the Totara River. I had only been there once at a very low flow before and it was quite different much pushier and bigger very sweet day on the river. day four we put on the lower Kakapotahi Jacob and Tui ran the main drop for the first time they both had good lines. today we were with Dave and he went over rescues and role modeling good technique throughout the day. on Friday we were back in Greymouth and spent the morning at lake Brunner completing our all in rescue and a few teaching progressions. the afternoon was all about rescue from assisted ferry glides to unconscious swimmers to throw bagging. along with just having a paddle around. A great way to spend the last day off our TPP time.
Kayak - Styx
Styx (P)
Date:06/09/2012
Location: Styx River
Weather: Clear
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Taylor, Sara Dwyer, Astraea Miller, Grace Slee and Myself.
Grade: 4+/ 5
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: Medium
Incidents: Missed my line on the main drop and went up against a undercut rock. I managed to get out of it still in my boat. Dan missed his line and flipped over on a shallow area got scraped and ended up on a bank upside down holding himself up he had to get out of his boat with assistance. On a rapid in the lower section Grace and Astraea both flipped in the shallows and swam quick clean up.
After the sick day on the Styx last week decided it would be awesome to head back up there. Zak Shaw had warned us that week of the carnage that occurs on that river.Unfortunately he was right. on the top rapid I came off the third drop and by boat was instantly swept left, trying to avoid the wall i rode up hard onto the rock and slid into the hole. I was back looped and my boat pressed up against the undercut side of the rock. I tried to roll up but failed a few rolls before finally flushing off the rock and rolled back up. as we carried on down Dan and I ran a long continuous grade 4 rapid with a few nasty sections both of us missing our lines but Dan went upside down and scraped down the rapid stopping upside down on a gravel bank. Quickly we all ran to help with a huge dive into a difficult swim from Greg and Phil sprinting across the river. they both managed to get to him and get him out of his boat. we spent some time at the next drop running it 4 or 5 times each the next rapid consisted of two smaller drops. I went first and nailed my line but on the last drop i hit a rock solidly on take off and put a nasty 15 cm crack under the seat which wasn't noticed until later. once we met up with Astraea and Grace we set off down the first rapid the two both flipped and swam but we cleaned it up quickly and they were back in their boats quick. There was a lot of learning taken from today and next time we are up there we will be more aware.
Thanks to Rata Lovell-Smith for the photos.
Date:06/09/2012
Location: Styx River
Weather: Clear
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Taylor, Sara Dwyer, Astraea Miller, Grace Slee and Myself.
Grade: 4+/ 5
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: Medium
Incidents: Missed my line on the main drop and went up against a undercut rock. I managed to get out of it still in my boat. Dan missed his line and flipped over on a shallow area got scraped and ended up on a bank upside down holding himself up he had to get out of his boat with assistance. On a rapid in the lower section Grace and Astraea both flipped in the shallows and swam quick clean up.
After the sick day on the Styx last week decided it would be awesome to head back up there. Zak Shaw had warned us that week of the carnage that occurs on that river.Unfortunately he was right. on the top rapid I came off the third drop and by boat was instantly swept left, trying to avoid the wall i rode up hard onto the rock and slid into the hole. I was back looped and my boat pressed up against the undercut side of the rock. I tried to roll up but failed a few rolls before finally flushing off the rock and rolled back up. as we carried on down Dan and I ran a long continuous grade 4 rapid with a few nasty sections both of us missing our lines but Dan went upside down and scraped down the rapid stopping upside down on a gravel bank. Quickly we all ran to help with a huge dive into a difficult swim from Greg and Phil sprinting across the river. they both managed to get to him and get him out of his boat. we spent some time at the next drop running it 4 or 5 times each the next rapid consisted of two smaller drops. I went first and nailed my line but on the last drop i hit a rock solidly on take off and put a nasty 15 cm crack under the seat which wasn't noticed until later. once we met up with Astraea and Grace we set off down the first rapid the two both flipped and swam but we cleaned it up quickly and they were back in their boats quick. There was a lot of learning taken from today and next time we are up there we will be more aware.
Thanks to Rata Lovell-Smith for the photos.
Phil taking the Right Line.
Me in a bad place.
Dan on the Buffer drop.
Greg Going for the Boof.
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Kayak - Styx
Styx
Date:06/09/2012
Location: Styx River
Weather: Rain, overcast
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Jacob Scharma, Sara Dwyer, Astraea Miller and Myself.
Grade: 4
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: High
After paddling all year on just a few rivers. We decided to go for a walk up the Styx after a quick 1 and a half hour walk we found ourself at the top of some nice looking class 4 drops. keen to get into it Greg Phil and I geared up and ran the top drop which was a lead in of a few holes and a large boof to finish it off. everything went well, everyone had good lines. Met up with Dan and Jake just downstream. We set off finding plenty of clean drops and had the time of our lives running this new river. further down we met up with Sara and Astraea and carried on down to the take out. Today was a sick day and cant wait for more rain.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the Photos.
Date:06/09/2012
Location: Styx River
Weather: Rain, overcast
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Jacob Scharma, Sara Dwyer, Astraea Miller and Myself.
Grade: 4
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: High
After paddling all year on just a few rivers. We decided to go for a walk up the Styx after a quick 1 and a half hour walk we found ourself at the top of some nice looking class 4 drops. keen to get into it Greg Phil and I geared up and ran the top drop which was a lead in of a few holes and a large boof to finish it off. everything went well, everyone had good lines. Met up with Dan and Jake just downstream. We set off finding plenty of clean drops and had the time of our lives running this new river. further down we met up with Sara and Astraea and carried on down to the take out. Today was a sick day and cant wait for more rain.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the Photos.
Me on the First Drop
Phil Styling his Boof
Monday, 3 September 2012
Kayak - Arahura
Arahura, Cesspool Gorge
Date: 23/08/2012
Location: Arahura River
Weather: Clear
Group: Ben Searle, Jacob Schrama and myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 2 hours
Flow: Very low
Incidents: Ben had a swim out of a sticky hole and had to swim the rest of the gorge
Decided to take Ben and Jake into the Cesspool gorge for the first time. After looking at the lines to make sure they were passable with the little water, we launched in. cave drop was a no go so we portaged and ran from there. The first section where the buffer is went smoothly with every one hitting there line perfect. The second part with the sticky hole went not so well. Ben entered the rapid slightly to far right and rolled on a rock entering the hole up side down with no speed. He was sucked back where he was worked for a good 40 seconds before swimming out. we took our time paddling down and left the boat for now. once through the rest of the grade four we managed to catch the boat and get Ben back in.
Date: 23/08/2012
Location: Arahura River
Weather: Clear
Group: Ben Searle, Jacob Schrama and myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 2 hours
Flow: Very low
Incidents: Ben had a swim out of a sticky hole and had to swim the rest of the gorge
Decided to take Ben and Jake into the Cesspool gorge for the first time. After looking at the lines to make sure they were passable with the little water, we launched in. cave drop was a no go so we portaged and ran from there. The first section where the buffer is went smoothly with every one hitting there line perfect. The second part with the sticky hole went not so well. Ben entered the rapid slightly to far right and rolled on a rock entering the hole up side down with no speed. He was sucked back where he was worked for a good 40 seconds before swimming out. we took our time paddling down and left the boat for now. once through the rest of the grade four we managed to catch the boat and get Ben back in.
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Raft
Murchison rescue week (TPP)
Date: 13/03/12- 16/03/12
Location: Murchison. Lower Matakitaki, Granity and O'Sulleys
Weather: Fine
Group: 15 DOIG students and 3 Tutors Koryn Gould, Nathan Topp, Baz Goes
Grade: 4/3
Duration: 4 days
Key Learning: tethered rafts, tethered swimmers, swimming, throw bagging, rescue scenarios
Went to Murchison for our second week of raft with a rescue focus spending the first two days on the Lower Matakitaki refreshing our skills and doing scenarios.
Pulling out trees.
Making hard swimming moves.
Tethered raft in Ariki Falls.
Sweet flip from Grace.
Coming out of the flip
Chris's great idea.
Me having a go.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Kayak - Kakapotahi
Kakapotahi
Date: 25th March
Location: Lower Kakapotahi
Group: Greg lee, Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith, Sara Dwyer, Dan Morgan, Jake Scharma and myself
Grade: 4
Flow: High
Duration: 3 hours
Incidents: 2 swims from Sara
I have wanted to go up the kakapotahi for a while now and after all the rain that just passed through it was the perfect opportunity to so we set off with a group of 7 we got to the put in and made our way down stream i wasn't felling to confident straight away and as we approached the George i wasn't sure i wanted to run the entry but with a bit of encouragement i decided i should give it a go sitting at the top of the rapid i was super nervous. i was third to go once it was my turn the nerves had gone and i made my way down i was stoked when i came out and that i wasn't getting worked in the hole. we met up with the 3 that walked it and carried on down some busy grade 3 boulder gardens. we came to a rapid that had a few drops and Sara dropped over one and all i saw was the nose of her boat go up in the air as she got looped Greg was in there quick as and got her back in her boat. further down Sara missed her roll and hit a rock and swam as we approached the next rapid Greg got her out and Phil and i grabbed her gear and managed to get it to an eddy just before the next rapid. from there we had only a few big rapids to go before it died down to Grade 2 so we stuck close together and carried on. It was an awesome day out and it has to be my favourite run so far. I cant wait for the next rain fall.
Thank you to Jake Scharma for the video.
Date: 25th March
Location: Lower Kakapotahi
Group: Greg lee, Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith, Sara Dwyer, Dan Morgan, Jake Scharma and myself
Grade: 4
Flow: High
Duration: 3 hours
Incidents: 2 swims from Sara
I have wanted to go up the kakapotahi for a while now and after all the rain that just passed through it was the perfect opportunity to so we set off with a group of 7 we got to the put in and made our way down stream i wasn't felling to confident straight away and as we approached the George i wasn't sure i wanted to run the entry but with a bit of encouragement i decided i should give it a go sitting at the top of the rapid i was super nervous. i was third to go once it was my turn the nerves had gone and i made my way down i was stoked when i came out and that i wasn't getting worked in the hole. we met up with the 3 that walked it and carried on down some busy grade 3 boulder gardens. we came to a rapid that had a few drops and Sara dropped over one and all i saw was the nose of her boat go up in the air as she got looped Greg was in there quick as and got her back in her boat. further down Sara missed her roll and hit a rock and swam as we approached the next rapid Greg got her out and Phil and i grabbed her gear and managed to get it to an eddy just before the next rapid. from there we had only a few big rapids to go before it died down to Grade 2 so we stuck close together and carried on. It was an awesome day out and it has to be my favourite run so far. I cant wait for the next rain fall.
Thank you to Jake Scharma for the video.
Kayak - Arahura
Arahura
Date: 3rd March
Location: Cess pit George, Arahura
Group: Phil Palzer, Greg Lee, Rata Lovell-Smith, Watson Green, Jake Scharma, Grace Slee, Sara Dwyer, Chris Harvey, Luke Wilson, Kerian Chandeler, Logan and myself
Grade: 4/3
Flow: High
Duration: 1 hour walk 3 hours kayak
Incidents: flipped above the buffer hitting my head solidly on the wall and went down the rest of the rapid up side down rolling up near the bottom.
Decided i wanted to step up today and dropped into cesspit George it was higher than Phil or Greg had done it and nerves were running high at the top. i launched in and waited in the eddy up top once it was time to go Phil went first followed by Greg then me. the cave drop went well. but the two eddys below were only big enough for the other two so i kept going. i found myself to far right so i went to move across and as i did so i flipped in a hole and hit my head on the wall i managed to roll up for a second before being flipped over again and carried on down until i finally rolled up and paddled out the rest of the rapid. we had a few Minuit's to relax while the others walked down and we set off down the grade 3.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the Photos.
Date: 3rd March
Location: Cess pit George, Arahura
Group: Phil Palzer, Greg Lee, Rata Lovell-Smith, Watson Green, Jake Scharma, Grace Slee, Sara Dwyer, Chris Harvey, Luke Wilson, Kerian Chandeler, Logan and myself
Grade: 4/3
Flow: High
Duration: 1 hour walk 3 hours kayak
Incidents: flipped above the buffer hitting my head solidly on the wall and went down the rest of the rapid up side down rolling up near the bottom.
Decided i wanted to step up today and dropped into cesspit George it was higher than Phil or Greg had done it and nerves were running high at the top. i launched in and waited in the eddy up top once it was time to go Phil went first followed by Greg then me. the cave drop went well. but the two eddys below were only big enough for the other two so i kept going. i found myself to far right so i went to move across and as i did so i flipped in a hole and hit my head on the wall i managed to roll up for a second before being flipped over again and carried on down until i finally rolled up and paddled out the rest of the rapid. we had a few Minuit's to relax while the others walked down and we set off down the grade 3.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the Photos.
Phils Stoked.
The crew at the Grade 3 put in.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Ski
Broken river
Date: 8th - 9th october
Location: Broken river
Weather: snow to clear, light winds
Group: Ben Soiltt, Liam Heyward, Jeromy Hunt, Eric van den Broeke.
Duration: 2 days
Incidents: lost snow board
Spent this weekend patrolling again sunday was the only day i really did anything we had 181 people up so i spent most of the day teaching people to use the rope tows. In the afternoon me and a few mates hit a big kicker that they had built that morning. i decided to try some Cork 720s again my first atempt i under rotated and landed on my face. my second attempt i went faster and spun quicker and landed on my feet but i needed a slight bit more rotation and my final hit i threw it to flippy and it was more like a rodeo 540.
Date: 8th - 9th october
Location: Broken river
Weather: snow to clear, light winds
Group: Ben Soiltt, Liam Heyward, Jeromy Hunt, Eric van den Broeke.
Duration: 2 days
Incidents: lost snow board
Spent this weekend patrolling again sunday was the only day i really did anything we had 181 people up so i spent most of the day teaching people to use the rope tows. In the afternoon me and a few mates hit a big kicker that they had built that morning. i decided to try some Cork 720s again my first atempt i under rotated and landed on my face. my second attempt i went faster and spun quicker and landed on my feet but i needed a slight bit more rotation and my final hit i threw it to flippy and it was more like a rodeo 540.
Thanks to Ben Solitt for the photos.
The kicker from the top
My second Cork 720 attempt of the day.
Kayak
Date: 7th October
Location: Toaroaha
Weather: Rain
Group: Greg Lee and me
Grade: 3/3+
Duration: 2 hours
Key Learning: not getting spun out by small Eddy's
Incidents: got pinned on a rock with my head just out of the water for a few seconds then got pushed under and came free
An awesome day paddling on the Toaroha after planning to do it for ages i finally went and did it with Greg it was a 40 min walk in and just over an hour paddle out i was quite nervous getting in my boat but after the first rapid i was feeling better and had heaps of fun i decided to run the grade 3+ rapid my first attempt i got spun out on an eddy line just above the drop and had to get out and walk back up but second attempt went well but my boof stroke wasn't very good but i got away with it but next time i will try and do it better. on one of the last rapids i ended up hitting a rock just after it and got pinned for a few seconds with my head up and slowly started sinking once my head went under i came free and rolled up. it was an awesome day an i will defiantly be going back up there.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the photos.
Location: Toaroaha
Weather: Rain
Group: Greg Lee and me
Grade: 3/3+
Duration: 2 hours
Key Learning: not getting spun out by small Eddy's
Incidents: got pinned on a rock with my head just out of the water for a few seconds then got pushed under and came free
An awesome day paddling on the Toaroha after planning to do it for ages i finally went and did it with Greg it was a 40 min walk in and just over an hour paddle out i was quite nervous getting in my boat but after the first rapid i was feeling better and had heaps of fun i decided to run the grade 3+ rapid my first attempt i got spun out on an eddy line just above the drop and had to get out and walk back up but second attempt went well but my boof stroke wasn't very good but i got away with it but next time i will try and do it better. on one of the last rapids i ended up hitting a rock just after it and got pinned for a few seconds with my head up and slowly started sinking once my head went under i came free and rolled up. it was an awesome day an i will defiantly be going back up there.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the photos.
Getting ready.
Dropping the grade 3+
The 3+
Kayak
Date: 4th October
Location: Arahura River
Weather: Fine
Group: Greg Lee, Gretchen Dalzell, Jono Kerr and two Aoraki Polytech students
Grade: 3
Key Learning: 'S' turns, entering and exiting eddys, boat scouting
Incidents: 1 swim from Jono
An awesome trip it was my first walk in Jono and Gretchen left their boats at the bridge i left mine at the start of the grade 3 and the other 3 walked up to cesspit gorge it was the first big rapid i have seen and it looked insane and i am really keen to improve and run this section next year. the first three ran the gorge with me running safety on the side with a throw bag but it all went well i then ran down and jumped in my boat and joined them it had been a long time since i had been in a boat so it took a bit of getting used to but after the first rapid i was back to where i was and loved it. every thing went smoothly and we then picked up Jono and Gretchen and carried on to the take out. unfortunately Jono tipped over in a shallow rapid and couldn't roll back up and swam but he was back in his boat quickly.
Thanks to Jono Kerr for taking these photos
Location: Arahura River
Weather: Fine
Group: Greg Lee, Gretchen Dalzell, Jono Kerr and two Aoraki Polytech students
Grade: 3
Key Learning: 'S' turns, entering and exiting eddys, boat scouting
Incidents: 1 swim from Jono
An awesome trip it was my first walk in Jono and Gretchen left their boats at the bridge i left mine at the start of the grade 3 and the other 3 walked up to cesspit gorge it was the first big rapid i have seen and it looked insane and i am really keen to improve and run this section next year. the first three ran the gorge with me running safety on the side with a throw bag but it all went well i then ran down and jumped in my boat and joined them it had been a long time since i had been in a boat so it took a bit of getting used to but after the first rapid i was back to where i was and loved it. every thing went smoothly and we then picked up Jono and Gretchen and carried on to the take out. unfortunately Jono tipped over in a shallow rapid and couldn't roll back up and swam but he was back in his boat quickly.
Thanks to Jono Kerr for taking these photos
The first swing bridge.
Greg and the Aoraki Students in Cesspit gorge.
The four of us on the grade 3.
The view from the bridge.
Me dropping into a hole
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Kayak
Totara
Date: 9th July
Location: Totra river
Weather: Raining overcast
Group: Greg, Rata, Phil, two Aoraki students and me
Grade: 3
Duration: 2 hours
Key learning: Boat scouting, new river signals, staying on waves
Incidents: None
A sick day kayaking i was really nervous waiting for the guys to get back from shuttle because i thought it was going to be a 3+ river. Once they finally got back we headed down the first few rapids were really boney and i was super nervous so i wasn't paddling that great and as soon as we got into the grade 3 section it was deeper and i felt so much more relaxed and loved it. It was great to be paddling with really confident people they push me more and help with your technique it was a great day on a new river and will definitely be going down the Totara again.
Thanks to Greg for the photos.
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Blue duck on the Totara
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Date: 9th July
Location: Totra river
Weather: Raining overcast
Group: Greg, Rata, Phil, two Aoraki students and me
Grade: 3
Duration: 2 hours
Key learning: Boat scouting, new river signals, staying on waves
Incidents: None
A sick day kayaking i was really nervous waiting for the guys to get back from shuttle because i thought it was going to be a 3+ river. Once they finally got back we headed down the first few rapids were really boney and i was super nervous so i wasn't paddling that great and as soon as we got into the grade 3 section it was deeper and i felt so much more relaxed and loved it. It was great to be paddling with really confident people they push me more and help with your technique it was a great day on a new river and will definitely be going down the Totara again.
Thanks to Greg for the photos.
Phil going down a boney rapid
Blue duck on the Totara
Me Breaking through a wave.
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