tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54590735307226645542024-02-18T17:35:48.962-08:00Chasing WaterWhether it's flat, moving, white or frozen,
this is what I seem to spend my life doing.Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-59878183448440139482012-07-19T16:20:00.000-07:002012-07-19T16:33:21.165-07:00Ze Germans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just South west-ish of Munich, there is a small town (slash medium sized city if we use New Zealand standards) called Kaufbeuren. It just so happens that it is the hometown of an upstanding ex - pat German/kiwi clan who go buy the last name of Uhl. For the entire time I have lived in Okere Falls I have had to listen to tales of how amazing Germany is in general and how outstanding Kaufbeuren is in particular.<br />
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So I thought I'd finally go and have a look for myself.<br />
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I had a wee taste of Kaufbeuren just prior to our Norway adventure and came away with a favourable impression along with a rather large hangover. After Norway, we drove for 24 hours straight to get back to Kaufbeuren to make it to their annual festival. This festvial is called Tanselfest and is roughly (I'm going to get corrected by a pedantic German for this) a celebration of when Kaiser Maximillian visited the city for various reasons back in the day. The cool twist is that it is all the children who dress up and man stalls throughout the town selling traditional food/trinkets/beer. The whole place basically stops and everyone has a massive party for a week. Right up our alley...<br />
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Little grommets dressed up from the middle ages. Obviously this was the wurst hut (sausage factory..)</div>
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The view out Kat's house window. (Yes it's a pub and yes it is a dangerous place to have as your neighbouring residence. Radler anyone??)</div>
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There were more bands than you could count wandering around playing amazing music - as far as I could tell, if they played music outside a pub, they got free beer. Hence there are a lot of people who are very good at playing music and <i>really</i> good at drinking beer...</div>
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A first hand view from said pub. Obviously we had to go there to listen to the music - To soak in the atmosphere you understand... It was also prime seating for the massive parade through the town.</div>
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Casual thousand litre tank of beer anyone?</div>
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Part of the parade</div>
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Some of the flag throwers for one of the drum bands. How cool are their outfits!</div>
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It basically goes without saying that because it was a festival, there was obviously a beer tent. Watching people parade around town all day is thirsty work. Naturally we made our way to the tent to partake in some delicious ales. <br />
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Lederhosen, check. One litre of beer, check. General hilarity about to occur? Naturally.</div>
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Half a bloody chook and a bun anybody? Just like a hangi. Except that the chicken tastes amazing and not like steamed dirt...</div>
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Deep conversations ensued. Bit intense this one by the looks. </div>
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Aaand then we went inside... And raged on tables to part english, part German covers of english power ballads - ideal, Jamie Sutton was in heaven.<br />
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I'll leave the photos here just before things started to get a bit messy. Mr Sam daddy Sutton and his lovely lady, our host Mrs Katharina Uhl.</div>
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As seems to be the theme of my German experiences, I just made it onto a train (literally just. I had to run to catch it and throw my bag on a'la wild west without paying) to Munich to catch a flight to Japan. Hungover. Again. </div>
<br />Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-71047810791467077392012-07-18T14:39:00.002-07:002012-07-18T15:37:06.187-07:00Norge After the Voss extreme sports week, pretty much our whole car (except the pregnant lady) came down with a rather savage flu (turns out late nights, lack of sleep and excessive drinking take their toll on the body...) so we hung out at Mikey and Margis's - the coolest people we know, to recuperate and do some life organising before we headed to the next destination. This was set to be Valdall - another festival/race about six hours away. <br />
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With perfect weather for the drive, what better activity to indulge in than a spot of ice fishing with my new fishing rod...?</div>
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Icy lakey family shot</div>
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Jamie Sutton on the other hand, decided to indulge in his favourite activity. </div>
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He then spent the next hour huddled in the van in a hoodie and pants despite the glaring sunshine - "Hey guys, can we turn the air con off please?" </div>
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One of the ferries across the Fiords - note the macca waterfall in the background. We drove right in front of that guy after the ferry it was quite impressive.</div>
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The boys having a break (Jamie most likely mid break - "you have to hydrate guys") underneath Jostedal - the biggest glacier in Northern Europe. I know, I know it doesn't look big - this is just the edge. There's heaps more of it up the top. Nitpickers. </div>
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We found a glorious spot for dinner at the head of Norways deepest lake (something ridiculous like 500m in case you were wondering)</div>
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Arty flowery dinnery shot.</div>
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...and drove past some more amazing fiords. (This is about as dark as Norway gets during summer. It could have been 10pm or 3am here. Who knows...)</div>
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We were supposed to catch another ferry but we met up with Julian en route and he told us that we had missed the last ferry of the day. Luckily Julian had a friend who had a cabin nearby. We were in semi shock as we got escorted into this amazing cabin and welcomed with a shot of Jagermeister (shudder, try not to vom), and then fed and entertained until the wee hours by an amazing Norwegian family. </div>
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We got to Valdall the next day and it started raining (funny that) and it didn't stop for two weeks, hence the lack of many more photos. Needless to say, Valdall was a bit of a let down. Partly because the race was super expensive, but Mainly, because someone who shall remain unnamed but who is Maori and has a crooked nose broke my fishing rod before we had even caught any fish. Things worked out alright though because we used said broken fishing rod to fix our tent pole which had also broken and ripped the tent. All together now... Gypsys. </div>
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The next stop on tour was the Sjoa (say shoowaa) river festival - another six hours away. To get there you drive up the Rauma valley, home to the infamous lower Rauma section. There was about 150 cumecs pumping down her today though. This didn't stop a certain Maori with a crooked nose trying to convince us that there was a line on Flemmingfossen...</div>
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In Sjoa we had lots of fun kayaking on high rivers and doing some racing and having the mother of all parties. Jamie once again providing us with general hilarity. "I'm going to try sleeping with my face mask. And my mosquito net. What? Why are you guys laughing?" Brilliant. </div>
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The national park up by the Ulla river (cant actually see the river but it is there) We had a race up here but it was raining so I didn't take any photos... </div>
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After Sjoa we were well and truly sick of the rain so as soon as the racing had finished on Saturday it was into the van for the 24 hour haul back to Germany. This was partly so we could get away from the cold but more importantly, we had a rendezvous with a beer tent... Stand by.</div>
<br />Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-23545658341165602372012-07-02T14:08:00.000-07:002012-07-02T14:08:38.213-07:00Sunny Norway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Alright. So the last couple of weeks have been fairly action packed. After our stint at rural Swiss living/illegal alien work, Soph, B and myself went our respective ways to the next step of the adventure. My part involved getting myself, my gear and my kayak on a train from Switzerland, (moderately accommodating with regards to kayaks) to Germany (absolutely not accommodating for kayaks.) Having said that, I soon discovered if you are persistant (pushy and belligerent) and have the strongest kiwi accent you can manage ("na bro she'll definitely fit in that little gap no worries sweet as bro na na it's all good....") that the unbending German mentality will give way under this unopposable/unitelligible onslaught. <br />
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The amazing government gardens in the Swiss capitol of Bern where we were definitely not working as illegal migrant workers....</div>
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The last adventure in Switzerland - some cool tunnels from when the Russians had a war with the French. In Switzerland. Ages ago. Aah Europe. </div>
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Scouting a rapid from the Via Ferrata (random handholds put all through the mountains so the army (Swiss) could get around more easily for when they were fighting?? in all the wars they have..) </div>
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So anyway I made it to Deutschland and got picked up by the brothers Sutton in Kaufbeuren where Jamie and I proceeded to get far to carried away watching the Germans play football and ensured that the 24 hour drive we were about to embark on the next day was as terrible as possible. </div>
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We made said drive - the less said the better in some sort of state and got to Voss to meet up with everyone who has come here for the biggest extreme sports week in Europe?? Needless to say it has been a triumph of lifestyling and the boys firing crazy stuff up constantly. </div>
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Straight viking - Anton Immler filming at the big Etsingdal drop (probably spelled that wrong - Norwegian words are tough) The boys did a bunch of laps of this big guy with everyone having nice lines. <br />
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Someone - possibly EG a little black dot in the middle about to go richter</div>
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We did some racing - Me doing some not so good racing, the boys however had good showings in the teams race, the downhill and the boatercross which was sweet.<br />
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Freakish dinner at the lakefront of Voss for one of the two (or was that three?) sunny days we've had here so far - The 20 Euro gumboots are proving to be one of the better purchases for Voss 2012. (The next best purchase is about to be a fishing rod for the fiords next week.) The worst purchase I hear you ask? Definitely the cheap, imitation pop up tent I brought as a stroke of genius. Had a snapped pole when I got it out of the bag 2000km from the shop I brought it from, dream scenario....<br />
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Ladies and Gentlemen. Mr Jens Klatt. Kayak photographer extraordinaire and Voss 2012 phone conversation pose award winner.<br />
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Sanga and Neilson having an intimate date. Found some bike taxi drivers to take us up a hill we couldn't be bothered with. Found out halfway that our taxi driver was a staunch Christian. Obviously extreme winding up of the religious chap ensued.... Whoops.</div>
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Thus far Norway has been pretty cool - it's cold and rains lots but when the sun does make an appearance it is out of control! The kayaking is sick, I exploded my boat on the second day here which was a bit of a downer but it's fine. When you are a professional lifestyler like myself you just sit back, pour the next rum you brought across the border incredibly illegally even though you don't really like it and shift focus to the next activity. Like fishing. Or Snus. </div>
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Until my next erratic update. Ciao.</div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-28261646580638924752012-06-13T09:52:00.003-07:002012-06-13T09:52:37.254-07:00Gypsies
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</style>“Porso avere uno café Americano e’ latte per favore?” “Can I
please have an Americano coffee with some milk?” This is basically the extent
of my Italiano. For everything else I fall back on the tried and true method of
pointing, miming and holding up fingers. Then at the end “Grazie, ciao”. Pretty
much fluent right?
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My favourite cafe in Ivrea..</div>
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..and inside</div>
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</style>I forget regularly how different the cultures are – Italian
people do pretty good double takes when they realize you ARE actually wearing
boardies and jandals in a CITY! Ah the horror!
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Turns out Italians stare </div>
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After our first weekend in Italy we had to pick Jamie Sutton
up from the airport so we drove from Val Sesia back into Bergamo city, which is
east of Milan where we had a friend who is studying there. We had a fairly
interesting time navigating our way into the city but we made it with no
meltdowns. We spent the next day hanging in a city for once, which was fun but
slightly manic – plenty of opportunities to butcher a beautiful language ordering
food once again. </div>
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A super cool cathedral in Bergamo. Before the internet, when people were bored, they sculpted stuff... </div>
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The inside of said cathedral. Imagine this photo but in 'surround view' as it were. And four hundred times bigger. Impressive I know. </div>
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Family shot at Hope's apartment in Bergamo. Cute.</div>
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Arty alleyway family shot... </div>
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We picked Jamie up the next day minus a kayak and all his
gear (don’t fly Easyjet) and headed to another valley called the Aosta. We
turned up and drove into the mountains again to try and find a place to camp
(Everyone here is fairly staunchly anti - camping for free so it’s harder than
it sounds) and scored a perfect spot looking out over a beautiful section of
river/mountain scenery. The next day we ran a section of the Ajasse (say eye
arse) which was super cool and pretty steep (had a casual violent side surf in
an innocuous looking but rather retentive hole didn’t I?) </div>
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Camping on the old road where a new tunnel cuts the corner - ideal for concealing your common or garden type kayak gypsies. </div>
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The mad Swiss, Lars Lammler running a hole on the Ajasse</div>
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Samuel on a glorious boof </div>
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Sam running one of the waterfalls at the bottom of the Ajasse canyon. I wasn't feeling the love this day because it was a tad 'sporty' and I am still harbouring a healthy terror of sticky holes. </div>
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B on the second of the set </div>
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and the third...</div>
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</style> The next item on the itinerary was another competition at
yet another mountain valley. We had bolstered the kiwi numbers with the arrival
of team Sutton e’ Uhl and we rolled into the campsite (vans only – no tents
please) to catch up with more boaters/friends from all over the world** The
racing was pretty disappointing with the river (the Chiusella) being
ridiculously low and as a result the sections weren’t the same as previous
years. Then it was into Ivrea (A city further down the valley) for the rest of
the debacle – (whoops! meant to write event there…) on the artificial slalom
course. Te kiwis did pretty well with Samuel coming in second overall and some
good results in the teams racing (although strangely the Italians still
podiumed even though they came in behind our boys both times – go figure….)<br />
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The team Sutton whip. </div>
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Patti not coping with the stress of watching Sam in the boatercross</div>
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The reason she didn't really need to stress...</div>
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Mr Severin Haberling ladies and gentlemen. For all you kayakers out there, make sure you are incredibly terrified of sieves. Lars went into this one. Twice. We went to try to pull his boat out and snapped a 1200kg rope in the attempt. This from the sheer pressure of the water. Luckily Larsy boy jettisoned himself just prior to his kayak ending up here...</div>
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The upside of me not racing at the Chiusella (apart from the
70 Euro entry swindle) was that I got to go kayaking for fun on a river which
actually had water with some of the most hard case Germans I have come across. </div>
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As I’m writing this***, I’m sitting in a car on the Motorway
out of Italy (which is savage – their freeways are privately owned and they
charge you a shitload of cash to drive on them) en route to Switzerland where
we’re going to paddle some more rivers then hang at Severin’s parents house and
do some work blacksmithing which will be super cool (his house is older than
New Zealand – or at least the unified version…)</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">**One of my favourite
parts of traveling this season has been meeting people who are friends of
friends. You meet them and hang out and it’s like you have known them for
years, it goes to show how similar the people you surround yourself with are no
matter where they are from. </i></div>
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<i>***This was a few days ago but that's ok; you, dear reader, don't know any better. Update from Severin's amazing Hansel and Gretel - esque house to come soon.</i></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-34208025247327704982012-06-03T01:55:00.002-07:002012-06-03T01:55:25.375-07:00Italia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So I left the mighty US of A and got hit with a $400 charge to get my boat on the plane which wasn't ideal but never mind.<br />
Walking through Frankfurt airport my first impressions of Europe were favourable; A guy wandering around the international terminal with a casual bottle of red and a plastic cup strolled past, everyone was nicely dressed (except myself of course - standard Kiwi singlet, jandals and boardies) and there was a bakery in the airport making fresh bread/brezels/delicious other stuff.<br />
I found B, Soph and Severin at the arrivals with minimal fuss and we were off to the Sesia river festival in Val Sesia (Val means Valley in case you were wondering..)<br />
We're staying in an amazing little village called Campertogno which is one of many that you drive through every five minutes on the way up the valley. Beautiful old stone houses line alleyways and the river. A huge church steeple (circa 1595) dominates the village and faithfully tolls every hour which is nice during the day but not so much at 2 am...<br />
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<i>B partaking in the standard Italian breakfast</i></div>
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There are a couple of tiny stores which sell amazing local produce for ridiculously low prices (like a dollar for a hunk of cheese which would cost you $15 in NZ)</div>
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The coffee is amazing and is $1 for an espresso which makes it tough to not enhance the already formidable morning habit. </div>
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<i>Looking across the town bridge. The river sesia flows right next to the road. Just under the bridge was the finish line for the boatercross.</i></div>
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<i>The campground where we are staying</i></div>
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<i>Campertogno church</i></div>
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<i>Closer up</i></div>
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<i>The end of the boater x course.</i></div>
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The racing for this event consisted of a team time trial down a fun but quite long grade 3-4 section and an individual time trial on the same section of which the top 16 qualified for the boatercross head to heads. </div>
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Our team of Myself, Brendan Bayly and Severin Haberling managed to get second in the teams race which was surprising considering we had never even seen the race section let alone paddled it. We all qualified for the boatercross as well and B and Severin managed to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively which was awesome. I then took part in the "throwbag olympics" and with a spot of cheating managed to win that too (thanks to Severin's speedloader bag..) The prize haul was impressive, with Sweet clothing been thrown out haphazardly along with a new Palm lifejacket for my throwbagging efforts. </div>
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We're going to paddle some side valleys today and then pick up Jamie tomorrow and head to the Teva Mountain Games in Ivrea. Might put some kayaking photos up soon but probably not... Lifestyling is the way forward.</div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-44123320101639951742012-05-26T12:20:00.000-07:002012-05-26T12:20:43.375-07:00CalifornicationMy big sister has been writing a travel blog <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/blogs/roil-around-the-world" target="_blank">here </a>which is being published on stuff.com, about her travels in the States and Europe etc. I was reading the first few posts the other day and it struck me the massive differences we have in our travel experiences. Obviously my literary skills are not quite as eloquent as hers but I thought I'd have a go at laying out some of the experiences I have had in the first week of my travels this year.<br />
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<i>First job - Fencing?? Helping Nick and Harmony deer proof their garden.</i> (photo - Lou Urwin)</div>
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As coincidence would have it we happened to be in San Fran at the same time - she was looking around the city and I'd just flown in. The logical end to this story is that we would have caught up for coffee or some bohemian experience (being in San Fran and all) etc etc. Not so. Not only was I traveling with a 20kg, two and a half metre long piece of unwieldy plastic which is not conducive to getting around a city, I was on a very specific mission with said plastic. San Francisco airport happens to be the closest international airport to a little town called Coloma. Comprised of three eateries, a bar and 20 odd rafting companies, Coloma has little in the way of a downtown but serves a slightly different purpose. It is basically the epicentre of whitewater kayaking in California.<br />
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So as I arrived into the international terminal of SFO, I knew (or hoped) the esteemed Mr Neilson was en route to collect me. Sure enough, half an hour later and we were on the three hour drive North to rendevous with the 15 - odd other kiwi paddlers who are in Cali for the same reasons as me; It's summer and it has some of the best kayaking in the world.<br />
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<i>The crew doing some solid not kayaking (Photo - Josh Neilson)</i> </div>
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So the last week has been a whirl of kayaking, heat, cramped cars, and hectic freeways. After a couple of day runs around Coloma, a huge colonial crew of mostly kiwis, aussies, canadians, an englishman and a token Euro made the long drive six hours south to the Sequoia National Park. We were staying in another tiny little town called Three Rivers which has a super cool campground which we basically commandeered for three days.<br />
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<i>We went back up to Moro Rock - a huge granite dome which looks over the whole Kaweah valley </i></div>
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<i>for the sunset and had the first meeting of the Sierra wine and cheese appreciation society</i> (Josh Neilson)</div>
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<i>The put in for the East Kaweah, one of my favourite day runs.</i> (Jess Matheson)</div>
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<i>The three rivers hideaway - and the scumbags which inhabit it</i> (Josh Neilson)</div>
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<i>No tents in Cali... </i></div>
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Sleeping on the ground, kayaking every day and driving up into the
amazing Sequoia trees in the evenings, Three Rivers is one of my
favourite places in California. It's about as far away as you can get
from the hustle and bustle of the cities. Time feels like it has slowed
down since I've arrived and it has highlighted just how hectic my summer
in New Zealand was - working two jobs takes its toll on your leisure
time. So as we lived and played in the dustbowl that is Three Rivers -
and thoroughly enjoyed every minute I thought I'd put up some highlights
of what <i>we</i> do when <i>we</i> travel.<br />
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<i>Oh, and we went kayaking sometimes too. Little Niagra on the Hospital rock section of the middle Kaweah. (Tyler Fox)</i> </div>
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<i>East fork love (Tyler Fox)</i></div>
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<br /></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-35226957174088276432011-10-11T23:42:00.000-07:002011-10-12T10:29:20.230-07:00Faaaarrrk. Went to the Wainui today, big rain last night and we drove in hoping there wouldn't be too much water. When we got on we realised it was pretty high and pushy - especially in the rapids. You know when you look at a rapid at low flow and think "This would be mean with heaps of water" Well I'd thought this about a lot of rapids on the Wainui and it turns out they kinda didn't do what I thought they would. The whole thing got pretty rowdy and just shunted through super fast.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4g0EvR2KcR4zEccV_UFL3ICOHJorqL3d2CoVLjba7AoCx3hWR579HkGKGIkpbf_kLjs33z6aXnXdi7yjdxU0WGUdTSWdPraM7xgNiOXN6Am147H-YvI6HR3ci8mX1wDsNA-KH95Nb7qo/s1600/B%2527s+rapid.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4g0EvR2KcR4zEccV_UFL3ICOHJorqL3d2CoVLjba7AoCx3hWR579HkGKGIkpbf_kLjs33z6aXnXdi7yjdxU0WGUdTSWdPraM7xgNiOXN6Am147H-YvI6HR3ci8mX1wDsNA-KH95Nb7qo/s320/B%2527s+rapid.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662492949817828898" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Running the left boof that we've always looked at on B's rapid. (It must be noted that this was not intentional and I was pretty well peaking right here)<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">Mr Brown took himself out of the game early on (on the same rapid as above) grating a couple of his fingers down to the joints and slightly modifying his face as well.<br />This left four of us - John Snook, myself, and the slalom grommets to finish the rest of the run. Everything else went pretty smoothly, John decided to boof the 60 but luckily there was lots of water so it was a fluffy landing and no back issues...<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSX3QXURX0cZzDQSjxSNPYuI7WpOw66Do7he3YIHgMzCmsC_kNbj_pIXmqPw8UGElt3H1Zns8YV6uyFM5RMwz9Pm8CjpBaLR_1R0HG_rx1PcuDx_nJINzHYhQOxz_URCBXXNhAqeXNr0y-/s1600/freight+train.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSX3QXURX0cZzDQSjxSNPYuI7WpOw66Do7he3YIHgMzCmsC_kNbj_pIXmqPw8UGElt3H1Zns8YV6uyFM5RMwz9Pm8CjpBaLR_1R0HG_rx1PcuDx_nJINzHYhQOxz_URCBXXNhAqeXNr0y-/s320/freight+train.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662492943827640098" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Rolling into the freight train slide - at least all of the slides were nice and padded out today..</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZjhyphenhyphenAONscDP83YbMc28ReJ6M-e8yrc3YNnZMcp3S0ppr3wNO7GLQ_U0OzH9WWgchKi-lLOiqF9pdYnF6rhaCnaUAjLcJNuyYqC1QZDZhAq1EO4c5cAbrZItvGuv1wtokN9BM7hHXAecey/s1600/big+girl.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZjhyphenhyphenAONscDP83YbMc28ReJ6M-e8yrc3YNnZMcp3S0ppr3wNO7GLQ_U0OzH9WWgchKi-lLOiqF9pdYnF6rhaCnaUAjLcJNuyYqC1QZDZhAq1EO4c5cAbrZItvGuv1wtokN9BM7hHXAecey/s320/big+girl.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662492942271795554" border="0" /></a>...<span style="font-style: italic;">and the view from the lip - apologies for the blurry shot, the old gopro was well fogged by this stage.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">All up it was a sick day - the Tuna was awesome, it has definitely proven itself on the steep stuff now along with being all good off the big drop which I was interested to see how it would go. It still catches me out with how fast it comes out of holes and drops and I've had to throw in the odd backstroke to slow her down.<br /><br />Still plenty of water around so we'll see what happens tomorrow...<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-35538139655458501292011-10-09T11:50:00.000-07:002011-10-11T11:24:08.879-07:00A long time between drinksUp until about mid June this year we were getting pretty regular rain every few weeks (which kept those of us not going overseas slightly happier). That all stopped just as winter really arrived and we got absolutely no rain in any of the catchments which have good creeking. Enter last week's storm. After an epic thunderstorm on Monday night - one of those ones that sent you running to your Mum and Dad when you were little, the Kaimais got just enough rain to make it worthwhile for me to take a mental health day and drag Mr Joshua out of bed for a foray into the hills.<br />While driving up the Kaimai summit road it soon became apparent that the only option was going to the the upper Ngamuwahine. This river drains the very top of the Kaimais and starts in a swamp on the plateau. Because of this it usually holds water for a day or so longer than the other creeks in the area. With a big shuttle, a savage 4wd track and a bit of a walk/paddle in, it definitely makes for a full days adventure.<br />We teamed up with Cole and Laurence - a couple of the Tauranga slalom grommets, (who we're slowly converting to the dark side and who may or may not have been skipping a day of school...) which made for a good little crew.<br />Here's a little video of the trip, I can't really claim to have edited this - it was more like Josh - 80%, me 20%....<br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-UonuqxJyRA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" width="300"></iframe><br /><br />Right now, I'm eating my toast and watching the rain come in sideways, my lawn has a lake on it and all my gear is soaking wet.<br />Can anyone say Wainui.....<br />Stand by.Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-31436984456101987472011-08-14T14:39:00.000-07:002011-08-14T15:51:04.357-07:00Yea Nice<div style="text-align: left;">While I'm writing just now, I'm sitting in a house in Christchurch having just missed my flight back to Rotorua. Why you ask? Mainly because the four inches of snow outside have closed not only most of the roads in the south island, but lots in the north Island and all of the major airports in the south. Luckily we made it out of Queenstown yesterday with a lack of sleep and rather savage hangovers being the only hindrance to our travels.</div>The reason we were in Queenstown was actually due to us being in Wanaka for the week prior for a little event which I've been to for the last few years called the Burton Open. It's an excuse for me to A: Get off real work for a week, and B: ha
<br />ve a weeks fully funded snowboarding in exchange for having to put some flags up each day (the reality is a little bit more harsh than just puttingflags up but you tend to forget the hard stuff....)
<br />I also recently acquired a gopro so I decided to make a little edit of our week instead of yet another essay. Said week finished with the afterparty in Queenstown where we proceeded to try and drink two boxes of monster (not recommended) along with various other alternatives (highly recommended). Oh and we rocked out toshihad, Optimus Gryme and Sunshine Soundsystem until 5:30am. Hence the fun drive home. Same old.<div><div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLi0svmYhi0praHDQnhmyGvvq6vh03KvZHwtL8mh6iBIPRuteO_UmakgqOjlhIZiJvzJmrA1mCNG07qgswgDL1op_0EdoKrVC85jUi1vN71gz10Qegoegb9fEQC1QCPIg2Ne0j_o0lCJe/s320/GOPR0122.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640845221744930738" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /><div style="text-align: center;">Yea Nice.</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-15184739772346469052011-07-24T13:25:00.000-07:002011-07-24T16:49:12.447-07:00TUNA!!!Right here we go. After a nice long R & D period, Bliss Stick have got their new creek boat - the Tuna to almost production stage. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the first one out as a demo boat and have been paddling it for ten days or so now so I thought I'd share some thoughts on how she goes (for the overseas contingent)<br />Firstly - a few things to keep in mind: 1- I've only paddled it on the Kaituna - no steep creeks or big water yet but it still gives you a pretty good idea of how it performs. 2 - These are just the things I've noticed - obviously there are much better paddlers out there who are a lot fussier than me.<br /><br />For anyone out there who isn't from lil'ol Nooo Zeeeland, Tuna isn't actually referring to the fish which lives in the ocean and is often eaten from a can. In this case there are a couple of different reasons for the name. Tuna is the Maori name for eel - and reflects posibly what Bliss Stick wanted from this boat, something that was sleek, fast and manouverable. Secondly, Tuna is the nickname for New Zealand's most famous and most used kayaking river (the Kaituna), and is where co-designer Kenny Mutton lives - you can find Kenny at the put in, every day, rain hail or shine, at 6:30am putting on for a race run (he even has a stopwatch taped to his paddle) These race runs are a big factor for why kiwis are dominating the extreme racing scene right now - almost every top kiwi racing paddler right now is based here.<br /><br />Speed: This is the thing everyone has been asking for so I thought I'd start with that... I'm glad to say, comprehensively, that this boat is fast. Faster than any other creek boat I've paddled. The length and rocker on it are designed for speed and that's exactly what they do. The boat just lifts over everything and keeps driving in rapids, and on the flat water it sits nice and level and doesn't feel like you're bulldozing water. It will be sick to see it in the hands of the monsters who are actually fast at racing (unlike me) to see what they can do.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6uFRy-uFMLR_uFi-NrLieS2VlZu8iDKQACxaOms1dYjSSgIvi9_3q0kfFj_1JBt6WJCRbwTD3Cww6L_AxO934LnRyl2WWoyRdi7tBe_5QdJT9z7F-lEr-HvgjWHDe053JK7IwA_8cml9/s1600/P1020535.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6uFRy-uFMLR_uFi-NrLieS2VlZu8iDKQACxaOms1dYjSSgIvi9_3q0kfFj_1JBt6WJCRbwTD3Cww6L_AxO934LnRyl2WWoyRdi7tBe_5QdJT9z7F-lEr-HvgjWHDe053JK7IwA_8cml9/s320/P1020535.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633063685835799442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">She's long - and fast<br /></span></div><br />Hull: The hull on the Tuna is pretty interesting. Overall it has a flat bottom which carries right through to just behind the cockpit where it starts rounding off to the tail. It has a fair amount of rocker in the nose, and then goes dead flat under the seat. Finally, the tail kicks up with hardly any transition - almost like a playboat. It's pretty long - 256cm, but when I'm paddling it I don't actually feel like I'm in a long boat. Obviously being longer it's a bit harder to boof, but when you land it flies out of the drop without lifting the nose too high and losing all your speed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGnHhQvOZRnEQaJmT2Rlpekn_-ZMBh7dMEdFK8-fr-x1sqfDybjooK6PLIh5sr4J7OVJiF658MV6VUBpAckAXHnt4J4yXcC8Sw4lcHS5IGdpfuQkl7ObZqubJUmVsBB4lxdfh-ae-WgjUA/s1600/P1020533.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGnHhQvOZRnEQaJmT2Rlpekn_-ZMBh7dMEdFK8-fr-x1sqfDybjooK6PLIh5sr4J7OVJiF658MV6VUBpAckAXHnt4J4yXcC8Sw4lcHS5IGdpfuQkl7ObZqubJUmVsBB4lxdfh-ae-WgjUA/s320/P1020533.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633057162671900370" border="0" /></a><br />The edges are a little bit sharper than a mystic but they are not super wide so the hull still edges easily - it doesn't feel like you're trying to tip a battleship over, and they are balanced really nicely - the boat is super predictable on the turn and very stable on edge. I like the kicked up tail rocker because when you flatten the boat off and jump on your draw in an eddy turn, the tail is clear of the water and the boat whips round on a dime. It's also up out of the way when you've got the boat flat in boily eddies (of which the Kaituna has an abundance of) and I haven't managed to catch a stupid edge in it yet. Lots of rocker in the nose means it jumps over holes - I haven't had the chance/misfortune to bury it underneath a decent hole yet but hopefully the rocker will make it resurface well and the big tail should stop her backlooping.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDZUAFcUoBfc9h9jxpoSSJDIbfEL57htF6-kNidxBdQxiS3WG9jRqYXKA6H8WXXA5HjjyuIWF0AZl-gPlce1VBycMB9TWkxwak_dNFP9DKNN-0Ak_VqdpOCjSum130-lBbjq8tsTEyH71/s1600/P1020536.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDZUAFcUoBfc9h9jxpoSSJDIbfEL57htF6-kNidxBdQxiS3WG9jRqYXKA6H8WXXA5HjjyuIWF0AZl-gPlce1VBycMB9TWkxwak_dNFP9DKNN-0Ak_VqdpOCjSum130-lBbjq8tsTEyH71/s320/P1020536.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633063690440572690" border="0" /></a><br />The tail on the Tuna is awesome. I'm only just starting to come out of my habit of expecting the tail to catch and bog when breaking out of strong eddies (like the chute). Instead, it just lifts and drives the boat across the current leaving you to concentrate on what is happening in front of you. It doesn't get caught in strong seams (like running trout pool direct) and gives you extra confidence to just keep on booking. It gives the boat a nice balance and keeps it driving over the top of boogie water instead of bogging down and losing speed.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0os08wKl5zOPrw3y_n363WC0lb7Z9sdXO_DPLqUGVhKIRsJVpbDx7ufeijECoHlu-UKuNrtZ5gaHC9fOgzttkmNQOhfZ4JsKqaJqYCdEQPdRKzrGRSyWPYS1Z_J_SEgI8SyYThztYPiGA/s1600/P1020532.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0os08wKl5zOPrw3y_n363WC0lb7Z9sdXO_DPLqUGVhKIRsJVpbDx7ufeijECoHlu-UKuNrtZ5gaHC9fOgzttkmNQOhfZ4JsKqaJqYCdEQPdRKzrGRSyWPYS1Z_J_SEgI8SyYThztYPiGA/s320/P1020532.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633057158287031202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Note the tail rocker - kicks up sharply just behind the cockpit.<br /></span></div><br />Cockpit/Outfitting<br />The cockpit is the same, mean, comfy Bliss Stick one we're used to, the rim is a bit bigger than a Mystic so if your deck is tight on a mystic it will be even more so on a Tuna. I don't feel like I'm sitting in a big boat (even though it has a lot of volume). The other big boats I've paddled (Magnum 80, Habitat 80) feel a little bit like I'm in a bathtub, with the Tuna, the knee space feels quite low, as is the cockpit rim, giving you lots of room to reach/rotate. Even though the Tuna is designed for bigger paddlers, it will fit a huge size range due to the nice cockpit layout. My favourite part about the cockpit is how low it is at your hips - when I rotate for a sweep or go over on a brace I never catch my elbow on the boat - it feels a bit like I'm in an old school river runner.<br /><br />Ergonomics<br />There are some nice new design features which make the Tuna nicer to use etc. The grab handles are recessed into the deck of the boat so no more crushed fingers on the screw underneath when your lowering it on a sketchy portage. The bars behind your hips have also been done away with, this makes for the low point as mentioned above and also will hopefully make that part of the boat stronger. There's nothing to catch your thumbs on down the sides and the high point doesn't get in the way when you're on edge. Overall the Tuna is only a 1kg heavier than the mystic, although this may or may not change once they figure out the moulding.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxbH9gG9XZpYEm4P5g8ECjcRdk0TEuknJW28WYyQpawonLO8RPBLF5V6gc0XrHJv5P6qY6_OvPHQGiJqX9aWdSMk0EOc22AS4cn2pb9hLhWECg21hyphenhyphenTJHVUTzts5jrJCvxHkMBlmm2V_HH/s1600/P1020540.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxbH9gG9XZpYEm4P5g8ECjcRdk0TEuknJW28WYyQpawonLO8RPBLF5V6gc0XrHJv5P6qY6_OvPHQGiJqX9aWdSMk0EOc22AS4cn2pb9hLhWECg21hyphenhyphenTJHVUTzts5jrJCvxHkMBlmm2V_HH/s320/P1020540.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633063676056759650" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Side on - pretty low profile</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNu1kIL8PEtXJrbRKFQwLXBhirPuTtsVD_pUg61c980MCjbzahZREnTtOB89TNfmikY89VuHDyY9t8ojG-gpsv3a5CYKXZx8OqaT1uwVsWziBcSGhTBGyGjeeRCaTWGBbWPSEhIfslmn8/s1600/P1020537.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNu1kIL8PEtXJrbRKFQwLXBhirPuTtsVD_pUg61c980MCjbzahZREnTtOB89TNfmikY89VuHDyY9t8ojG-gpsv3a5CYKXZx8OqaT1uwVsWziBcSGhTBGyGjeeRCaTWGBbWPSEhIfslmn8/s320/P1020537.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633063680380000114" border="0" /></a>Mystic side view for comparison<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqVKTuYGKE_AyuNnXxhsN4RDqkrsD-7qjjP8v_a445Tr5Ztkva-gCNG-P-SJZlw4MQsBg3UTJ27vZLaocG-l7-yHP6pDdXugBH1Brt6MMMQuksqM-G7uNNkBm365s_WHukjgeUA-2VYve/s1600/DSC_8863.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqVKTuYGKE_AyuNnXxhsN4RDqkrsD-7qjjP8v_a445Tr5Ztkva-gCNG-P-SJZlw4MQsBg3UTJ27vZLaocG-l7-yHP6pDdXugBH1Brt6MMMQuksqM-G7uNNkBm365s_WHukjgeUA-2VYve/s320/DSC_8863.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633057150944427906" border="0" /></a>The Tuna is quite low in the cockpit area - no big bulge in front of you<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">The only thing you might have to be careful of is flat landing big drops - the flatness of the hull underneath the seat might not be too forgiving. There is a pretty easy fix for this though... Get forward or don't boof so much! While it will fit a large size range, smaller paddlers will definitely have trouble boofing it simply because of the length - it is designed for bigger paddlers and will perform bettter for larger people.<br /><br />My overall impression of it is that it does everything (so far) that I want a creekboat to do; It's ridiculously fast, stable both on edge and flat, and it turns well. I haven't found any weird habits and possibly the most important thing is that it's predictable. I jumped straight in it (admittedly from another flat-ish hull boat) and would be completely comfortable taking it straight into any run, grade five or other that I can think of. A good creekboat should make hard water easier and as far as I can tell, the Tuna will definitely do this. As much as I love the mystic, I think the Tuna will be my next creek boat for quite a while.<br /><br />**If any of the cuzzies want to know any more details, chuck a comment on or facebook me. I've probably forgotten some key thing.<br /></div></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-57404970512725183352011-07-16T00:13:00.000-07:002011-07-16T01:33:09.187-07:00EssaysWhat to do when you can't find anyone to go kayaking with in the middle of winter* - A photo essay**.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXpQak73-28HnXZ2Rl_7zIEL13TVpvcU3ldFeW4WMburWwBKqlF3UGSPol051jLbj0Qn0ZCXN1lUWOKxugXRbu8Yu3uUB8VVrRHJDEbUqRfm_f9WtR80Ea7B-rzd-vzpp-dFaV_VBAfrf/s1600/P1020471.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXpQak73-28HnXZ2Rl_7zIEL13TVpvcU3ldFeW4WMburWwBKqlF3UGSPol051jLbj0Qn0ZCXN1lUWOKxugXRbu8Yu3uUB8VVrRHJDEbUqRfm_f9WtR80Ea7B-rzd-vzpp-dFaV_VBAfrf/s320/P1020471.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629847026237692178" border="0" /></a>Unfrost vehicle. This is so you can perform basic operations such as open doors which have been frozen shut and see out of windows which are frozen over<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLc_6Ci0_BlbhrL8Zy72P-j3x5HvxaDGdk1R7oCN6wtolatiwSiU_5wmU1m7bFbb-mjkFoBXm4aMyib1-xV_9g4hOqhb5jyNMWqTWVDaZ3KBovRCh4tFgHdvcn0VKoSefRJGq2dOvUnzyN/s1600/P1020476.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLc_6Ci0_BlbhrL8Zy72P-j3x5HvxaDGdk1R7oCN6wtolatiwSiU_5wmU1m7bFbb-mjkFoBXm4aMyib1-xV_9g4hOqhb5jyNMWqTWVDaZ3KBovRCh4tFgHdvcn0VKoSefRJGq2dOvUnzyN/s320/P1020476.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629847027207249602" border="0" /></a>Stop at splendid local cafe/store/beer garden. Try to get girlfriend to make coffee. Fail.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh932lcH9GHa7j2ycU4jNC1HCaE_GMtqxXjLHmC9qcgvNoVNZrXOugRiuci1yZox78Z4xszn07PkTs4Q0V6VVKq4uv545_c-RBEdasBtRZuTElzCf5TmUBl8_nZZodzTcTXgxdSFVnzQr3U/s1600/P1020477.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh932lcH9GHa7j2ycU4jNC1HCaE_GMtqxXjLHmC9qcgvNoVNZrXOugRiuci1yZox78Z4xszn07PkTs4Q0V6VVKq4uv545_c-RBEdasBtRZuTElzCf5TmUBl8_nZZodzTcTXgxdSFVnzQr3U/s320/P1020477.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629847038712673442" border="0" /></a>Intravenous caffeine not yet available. Settle for next best thing. Make own coffee.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEufgx2eGpHJsQTqLQNCwc9F0rB3fiTwJOWOHkkV7FZN-V3uBsgwEszHKO4Ce-hyawyhftRMFD6OzgJJpQJN6KO7kCdY8Xd-uxNMvpgenLvTbMrkpdP6SC8NFDrfwyhW13sYfpCECOepfi/s1600/P1020479.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEufgx2eGpHJsQTqLQNCwc9F0rB3fiTwJOWOHkkV7FZN-V3uBsgwEszHKO4Ce-hyawyhftRMFD6OzgJJpQJN6KO7kCdY8Xd-uxNMvpgenLvTbMrkpdP6SC8NFDrfwyhW13sYfpCECOepfi/s320/P1020479.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629847043629219442" border="0" /></a>Select music. Glitch not available - dubstep will suffice.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyeDDOCFMkp79q781xSarJ_FA14z2AKKhl68Dn64-Rjf0cSWXzNL4F31vA_KDx8SnwJx7aS53Zq1LGDEH-CyjIyBUHxGdHn8urJS19Bv1784dof1AM8qLOXB1v42vOXaJpeXbnH_MMQQu/s1600/P1020481.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyeDDOCFMkp79q781xSarJ_FA14z2AKKhl68Dn64-Rjf0cSWXzNL4F31vA_KDx8SnwJx7aS53Zq1LGDEH-CyjIyBUHxGdHn8urJS19Bv1784dof1AM8qLOXB1v42vOXaJpeXbnH_MMQQu/s320/P1020481.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629847043158664962" border="0" /></a>Try to avoid driving off road due to combination of aids fog, copious amounts of ice, texting, and trying to change music/fix Ipod all at once. Priorities people.<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-3Uz5qlNNe8hbM2mplY81nlzf-zYgBTPLGsI_dvVypJWKV08eTRqCG_3mzFKoNm__e6OwD9K4YCg8rngWcYlOtdtDYPpjKsS459QFIJyMu1srS8pov0-xsRbnwX5Yn1Xuybwf8PFZEAw/s1600/P1020482.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-3Uz5qlNNe8hbM2mplY81nlzf-zYgBTPLGsI_dvVypJWKV08eTRqCG_3mzFKoNm__e6OwD9K4YCg8rngWcYlOtdtDYPpjKsS459QFIJyMu1srS8pov0-xsRbnwX5Yn1Xuybwf8PFZEAw/s320/P1020482.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629859053816126402" border="0" /></a>Too early? Never too early. Three creamy mayo cheese burgers thanks. Turangi love.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NB5ZPjtrzd6SamsSEJMdbmz6gB3xwGb3e_0tyl0ztdN75ox5AC4sP-ODOVgM1LN9sSFQTtRixIxUHglPMWErjKsyRCY6-AYe_j-97_SnGZumiDtXEt1CQdAlyExOp_OwolHShTr1V9NA/s1600/P1020483.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NB5ZPjtrzd6SamsSEJMdbmz6gB3xwGb3e_0tyl0ztdN75ox5AC4sP-ODOVgM1LN9sSFQTtRixIxUHglPMWErjKsyRCY6-AYe_j-97_SnGZumiDtXEt1CQdAlyExOp_OwolHShTr1V9NA/s320/P1020483.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629859060763430738" border="0" /></a>Faaarrrk. Start to question decision to go kayaking.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzuvsVjviop08m9Oli_-4N8V5RfR21fLqQn8P3H5ssPR9Tl6Qjcr_InQ9bPMH3x9RUduUxPT28aIOUXxGJHnnKWBaewxZOe4535zbupqQIr7Ra4XNHMrSK76CyA23wLe-CxgV_1YMY4jr3/s1600/P1020484.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzuvsVjviop08m9Oli_-4N8V5RfR21fLqQn8P3H5ssPR9Tl6Qjcr_InQ9bPMH3x9RUduUxPT28aIOUXxGJHnnKWBaewxZOe4535zbupqQIr7Ra4XNHMrSK76CyA23wLe-CxgV_1YMY4jr3/s320/P1020484.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629859064704637042" border="0" /></a><br />Stop questioning decision to go kayaking. Aha. Figured out where this was going have you?<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPc0wbfnua3ftlFAE90aCIiEYZLKTpo-7QeQvZASNqVyeYHXo30CklYNMlWlld2c6eFGVHjqNC7c8cBks-VVuco7CLzO0LHyWMBoKjSbUFIoEwLUgZJHv-X0DizHbYp6BWefQ8xEx1r3G/s1600/P1020516.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPc0wbfnua3ftlFAE90aCIiEYZLKTpo-7QeQvZASNqVyeYHXo30CklYNMlWlld2c6eFGVHjqNC7c8cBks-VVuco7CLzO0LHyWMBoKjSbUFIoEwLUgZJHv-X0DizHbYp6BWefQ8xEx1r3G/s320/P1020516.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629859073577691378" border="0" /></a>First Tuna on the river. Ever.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8u0nEYq6RcZ8o3xvJMLqQVRR0KPL7ApJwczrve4ciaWZy_491MPc3iWzvRALQ1s-B2DIiAEdze2lNXvmCPQ4TyphrlxPKaSGAEfdJb-BgHNBlYKN9M4JJ6idhMq6sx1f1tLC7YiJNyRl/s1600/P1020490.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8u0nEYq6RcZ8o3xvJMLqQVRR0KPL7ApJwczrve4ciaWZy_491MPc3iWzvRALQ1s-B2DIiAEdze2lNXvmCPQ4TyphrlxPKaSGAEfdJb-BgHNBlYKN9M4JJ6idhMq6sx1f1tLC7YiJNyRl/s320/P1020490.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629859066490643298" border="0" /></a>Sneak peek. Full testing to commence tomorrow on the Kaituna. Because I was too scared to run the Rangitikei solo at 70cu. Bomb! Boom!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">*<span style="font-style: italic;">Because someone who shall remain unnamed decided that mountains were more important. Cough. Bernard Oliver.</span><br />**<span style="font-style: italic;">For people who like photos. You know who you are Josh Neilson.</span><br /></div></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-58738521164363373332011-06-27T23:42:00.000-07:002011-06-27T23:46:42.300-07:00Snaffled this little gem off dark horse Bayly's blog of our high water run down the Mangawhio a couple of weeks back. <br /><br /><iframe width="300" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pBsNQY68L1o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Sick times...Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-87387342325852791092011-06-19T00:08:00.000-07:002011-06-19T01:07:46.483-07:00WinterBit of a dry spell for the old blog posts lately. Reasons for this are along the lines of no decent camera, lots of other people doing updates on the same thing (the Wainui) and plain laziness.<br /><br />*On a side note - There aren't any pictures in this post so if you're one of <span style="font-style: italic;">those</span> people (who just look at the pictures).... you might be disappointed.<br /><br />In non metaphorical terms, it has most definitely not been a dry spell. Apparently it has something to do with the El Nino year. Or is it La Ninia? I get confused. Anyway whatever it is, it's been keeping regular, big, grunty, northerly weather systems cranking down the bay of plenty coast which translate into two things. Firstly lots of rain in our favourite range - you guessed it, the Kaimais. At a rough guess I think I've been creeking every few weeks since Christmas which is basically unheard of. Secondly, the days after we go creeking are filled with more water sports due to the mean NE swells which have given the east coast of the country the best summer of surfing in a long time. I got a new board a while back and have been frothing on surfing lately which is a nice change from the Kaituna in a dry top.<br />Last month me, B and Ben went to the Mangawhio and got on at a high flow which was sick but made the entrance to the gorge quite exciting. Tragically there is a massive log right across the first drop in the gorge which necessitates a mongrel portage and ish nerve wracking seal launch back in for the 40 - where we all got pretty well violated in the boil. Happy days.<br /><br />The last two weekends have been sick with good rain timing in perfectly for a run down the upper Ngamuwahine last weekend which holds its water a bit longer than others - it's got a cool steep section on it with a committing and pretty rowdy gorge and some fun rapids to finish with. Then yesterday we made the call to turn up to the Tuakopai to try and catch the water. We were bang on and got on right at the peak. Berno and myself bombed it and both flat landed the shit out of Douglas falls which rattled the teeth/spine - this was nowhere near as bad as Stefan Gilmour though who did the same on spa and got a cracked and compressed L2 vertebra for his troubles. Bit of a wake up call for a run which has become the 'easiest' in the Kaimais - get forward and stomp ya'll.<br />The Wainui also claimed another victim a while back with Douglas hurting his back on the 25 and only finding out the other day that he's got a crack in one of his vertebra as well which is average.<br /><img src="file:///Users/Lesley/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><br />Ok so I lied, here's couple of photos -<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQai8WU-npyNRvdNaxAWAKamtJfsEzExTV-gWCMMFDWRbYQvIzktRnhwsgJrI2Ujk1ZHGvysldC8agVGdF_mz4YayGVFnnuKpIQVYHbDFdQ4M0dQZ-daUeuCLajIvKqZFoxPpBvK9Z7US/s1600/double+drop"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQai8WU-npyNRvdNaxAWAKamtJfsEzExTV-gWCMMFDWRbYQvIzktRnhwsgJrI2Ujk1ZHGvysldC8agVGdF_mz4YayGVFnnuKpIQVYHbDFdQ4M0dQZ-daUeuCLajIvKqZFoxPpBvK9Z7US/s400/double+drop" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619835213986870258" border="0" /></a> Mr Brown doing his thing on the double drop on an earlier trip on the Ngamu.(shamelessy plagarised from louise Jull's blog)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZsjvDmhAOkfXV7qHzNm__JhcLsYUlS6D0f5AjyVAHL1ro4jw3D7ryVIwm88E9W30850Mr2NMEayR-KagifU_MBNWSqXRJPJ5lu5zYry3hU9UOd0Q3_unXgpvEWP2euPYXejKKtKUAlnU/s1600/IMG_2423.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZsjvDmhAOkfXV7qHzNm__JhcLsYUlS6D0f5AjyVAHL1ro4jw3D7ryVIwm88E9W30850Mr2NMEayR-KagifU_MBNWSqXRJPJ5lu5zYry3hU9UOd0Q3_unXgpvEWP2euPYXejKKtKUAlnU/s400/IMG_2423.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619835228894967410" border="0" /></a>And yet another photo of the biggy on the Wainui. Chur to Mike Dawson for snapping this one.<br /><br />Hopefully the rains continue and we keep getting on all these sick creeks in our backyard and playing on the waves in our other backyard. Soon there will be enough snow to go and ride the white stuff in the neighboring backyard.<br />Stand by.Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-72448612507505616842011-01-04T23:48:00.000-08:002011-01-05T00:28:12.223-08:00We've been having a sick time here in the falls with Christmas and New years parties dominating the scene and various extra curricular activities filling in the gaps. Most of these gaps for the last two weeks have been wakeboarding and skiing at Orakei Korako (try pronouncing that one). I dragged Josh away from his supposed day of 'work' to come and play at one of my favourite spots anywhere in the world - I'm glad they dammed this part of the river... Anyway we found a choice new place for adventuring and Mr Neilson had the gopro so we filmed some stuff and he made a choice little edit.<br /></p><p>"What did you do yesterday"<br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18449258" frameborder="0" height="225" width="400"></iframe><br /><p></p><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/18449258">Waikato river day!!!</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user5485428">Southern Underground Productions</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><p>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-32133440623562982922010-12-20T14:25:00.001-08:002010-12-20T16:41:29.213-08:00Christmas creekingLast week our household decided to roll with Jamie on one of his trips around lake Waikaremoana in the Urewera national park. It's a four day walk around a sick lake - especially when you have a boat to carry your packs/beer/wine and other assorted vital supplies from hut to hut. We had a mean time and with weather which wasn't amazing but fine for walking we happily started the drive back to Rotorua where we had missed a rather savage bender (by all accounts) for the xmas at Kaituna party.<br />Anyway, it just so happened that it had been raining the whole time we were away and things were starting to come alive in the Kaimais...<br />After being home for five minutes. I was sitting on the couch checking the guages (looking promising) and trying to get constructive conversation out of Josh (not so promising), when I saw a certain dark green Subaru with a full rack of boats fly up the road. Emergency measures were taken as a quick phone call established a Tuakopai special was in progress. paddling gear was fired in the back of the car and without further ado, team stinky took off to meet the other crews heading back towards the wairoa.<br />The put in found it on the low side but still good for a 12 person twilight bomb down one of the funnest (is that even a word?) creeks you can find anywhere.<br />With more rain being forecast, plans were made to keep the ball rolling for the next day and get back amongst it. The Waipapa was next on the list and with a slightly smaller crew we headed back over at the crack of morning tea for a run down a creek with some of the sickest boofs in the Kaimais.<br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67fHuBWIYFRJGfgljE7sfjnx1phyphenhyphen5T61hFh9_Y7Dy3xlfBcXcjgQyJ4d_nOiisZE3CLxdrH-iYQipE1wOicCZJpKDbXpCttV339Opqp0vmsN-H7b8iE_Whq7-yNLcMGDYEiDu4VIKPjcv/s1600/PC200922.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67fHuBWIYFRJGfgljE7sfjnx1phyphenhyphen5T61hFh9_Y7Dy3xlfBcXcjgQyJ4d_nOiisZE3CLxdrH-iYQipE1wOicCZJpKDbXpCttV339Opqp0vmsN-H7b8iE_Whq7-yNLcMGDYEiDu4VIKPjcv/s400/PC200922.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552895046006015410" border="0" /></a>B firing 'jism falls' - a 20 footer with a super super tight landing which launches you straight into a sick slide.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUxgitLslgsk0nSvj9BfihI7szmWPkUcuyit4tRxNxlOB0IuGaXYaKrFjD93M6KnwMytzr94JujXvl4IQpp6mjQtaaooW1UKoxbfr2PTnunLbWmRtdOc0j3VeurwfEIGSZzKUVhszLVK9/s1600/PC200939.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUxgitLslgsk0nSvj9BfihI7szmWPkUcuyit4tRxNxlOB0IuGaXYaKrFjD93M6KnwMytzr94JujXvl4IQpp6mjQtaaooW1UKoxbfr2PTnunLbWmRtdOc0j3VeurwfEIGSZzKUVhszLVK9/s400/PC200939.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552895054226611490" border="0" /></a>Me just about to maim the slut boat on the entrance to mojo gorge - there was about a 50-50 split of dented boats whether you ran the rapid or the seal launch right next to it...<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhigQ3xzzz4-HclVX3cBFdmZyzX24vdvjjIq93DngqJpryS3fQCpwENyn_AWkTamsZp4XN07YwT0Vi70UMqceqnV0Sx6DIOmjgVJ2dTXxTRzKjG-t2BLq6Q5PkhXPsFe5uuddm8AGBtKz/s1600/PC200927.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhigQ3xzzz4-HclVX3cBFdmZyzX24vdvjjIq93DngqJpryS3fQCpwENyn_AWkTamsZp4XN07YwT0Vi70UMqceqnV0Sx6DIOmjgVJ2dTXxTRzKjG-t2BLq6Q5PkhXPsFe5uuddm8AGBtKz/s400/PC200927.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552895047468952914" border="0" /></a>J dog running some in between mank<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewjA7OkcEoeqsuw9r4xznnH3iNhyphenhyphenLqhFyGicY0vb-NUqMCWtaDh4mHwAk9mw8HiNzdI-tRatdXszvKx2Av6ETdecjuZiMyXvM15oMvocGMGJNNwrbtObEtbyGN5jnb4i_66xs5b_0Hbfn/s1600/PC200941.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewjA7OkcEoeqsuw9r4xznnH3iNhyphenhyphenLqhFyGicY0vb-NUqMCWtaDh4mHwAk9mw8HiNzdI-tRatdXszvKx2Av6ETdecjuZiMyXvM15oMvocGMGJNNwrbtObEtbyGN5jnb4i_66xs5b_0Hbfn/s400/PC200941.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552895057957160418" border="0" /></a>Berno experiencing his first taste of the Kaimais on the second best boof of the day - the exit of mojo, a glorious 20ish footer with a sick entrance-to boof-to kickdown. Happy Christmas.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">All in all a mean five days and a good bit of luck getting some creeking in a week before Christmas! As I'm writing this the lifestylists of Okere Falls (who haven't used up their get out of work free cards) have gone South to chase the rain; possibly near Taihape, possibly the Tauranga Taupo... watch this space.<br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-63379917058749295502010-12-20T14:15:00.000-08:002010-12-20T14:23:09.689-08:00Waihi First DescentAt the end of October Myself and Tyler rallied down to the Hawkes Bay to try and tick the Waihi stream which Matt Danes found a couple of years ago. without any real idea of the scale of this thing we arrived to find it pumping - a section of big wide bedrock about 900m long which lost 100m in gradient... Anyway here's a video shot and edited by the esteemed Mr Neilson who was on camera due to a broken wing. Epic times.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.southernundergroundproductions.com/2010/12/southern-underground-productions-can.html?spref=bl">Southern Underground Productions: Waihi First Descent</a>: "Waihi Stream First Descent 2010 from Southern Underground Productions on Vimeo."<br /><br />Anyone want to argue about waterfalls now??Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-36309416012687583112010-09-19T15:04:00.000-07:002010-09-19T16:31:54.866-07:00Big. Water.Over the last few seasons the crew from up here have slowly been ticking off the creeks which run off the eastern side of the Kaimai ranges in Tauranga. The established classics like the Tuakopai and the Mangakarengorengo have turned into after work/school bomb runs and people have been looking further north for adventures into seldom or unrun drainages.<br />These runs are characterised by big slides, lots of vert and then usually a big beast of a drop down the bottom where a hard band of rock must run the length of the Kaimais, creating for the most part, a big portage.<br />After a wet winter, the boys had ticked off lots of runs, some new, some old and some revisited. The Rataroa, Te Puna and Aongatete (try saying those fast) all got checked out along with the Waipapa which is turning into the 'go to' when it's raining hard. I got back to the falls just in time for some horrid weather which fully soaked the ground to the point where the water was just running straight into the creeks - ideal.<br /><div style="text-align: left;">A day off on Sunday and a Northerly front cemented the plan on Saturday night - get to one of the reputedly 'best creeks in the Kaimais'. With only one descent a few years back, we were keen to check it out after hearing the stories and seeing the odd photo of super cool drops and slides, not to mention 'the big one' a suppposedly clean, unrun 90 footer....<br /></div>B and Ryan (along with Wills who got lucky having another week of uni because of some earthquake) were the instigators of said plan and we woke up early on Sunday to some doubt about the conditions (not quite as much rain as hoped) but decided to go anyway.<br />After all the usual stops (bakery, navigation, scouting, farmer, other farmer, toilet etc) we finally made it to the put in super fired up about what we were going to find downstream...<br /><br />And what a find it was! Horizon line after horizon line, all big, all clean, no manky boulder gardens just big drop/slide combos which kept coming. Constant rain stopped most chances of pics etc but we got a few...<br /> <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiqWUdH0xV6M_o0K2lg8wO6Yk8j5jP1WSmo3qwHPuly-M5pSs-HwBnddhh40uobEJuHIDvZEmoRijkhKDgWbKy4cnoy8G1DbAo_KXdg2-0Uk06g8YJeQMJwh1gFgzDv2bHP8iEd4JL7nr/s1600/B+first+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiqWUdH0xV6M_o0K2lg8wO6Yk8j5jP1WSmo3qwHPuly-M5pSs-HwBnddhh40uobEJuHIDvZEmoRijkhKDgWbKy4cnoy8G1DbAo_KXdg2-0Uk06g8YJeQMJwh1gFgzDv2bHP8iEd4JL7nr/s400/B+first+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518750959644152690" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">B running the second part of a rapid - a similar sized drop above into a slide into this. Sick!<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">A wee way in we came to a drop we had been waiting for. Scouting missions along with a tiny little thumbnail in kayak session from the first trip in here had us frothing about it. The drop had a tricky little entrance into a beautiful 25 foot drop. Right about now the rain stopped so we got cameras out and after some deliberation ("Bro what do reckon the line is?" "Well I dunno about you but I'm gonna boof the shit out of it!") young fulla sent it first. Everyone had sweet lines and the smiles got even bigger.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYaOQLRSa3j_7IIhvbjc4yu04F2Xc1NmqbAw-qEd4ZclB8KZYdXUYWdJatwxCu7kshJz5U7iavp8TXhvwIn6ZeUs0qJ52cr6RGYYBUinOdpNo3nU7E_BGWMQVCLahBXGbBW_8HDu6BgEe/s1600/B+25+footer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYaOQLRSa3j_7IIhvbjc4yu04F2Xc1NmqbAw-qEd4ZclB8KZYdXUYWdJatwxCu7kshJz5U7iavp8TXhvwIn6ZeUs0qJ52cr6RGYYBUinOdpNo3nU7E_BGWMQVCLahBXGbBW_8HDu6BgEe/s400/B+25+footer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518750952714158706" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Bayly getting it done again - mean<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">Below the drop we carried on down for a little bit, off a sweet little eight footer and then eddied out above one of those horizon lines that looks like it's dropping off the face of the earth. Yup, the biggy - supposedly 90 feet but undoubtedly a monster.<br />Getting out on the deck on the left we got to the lip and found ourselves looking a long way down at a narrow spout which looked to be throwing pretty far out. Not 90 but still a big drop - dubious glances were exchanged as we tried to talk ourselves into the line.<br />Ryan was pretty keen but wanted to check it from the other side so more to keep him company than anything else I went over to check it with him. B and Wills were portaging by this stage not liking the view from the left. We spent a while discussing lines etc and then I think the conversation went something along the lines of; "Bro worst case scenario is landing flat and that's not going to happen - and that portage looks savage", "Yeah shall we just send it?"<br />So the scene was set. Ryan was fired up to go first so once B and Wills got there to set safety it was game on.<br />He pulled out of the eddy, took a stroke off the lip and then tucked, where I lost sight of him it looked like he had a perfect line. Turned out that he had gone pretty sideways and separated his paddle on impact. Then it was my turn. I gave the old whistle then drifted down the eddy line, I pulled out into the current and as the lip went under me I felt just a tiny touch of rock on my hull - not ideal. Luckily I was already pulling on my right blade which straightened me and lifted my nose just a little. As I tucked I saw the landing and was pretty sure I had it sorted. It ended up being a super soft hit and I rolled up to the ubiquitous Ryan Lucas scream. <br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7AmOEXKsiSOjR9721WqWGQ_tm_nR1N_pbqUJ_4LHj7B0gKu6hVOZc1cdJ1pcI4uQQN4RKb0yZIQU4Mh2MKgWoeCe0ADnMKHudfj_ml9o6nuuhrulltWfj0doG44GXSpCxFG7TDl82e5M/s1600/Ryan+big+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7AmOEXKsiSOjR9721WqWGQ_tm_nR1N_pbqUJ_4LHj7B0gKu6hVOZc1cdJ1pcI4uQQN4RKb0yZIQU4Mh2MKgWoeCe0ADnMKHudfj_ml9o6nuuhrulltWfj0doG44GXSpCxFG7TDl82e5M/s400/Ryan+big+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518753328679009906" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Ryan sending it on the first D - 60 to 65 we reckon</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyglTVysPzVTV9XeYYWDjlLXa7P-UTeC7BgejxTyXcwK3aUE5gngGYhJhgBHGcffZWamKO8Ao62V4A5XKlHcP7owOhNpITfhrDl8kDEUysQhOqfRAFQYApyO975k5xGS-_BeUqd9KdFlS/s1600/Sanga+big+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyglTVysPzVTV9XeYYWDjlLXa7P-UTeC7BgejxTyXcwK3aUE5gngGYhJhgBHGcffZWamKO8Ao62V4A5XKlHcP7owOhNpITfhrDl8kDEUysQhOqfRAFQYApyO975k5xGS-_BeUqd9KdFlS/s400/Sanga+big+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518753334420008098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">My turn, getting ready for the hit.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">After the big one we asssumed the river would have run out of gradient and we just had some boogie to the takeout. We were ever so mistaken. Big rapids just kept coming at us, all super cool and surprisingly clean. Including the biggest slide of the day..<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEylc-Uu3iLjc2J1CPXyPWFKgpcdk1VWIGQR-wkmLyAqIpnp2PZdsIYU-2gfG625__jMQjDghIaL-DhWFAF9uWZdCSLB0d3EiHDrvq2wyKDAlS2HaxjHQ_JB-3T_Izn4u-CDC_YrxgckgS/s1600/boys+big+slide.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEylc-Uu3iLjc2J1CPXyPWFKgpcdk1VWIGQR-wkmLyAqIpnp2PZdsIYU-2gfG625__jMQjDghIaL-DhWFAF9uWZdCSLB0d3EiHDrvq2wyKDAlS2HaxjHQ_JB-3T_Izn4u-CDC_YrxgckgS/s400/boys+big+slide.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518750974008672642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">"How deep do you reckon the bottom is"?<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEykz0EW2ymdErA5jpcFs3woyQbZZnsbSKDlzA5aFr2dswsOJcXSDKnWE_-ZOq0N1yMY5w_7GKluePq5FZAr7w5Ob0t7zn8HqBQUAXslp2pl4bAvCznDwlTU9eX05kK3b-5Z4fntjaYpMM/s1600/wills+big+slide.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEykz0EW2ymdErA5jpcFs3woyQbZZnsbSKDlzA5aFr2dswsOJcXSDKnWE_-ZOq0N1yMY5w_7GKluePq5FZAr7w5Ob0t7zn8HqBQUAXslp2pl4bAvCznDwlTU9eX05kK3b-5Z4fntjaYpMM/s400/wills+big+slide.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518753350835622818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Wills probing<br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWP5Fd51q6yOP5B09HdlCFm_q0Zm_I-iO4ygDI0cb609_Bi4STHQ5MzlV9CqmVFg3nmDzPO5Tg_pw1Ya6O3t8x9CLZvVYYiX7bvEaZR003RsVoPaMrXpRcbz-_658BoozCwB3Js5L6dyG5/s1600/ryan+at+big+slide.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWP5Fd51q6yOP5B09HdlCFm_q0Zm_I-iO4ygDI0cb609_Bi4STHQ5MzlV9CqmVFg3nmDzPO5Tg_pw1Ya6O3t8x9CLZvVYYiX7bvEaZR003RsVoPaMrXpRcbz-_658BoozCwB3Js5L6dyG5/s400/ryan+at+big+slide.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518750984698168626" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Ryan at the bottom giving some scale to it.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">More rapids led us to still more horizon lines where we came across this gem.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6inS-b2Akk3Ms4eE-cmu_iWrUjJ0Y_ojMrWq-IuKwhcFU9fvGj6hQ-1do4EKgywWZ8CC0I7k6JH3GJZjYSt4hsjGKX0AsSQ7LfLP1rQPsPP3Z_F4FHY_yQo6DcWzA0sm1whF9ksZ8b09v/s1600/B+sick+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6inS-b2Akk3Ms4eE-cmu_iWrUjJ0Y_ojMrWq-IuKwhcFU9fvGj6hQ-1do4EKgywWZ8CC0I7k6JH3GJZjYSt4hsjGKX0AsSQ7LfLP1rQPsPP3Z_F4FHY_yQo6DcWzA0sm1whF9ksZ8b09v/s400/B+sick+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518750969917216946" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Happy times</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGR2ly6vtlnixGluRqTEWh9A_i1HHO7S4VWfBgVz_K6XxmwFttnjmpPNFlETy_cWcKTmxKnZjCHCIDgL1oE5ofpZslS-UAUjaN0ZIL73irAAG74c5xcfrxdvLBfjFi1Hk3g-u-ynknGNS/s1600/Sanga+mean+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGR2ly6vtlnixGluRqTEWh9A_i1HHO7S4VWfBgVz_K6XxmwFttnjmpPNFlETy_cWcKTmxKnZjCHCIDgL1oE5ofpZslS-UAUjaN0ZIL73irAAG74c5xcfrxdvLBfjFi1Hk3g-u-ynknGNS/s400/Sanga+mean+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518753341244502290" border="0" /></a>Me about to fly<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Some low angle slides and fun boogie (not the usual Kaimai boulder gardens) finally got us to the take out tired, sore and super stoked at the sick day we just had. Definitely one of the best runs in the Kaimais for sure. Cant wait to go back!!<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-63923191186653261562010-09-15T14:51:00.000-07:002010-09-15T15:43:53.715-07:00HB GemAfter a very cold stint in Wanaka/Christchurch I made it back to the Hawkes Bay on the back of a storm (and in front of an earthquake) so all of the rivers were up nice and high. I'd already recruited my little sis Harry to paddle with as she was on uni holidays. We scavenged a couple of boats and made our way up our road (the Napier/Taihape) to check out a section on the Tutaekuri river (unfortunate name that, means dog shit...) The Tutaekuri is one of the bigger rivers emptying into the Bay and for most of it's length is super shallow and braided. However right up the top it's got a bit of gradient where it drops off the Kaweka ranges.<br /><br />The reason this section hadn't been run was because of two waterfalls marked on the topo map - an 8m and a 5m, which given the nature of the gorge they're in would be pretty full on to just bomb into. We'd already scouted the section prior to our Cali trip though and we were surprised to find no big drops, either the topo map was wrong (gasp) or they had been filled in with shingle from a big flood.<br /><br />Anyway, Harry and I set the shuttle and walked the 15 knee destroying minutes down the Mackintosh track to the put in.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSmdXRxn0gL2zJpbO3YQNcBfmtm7nDUutqTZ2itBatB4mYJFOtiiCF-KIMGFHiTKQE3-a0ZDtQlQe0HPPwQ39BZ_6XVv1fhAJ9bMjEf1txl_BTCgIXtXz5aJ7m0XMnQPavjv0edIOLakP/s1600/put+in.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSmdXRxn0gL2zJpbO3YQNcBfmtm7nDUutqTZ2itBatB4mYJFOtiiCF-KIMGFHiTKQE3-a0ZDtQlQe0HPPwQ39BZ_6XVv1fhAJ9bMjEf1txl_BTCgIXtXz5aJ7m0XMnQPavjv0edIOLakP/s400/put+in.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517264724657225314" border="0" /></a>This is the first view you get of the run and the put in - pretty choice!!<br /></div><br />As soon as we got on we found ourselves committed in a super deep and pretty inescapable gorge. The rapids alternate between little bouldery 3/4 numbers and some super fun little slides and bedrock sections.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaIVfOSZxwrtsaEYzMKCeMYGWXdlQt5R5Lzd-w3Wvq3dwZHqbGk723CjFsDKZf9wCagJzYzO5WnZMjVp4ZObTep-Z4V50g8e9zxfoSi_VQMdziDbv2xx7F9zmbq4IrtPbQcNApbbVUbFQ7/s1600/undercut.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaIVfOSZxwrtsaEYzMKCeMYGWXdlQt5R5Lzd-w3Wvq3dwZHqbGk723CjFsDKZf9wCagJzYzO5WnZMjVp4ZObTep-Z4V50g8e9zxfoSi_VQMdziDbv2xx7F9zmbq4IrtPbQcNApbbVUbFQ7/s400/undercut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517265345223658722" border="0" /></a>Harry on her first creeking outing on a cool little slide with a bit of an undercut to keep the heart going<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The bedrock section in the middle is super fun and waterslidey and will be sick when we get in there when she's pumping. There's a cool six foot sloper...<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZd8NrNMk4SSMCEISV9UzBcpRdwR9R2Ad_bpDSZINLdIOpHMFxgyf_QmdHiAO6tr4RWresLFtm3aa0iTomR8uiNYti4nHkC93mRcOhfYzyaHM06rd5lr_aRAZW2y4gOzDU8tdBjqlIwsnD/s1600/drop+me.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZd8NrNMk4SSMCEISV9UzBcpRdwR9R2Ad_bpDSZINLdIOpHMFxgyf_QmdHiAO6tr4RWresLFtm3aa0iTomR8uiNYti4nHkC93mRcOhfYzyaHM06rd5lr_aRAZW2y4gOzDU8tdBjqlIwsnD/s400/drop+me.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517264699516131922" border="0" /></a>The point and shoot not quite up to the old 'hold the button down and get more than one shot deal'<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOcmTRK2dr84CtivAZtykskfLcpjSQonDUTCiw6VFwr7ahtUsuyGWIQKDPyfPmDTVNL11lapWw3if5hhjRpqXwQmzCErdXhZfZHnglN1hImerOd0r3GPwXJ0C5IQrw9p2xbsPRZKhTWU_/s1600/harry+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOcmTRK2dr84CtivAZtykskfLcpjSQonDUTCiw6VFwr7ahtUsuyGWIQKDPyfPmDTVNL11lapWw3if5hhjRpqXwQmzCErdXhZfZHnglN1hImerOd0r3GPwXJ0C5IQrw9p2xbsPRZKhTWU_/s400/harry+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517264710867730962" border="0" /></a>and not coping very well with moving kayaks and lack of light. Harry testing the depth - it's deep.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The end of the bedrock section is the crux of the run with a boulder garden enticing you down and then swinging left and tightening up into a very Waihohonu-ish box hole complete with a recirculating eddy. This alone will be the deciding factor for super high water runs - not sure if it will get worse or wash out. You can't really scout or portage it either so it will be interesting...<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5vaRqQg19IDyDGqc5Aw3dZXZZvUEfa5WZW8-_3WZChLxvTWWB6b9GZN7tNC-Y89rdDV1dmmuJu9keqcQbGBi70metASgbVMIfhffmVxrVuwqrQLEqyu8LCVdswdJTdoQb0JXyS2Hd5UY/s1600/Box+rapid.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5vaRqQg19IDyDGqc5Aw3dZXZZvUEfa5WZW8-_3WZChLxvTWWB6b9GZN7tNC-Y89rdDV1dmmuJu9keqcQbGBi70metASgbVMIfhffmVxrVuwqrQLEqyu8LCVdswdJTdoQb0JXyS2Hd5UY/s400/Box+rapid.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517264687033723986" border="0" /></a>Harry about to discover the joys of paddling upstream out the back of an eddy. It's steeper than it looks in the photo and the right hand side had a bit of a cavey pockety thing.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">After this rapid there were lots more boulder gardens and another cool grade 2/3 gorge where a big side creek comes in from the right.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDJN3CihOYPxiEY-gphF7xx_jonq9MBdgTx3VJ1xg7kgQT0wvgmXfl5azWAtueMhhKte9FA0eqCBGiBD9bYxxXNagvwyz_cesqAl6Djw1NmM1iWYqOg-rcML-Rr6o8CkbQDbVK7r_tsbW/s1600/Harry+gorge.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDJN3CihOYPxiEY-gphF7xx_jonq9MBdgTx3VJ1xg7kgQT0wvgmXfl5azWAtueMhhKte9FA0eqCBGiBD9bYxxXNagvwyz_cesqAl6Djw1NmM1iWYqOg-rcML-Rr6o8CkbQDbVK7r_tsbW/s400/Harry+gorge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517264716761823426" border="0" /></a>Harry soaking it all in in the super cool gorges.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This run was super fun and ideal for someone just getting into creeking with nothing too hard and minimal sieves/wood to deal with. Any less water than we had would make the boulder gardens pretty average. It's a mean run for us to have on the back doorstep and adds that little bit more to the area.<br />Not really sure who reads this stuff but if you're from the HB canoe club it would be a mean run for you to use. I've got a more guidebook type write up I can send you.<br /><br />As for now I've moved back to the falls and straight back into epic spring conditions for the Kaimais. The boys have been going hard with Tuakopai, Waipapa and even a Whatakau run. To top it off we jumped on the Wainui the other day and had one of the sickest days boating I've done in NZ. Can anyone say 60 footer...<br /></div><br /><br /></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-21629045366182627862010-08-05T15:02:00.001-07:002010-08-05T15:34:53.081-07:00Wake up!!Here's a little vid from our clear lake mission a while back. Shot off Josh's gopro, sorry some of the old action shots are a little shakey due to our extremely advanced filming technique (hold camera in hand while trying to balance on bouncy ass boat) Anyway, enjoy...<br /><br /><br /><object height="225" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/a3RkvIWBNj0&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/a3RkvIWBNj0&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="225" width="300"></embed></object><br /><br />Next week I'm off to the other end of the spectrum - below zero temps and snow at the Burton NZ Open. Should get some mean photos. Stay tuned.Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-61749043976337347492010-07-24T16:20:00.000-07:002010-07-24T17:29:18.343-07:00Money shotI used to think that if you were going to make a river it would basically be like the Kaituna with maybe some more waterfalls; warm water, easy access, sick rapids and german beer at the takeout/put in.<br /><br />I was wrong.<br /><br />There are some places in the kayaking world world which attract dirtbag gypises like moths to a flame. Places like the Nile, the west coast, Chile and California are notorious for the lifestyle and whitewater on offer.<br /><br />However, there is one river in particular and one section of that river which holds one of the most photographed and iconic drops at least in Cali if not the world. Ever since I started kayaking I remember looking at photos and video of people flying off in a locked in granite gorge and thinking "if I ever make it to that place I will be a happy little chappy"<br />That place is Cherry bomb gorge on the Upper Cherry creek.<br />This run doesn't give itself up easily, with a 12 mile walk and a 35kg hunk of the most unergonomic plastic it is possible to engineer on your back, it's pretty much a given that you're going to be hurting by the time you reach the put in.<br />Once again we found ourselves at a trail head with a huge crew of nine kiwi boaters, three trail support/professional shuttlers, 15 cameras, our chief strategist/ball of enthusiasm/live guidebook and a dog.<br /><br />I won't bore you with a description of the walk other than to say we started at 5:30 in the morning and it took 5-6 hours. Average.<br /><br />The put in was awesome though - a huge granite valley with no dirt in sight and miles (literally miles) of low angle, super chilled out slides.<br />When we finally made it to the cherry bomb entry I believe the quote for the day was "Everyone's running it, it's mandatory, I won't allow anyone to portage!!!"(Garcia, 2010) With that decision out of the way we rallied into the upper cherry bomb gorge. Some cool slides and rapids get you to a lake in the gorge which then gets you to a portage right above cherry bomb.<br />Cherry bomb itself is a sick slide to kicker that drops you straight into a sick gorge with another ten or so drops back to back. One eddy and then it's into the jedi slides - awesome slides which lead straight into the teacups. Words don't do justice to this section of river at all so I'll leave the essay here and put some pics up.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhYHgwJrfokHix8B7S_o8Hrru6Um6t9x2mIsdrT0Ak_BGIYzviCs4aSXTkq32xlAqfK9mrVIEP5OyrNFIMUIeAME9Wuua_J2nrIDien5GmBCzbi8q5ecltMHYGchCxDekzUxmjy_sYOHf/s1600/walking+teacups.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhYHgwJrfokHix8B7S_o8Hrru6Um6t9x2mIsdrT0Ak_BGIYzviCs4aSXTkq32xlAqfK9mrVIEP5OyrNFIMUIeAME9Wuua_J2nrIDien5GmBCzbi8q5ecltMHYGchCxDekzUxmjy_sYOHf/s400/walking+teacups.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497630258886852002" border="0" /></a>The walk from the bottom of the teacups, I have no idea how many times we did this walk over two days but it was lots.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYOJEcdei1LID1FfhVGSAgH10CTwDAw3WXfFfByQjgpvh9mZTs8R5oo_QL2e_vK3egLebgOGji5BrGX00A6cirOGzO5TMW0m-gp9DObDWhKscgTl2-wvgbPL-ZsvlVvByz59djypsxmRI/s1600/teacup+bombing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYOJEcdei1LID1FfhVGSAgH10CTwDAw3WXfFfByQjgpvh9mZTs8R5oo_QL2e_vK3egLebgOGji5BrGX00A6cirOGzO5TMW0m-gp9DObDWhKscgTl2-wvgbPL-ZsvlVvByz59djypsxmRI/s400/teacup+bombing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497630230922299666" border="0" /></a>Twelve people rolling into the Jedi slides - sick<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0PdBmbOw6qaVh5IIi64OiW6JsrXn3DwXHI7Nq-LmiFQbSy1uRXCfXG613_kmjLmC-r8tVo2wCqTish7pZZZRVIC_AhuwCKuAPB2zUtOy3AMHdzy79Bo-9x3CtcnHcJMxBeQguT0dym6k/s1600/more+teacups.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0PdBmbOw6qaVh5IIi64OiW6JsrXn3DwXHI7Nq-LmiFQbSy1uRXCfXG613_kmjLmC-r8tVo2wCqTish7pZZZRVIC_AhuwCKuAPB2zUtOy3AMHdzy79Bo-9x3CtcnHcJMxBeQguT0dym6k/s400/more+teacups.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497628167272010626" border="0" /></a>The bottom teacups<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JdJTfr5KnOMWOz8GKIofTkIt8Jm3muLHwQmrCvZQmPDH6fVk340mrvAZTPJzmhIqhVZ5OJ2t_XQA4T1FcYW7U05gAhDo1wvoeRlBCkxE_qA0BsovWXR1o4LyHw_okHGoxXOwHqBzLDrO/s1600/flinstone.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JdJTfr5KnOMWOz8GKIofTkIt8Jm3muLHwQmrCvZQmPDH6fVk340mrvAZTPJzmhIqhVZ5OJ2t_XQA4T1FcYW7U05gAhDo1wvoeRlBCkxE_qA0BsovWXR1o4LyHw_okHGoxXOwHqBzLDrO/s400/flinstone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497630219993355234" border="0" /></a>From the other angle... Our camp is on the left of the big pool<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje98kxURVVBGlbRmF34RgKkkEnvUQ1FHxJZHC9tARyUm-BOxYJ53h_LCLSLkmoZtWTdQQB6mmYMXPDfnAMP9-7NFotCTrv0nT9u98SSsvyXejgcWaGnRTBf0QEj2ywF0sW9Az7pFQujOEs/s1600/sanga+c+bomb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje98kxURVVBGlbRmF34RgKkkEnvUQ1FHxJZHC9tARyUm-BOxYJ53h_LCLSLkmoZtWTdQQB6mmYMXPDfnAMP9-7NFotCTrv0nT9u98SSsvyXejgcWaGnRTBf0QEj2ywF0sW9Az7pFQujOEs/s400/sanga+c+bomb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497628156000217778" border="0" /></a>The money shot - cherry bomb, glorious.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgefFHRuesuVwOI3RhgoWLcSpTO1xV3ljssqiZNuxJjL7iuh9GHrjr15U8-TRntlPmtWPa6btN2zc5BgAnSIHxD71HxonqvCVexkviYwjg2LxzD0uYCOEUG0YIQZlCbH8-q1XeKAjBqsRt/s1600/tree+tunnel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgefFHRuesuVwOI3RhgoWLcSpTO1xV3ljssqiZNuxJjL7iuh9GHrjr15U8-TRntlPmtWPa6btN2zc5BgAnSIHxD71HxonqvCVexkviYwjg2LxzD0uYCOEUG0YIQZlCbH8-q1XeKAjBqsRt/s400/tree+tunnel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497630248920252290" border="0" /></a>On a slightly different note... some culture - Mum wedged under the tunnel tree after we all got out and she lifted a little... Not pictured - driving back under at twenty miles "pin it we can fit!!!" ish nerve wracking..<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZF-7JpVeJ84-gP_xS17za6BHfpZ5B3QiZcWi3qFeczag3Uc5nh7HHwWfZWahB0VuroWECNZh5SU6iZV6XZV1QcWN2LQQjEqu2t2ooDEF23pL2iwPN2v8v5ebiOWDhYxAh9d5yllm4bSeR/s1600/babies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZF-7JpVeJ84-gP_xS17za6BHfpZ5B3QiZcWi3qFeczag3Uc5nh7HHwWfZWahB0VuroWECNZh5SU6iZV6XZV1QcWN2LQQjEqu2t2ooDEF23pL2iwPN2v8v5ebiOWDhYxAh9d5yllm4bSeR/s400/babies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497628131385044946" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What would you write as a caption here?? Seriously? Heavy petting can lead to unplanned pregnancy? I just don't know.<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJ-kUnM8HXzuLfOH5grG_axPdCADpWAeaVPC-elOaMZ2rnlAcJi46eKHeZ2VtCWfHFULGk18wmGNwafXM1E6aG-U6XW0we8M0Yti9Na28Npqz_ryGcfN6sI7fbiwQZynpvqxYjAUOTMWj/s1600/glory+hole.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJ-kUnM8HXzuLfOH5grG_axPdCADpWAeaVPC-elOaMZ2rnlAcJi46eKHeZ2VtCWfHFULGk18wmGNwafXM1E6aG-U6XW0we8M0Yti9Na28Npqz_ryGcfN6sI7fbiwQZynpvqxYjAUOTMWj/s400/glory+hole.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497628142211557634" border="0" /></a>Glorious<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUdvGuB88WZkL1cTW0GTwxjoIyfaulVjEAYiG_ZXGeSqGyIekou1V2JivP1vSUNFgIkaqsRRhfPAVE2QJiNCJLuWKV-9im20x6IlfN1DQ7qAP0nj2S3Makxi9jdDDSvfXtK_Wi_ymg9XY/s1600/moustaches.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUdvGuB88WZkL1cTW0GTwxjoIyfaulVjEAYiG_ZXGeSqGyIekou1V2JivP1vSUNFgIkaqsRRhfPAVE2QJiNCJLuWKV-9im20x6IlfN1DQ7qAP0nj2S3Makxi9jdDDSvfXtK_Wi_ymg9XY/s400/moustaches.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497628148972249410" border="0" /></a>Lauder - Conspicuously absent, Roil - average to poor, Neilson - fair to above average, Bayly - glorious<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">*All pics for this post are from Rach and Brad. Cheer Cuzzies.<br /></div><br /></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-34323265462538938282010-07-15T08:20:00.001-07:002010-07-15T09:10:04.424-07:00Belated updateSeeing as I have been busy/lazy and haven't updated anything for a while I decided that you can just read everyone else's blogs for our Dinkey/West Cherry/Hospital rock trips and I will post stuff about our extra-curricular rest day activities which are highly entertaining, informative, all in one, drive in, pre packaged, americanised national park experiences which we then proceed to demolish with a characteristic combination of New Zealand charm and Kiwi mongrel. This can include but is not limited to; Climbing all over delicate rock formations which took millions of years to develop, driving through pristine meadows with the doors/windows open/down playing obnoxiously loud power ballads, stalking wild bears in fields which then turn out to have cubs up the tree you just walked under, drawing a face on a watermelon and carrying it on a public walkway and then making fun of the person in front of you who has their ridiculous pomerian rat dog in a carry harness on their chest....<br /><br />Oh and we had a fully sick, punky brewster day on the East Kaweah yesterday with a perfect flow. Redemption was achieved after our last misadventure in there at high flow. Here's some photos of all of the above. I have lost my mind with all of the rubbish coming out of my head onto this page.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdHQNSHy7EHXgbaRCTdHryBXefQ1wc_MfLWjgQqBrh9xilGPHBH10RA2YFz3RCtDynLsdKPKiyLTOPT7Ki6v6eQccAy2DubRH3f071S0_xh5zvXioAhMjxVExn0Z8OwxQrR-HoKStHa6b/s1600/evan+triple+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdHQNSHy7EHXgbaRCTdHryBXefQ1wc_MfLWjgQqBrh9xilGPHBH10RA2YFz3RCtDynLsdKPKiyLTOPT7Ki6v6eQccAy2DubRH3f071S0_xh5zvXioAhMjxVExn0Z8OwxQrR-HoKStHa6b/s400/evan+triple+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154915474172386" border="0" /></a>Garcia styling triple drop. Fancy that.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7e-mvk1tsTOSL7PUTsfD6dx6pCb3UlGTkBGcdIhx2tLkoRw8AyBd271rfaewQFChfAcBycnKI-Fs0ezLfJw9ng1I_HGr6lDELSIKWOKelRaSoidIbhdj8ZEekYfCsvSavLVvF238DJv-/s1600/sanga+triple+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7e-mvk1tsTOSL7PUTsfD6dx6pCb3UlGTkBGcdIhx2tLkoRw8AyBd271rfaewQFChfAcBycnKI-Fs0ezLfJw9ng1I_HGr6lDELSIKWOKelRaSoidIbhdj8ZEekYfCsvSavLVvF238DJv-/s400/sanga+triple+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154925921223058" border="0" /></a>Sanga boofing in, pre rolling in the boil and doing the second drop upside down<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jfGd5tWGBSGLAwqm0av-NsoNtZR624lP2wHHCLCTTeNx752pdzjV62eXsd4u6OoZIPaNBzvcMHz8cAwLiZ78IO0quRHvwAfNFfXeBSz21Rs87y0l0ajiTwL4ZqICBkcUvshMrzQIkf3W/s1600/sanga+gorilla+.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jfGd5tWGBSGLAwqm0av-NsoNtZR624lP2wHHCLCTTeNx752pdzjV62eXsd4u6OoZIPaNBzvcMHz8cAwLiZ78IO0quRHvwAfNFfXeBSz21Rs87y0l0ajiTwL4ZqICBkcUvshMrzQIkf3W/s400/sanga+gorilla+.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154949635875394" border="0" /></a>I'm going to eat you!!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzM0iwipO5dEK416ulHDEkX3t6AC4ERmWKKZeWtpvJ2pF63gBlZKtyeNmgIo1rxbShHNWbJ__qeStdh1xI3ofp5aL9BOgrUlsD4zo7sq9L3InQJ6yugBhNN5WoRUwbh_WZf762fe7eKoa/s1600/B+my+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzM0iwipO5dEK416ulHDEkX3t6AC4ERmWKKZeWtpvJ2pF63gBlZKtyeNmgIo1rxbShHNWbJ__qeStdh1xI3ofp5aL9BOgrUlsD4zo7sq9L3InQJ6yugBhNN5WoRUwbh_WZf762fe7eKoa/s400/B+my+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494155150073131906" border="0" /></a>Mr Bayly cruising into the drop that got me the first time around<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_yvr_cbdz-ipG3PPo8wtbGBRIoyT50bNf6ATcg3ZxxfNp8lDsI7Ud1UIEPt09WyTdvUCLwgTwYgBY-ZNICzSd7C7w8vR7g8zO7RTPymNiEPdYJ-1ZMNdw2S1XSMkAD1ruoHrHlOguDams/s1600/sanga+double+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_yvr_cbdz-ipG3PPo8wtbGBRIoyT50bNf6ATcg3ZxxfNp8lDsI7Ud1UIEPt09WyTdvUCLwgTwYgBY-ZNICzSd7C7w8vR7g8zO7RTPymNiEPdYJ-1ZMNdw2S1XSMkAD1ruoHrHlOguDams/s400/sanga+double+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154895342089298" border="0" /></a>Double drop. Excellent.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16SRbf4mx_eADGYmQW3J7XB0rT_g8OfiTDM0v2Sg4zSpEmgJV7ComndcXbIMerw4K4uiefG8xWQjq7nNp7qAl_ns955zJNz0N1yb3aihwka05rLMADJ-1CKQjmJ38qn03-VnkXVaN5j_Y/s1600/bridge+jump.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16SRbf4mx_eADGYmQW3J7XB0rT_g8OfiTDM0v2Sg4zSpEmgJV7ComndcXbIMerw4K4uiefG8xWQjq7nNp7qAl_ns955zJNz0N1yb3aihwka05rLMADJ-1CKQjmJ38qn03-VnkXVaN5j_Y/s400/bridge+jump.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154902622471122" border="0" /></a>James Anthony Garrod backflipping off a bridge in Yosemite. Shortly after this several rangers in short shorts felt the urge to tell us this was actually illegal and we were setting a bad example for the "children and families" The same rangers then noticed we were parked illegally and our registration on mum was out of date. Peace ensued as we talked our way out of a fine. See what I mean about the charm/mongrel dichotomy?<br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*On a side note to this, note all of the rafts in the background. They will put thousands of people down this stretch of river in rafts all year but we get arrested if we kayak in the Yosemite national park. This is America! We're Americans! Retards. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyq3zWjTlNaabJljAx7N587beeKxnZ9NQaiYnayrOU2DcMpx-rbfq8SiDb0Ng-SPmIPRDETrEZRrmpIRtko8ae3oflJLXc0VjvcvHuSeEzi_HTHERlVpJpC_TjfvJPYCD8xO3Lxp93TYLI/s1600/B+yosemite.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyq3zWjTlNaabJljAx7N587beeKxnZ9NQaiYnayrOU2DcMpx-rbfq8SiDb0Ng-SPmIPRDETrEZRrmpIRtko8ae3oflJLXc0VjvcvHuSeEzi_HTHERlVpJpC_TjfvJPYCD8xO3Lxp93TYLI/s400/B+yosemite.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154075268573570" border="0" /></a>Bayly. Craaaaggggggssss.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_And4lIIKPijPjpmTjjwBj5Q5ZczUyZ8gM4F8vRwQt84SEVhNXEDejC6IjBB4fJSOvYbmKyRuEhEiNfG_ihb0AUtIt3c_mcrOYlN-hFoYZrRziCmNIn4GCy5XUiRV7xP-lLfJq1smKsoJ/s1600/bear.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_And4lIIKPijPjpmTjjwBj5Q5ZczUyZ8gM4F8vRwQt84SEVhNXEDejC6IjBB4fJSOvYbmKyRuEhEiNfG_ihb0AUtIt3c_mcrOYlN-hFoYZrRziCmNIn4GCy5XUiRV7xP-lLfJq1smKsoJ/s400/bear.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154055951826930" border="0" /></a>Casual mum bear deciding we were too close to her cub and we should probably leave...<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBrBn37e_gEzXbdkVYDydXizqMSfHXSpfxv8SQVr0iNDyF3B8YuLaYIOqa7bZ-Nehxf7W91cVdGhk3TLT8te82kZ6nyzjXviyy1t7A7q9uV1jfvEzI3Xx4uofUzPPuEf1K7HGCDoKZQ0RY/s1600/big+tree.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBrBn37e_gEzXbdkVYDydXizqMSfHXSpfxv8SQVr0iNDyF3B8YuLaYIOqa7bZ-Nehxf7W91cVdGhk3TLT8te82kZ6nyzjXviyy1t7A7q9uV1jfvEzI3Xx4uofUzPPuEf1K7HGCDoKZQ0RY/s400/big+tree.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154042642348978" border="0" /></a>Biggest trees in the world apparantly. 1300 tons that fella. Good firewood though.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKBD_kDceg_MTDSRv-Sbr_Xhl_oYran4bYo4N6-9N0Zmf2muU3IjqpdHU1xa93nVPBzqwd-1bRbWHQQK99Z6f43uvP62DXfXnrKukjPVs9QNrRpf8nRXf3xFsUI1HfW-8MXqY-GYTdgES/s1600/crew+yoemite.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKBD_kDceg_MTDSRv-Sbr_Xhl_oYran4bYo4N6-9N0Zmf2muU3IjqpdHU1xa93nVPBzqwd-1bRbWHQQK99Z6f43uvP62DXfXnrKukjPVs9QNrRpf8nRXf3xFsUI1HfW-8MXqY-GYTdgES/s400/crew+yoemite.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494154037945673186" border="0" /></a>Team kiwi with token american. And a dog.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Oh and all of the photos were shamelessly taken from Mr J Mitchell's camera. Nice work nug.<br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-67725848134578975132010-07-02T09:12:00.000-07:002010-07-07T10:22:06.921-07:00Royal GorgeThis has to be one of the most anticipated runs in the whole of California. A sketchy put in, super remote location and some HUGE rapids make it one of the runs which gets spoken of in reverent tones in beaten up cars and dingy bars all over the state. Stories of epic trips come out of Royal every year which only serve to fuel the gossip mill.<br />This season, like everything else, Royal was flowing 5-6 weeks later than normal and we had been eagerly waiting for the flows to drop into the runnable window (of course this differed for some with a super early trip going in super high and walking all of the big stuff).<br /><br />It was like waiting for a Christmas day which kept shifting further away and I was getting stressed that I wouldn't get it. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. With a little kiwi crew of Brad and Toni we joined up with Evan Garcia, Will Pruett and Drew Duvall. Evan wanted to wait until flows were a little lower becasue he was hatching a plan - more on that later.<br /><br />Ok bear with me here because I have to set the scene a little bit.<br />The put in for Royal is on private land and even though it's only for 5 metres the owners/manager are known for stopping kayakers getting on and even having them arrested for tresspassing. For this reason you have to be cunning and get your boat all loaded up and your gear on before you get there. We did all of this at a pull over further up the road and it pretty much just served to make us more and more nervous about the run.<br /><br />We got to the put in and it was a mad scramble getting boats off, running to the river and putting on before anyone came and tried to stop us. We had a 200m flat to warm up on, a portage around a dam/weir and then it was all on.<br />Royal gorge didn't muck around with any lead in rubbish - it was straight into some pretty steep, very tight, low volume creeking. With Evan and his photographic memory leading the charge we made good time through the steep, semi mank into a cleaner section (which was still steep). An hour and a half saw us at the first of the biggy's of the run.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOg_uxHVdH8oEzGmqfThThUUVx49PDHZ7PflLKh0l3xrXo8a2sGqsogg_nLswbbhqCw4fdgwAk-c6TNAjjL1iojJ02XmfolBEvGz1iRvmBWnzEZJpWNID6__QvBJmjklTOYiC36xhGRGQ/s1600/heath+one.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOg_uxHVdH8oEzGmqfThThUUVx49PDHZ7PflLKh0l3xrXo8a2sGqsogg_nLswbbhqCw4fdgwAk-c6TNAjjL1iojJ02XmfolBEvGz1iRvmBWnzEZJpWNID6__QvBJmjklTOYiC36xhGRGQ/s400/heath+one.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489350150671807362" border="0" /></a>Heath one from the lip<br /></div><br />The heath springs gorge is the first staunch part of Royal. It starts off with a burly lead in then a 35-40 footer - Heath one. It then carries on to Heath two, a 40 - 50 footer into a pool with a slot 15 footer to exit. After this the river enters the lower Heath gorge which is a staunch set of 5+ rapids in an inescapable canyon.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0CazeXggpAK_Jof7P5F7yDqZnwdJuSrBOKiPvGfkSsyJOlH5057oMiazxkD2zy-mwAqJIrmQG-UMjEN-F1-UEg2JxKfzQE2cgPBw9_0Hqlk8QmgpusVXA7TtjGumX4pSnbY_nO4N_RZsV/s1600/me+heath+one.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0CazeXggpAK_Jof7P5F7yDqZnwdJuSrBOKiPvGfkSsyJOlH5057oMiazxkD2zy-mwAqJIrmQG-UMjEN-F1-UEg2JxKfzQE2cgPBw9_0Hqlk8QmgpusVXA7TtjGumX4pSnbY_nO4N_RZsV/s400/me+heath+one.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489350160030831266" border="0" /></a>Me running Heath one.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We all ran Heath one with good times except for Brad snapping his paddle. Evan and Drew were fired up for Heath two so we set safety/cameras everywhere. Evan went first and greased it (funny how he seems to do that a lot..). Drew went over the bars and his deck imploded and he only just made the eddy before the slot drop which would have been savage to run with a full boat. The boys then ran the gorge while we portaged around it.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWFY1UScEvC9sNfBmk-xiCjkDeDEEBrzCd3LDqy8O0-eCmoaRqiSn75h2zQ7iw0_eHGhiTWPwsBtweuu12KbiVDrD5A54jE1-U4aMBxmg8HgpilYwokLgpcqm9Az_aN_Oqzy9YuHQEbBb/s1600/drew+heath+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWFY1UScEvC9sNfBmk-xiCjkDeDEEBrzCd3LDqy8O0-eCmoaRqiSn75h2zQ7iw0_eHGhiTWPwsBtweuu12KbiVDrD5A54jE1-U4aMBxmg8HgpilYwokLgpcqm9Az_aN_Oqzy9YuHQEbBb/s400/drew+heath+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489350172113366610" border="0" /></a>Drew running Heath two<br /><br /></div>After the Heath gorge there were some fun rapids and slides until the rattlesnake entry gorge. This had a portage and then a rapid with a rather retentive hole in it.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc95hq4oQ9u8b_FKz2KYYEBvTJgI_79LX0lJflcZNhNYksqfE91QVRnCtKzAYoTTAxgLkvknTNoUw0-15CtGi0YgelCbvuGE0PUVPEaBskTMWrmsrR_Omtp49Ynue8eTZ5JX1vq8yw80DT/s1600/evan+rattle+gorge.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc95hq4oQ9u8b_FKz2KYYEBvTJgI_79LX0lJflcZNhNYksqfE91QVRnCtKzAYoTTAxgLkvknTNoUw0-15CtGi0YgelCbvuGE0PUVPEaBskTMWrmsrR_Omtp49Ynue8eTZ5JX1vq8yw80DT/s400/evan+rattle+gorge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489350181866475874" border="0" /></a>Evan boofing clear<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">This lead us straight into our campsite for the night and possibly the sickest campsite I've stayed at on a river. Rattlesnake falls - a 50 footer is right next to it and the boys were fired up to run it as soon as we arived. They all had nice lines and we had a super chilled time at the camp that afternoon.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRKtx0BeQ2QTPN0y5FJE7pyYUJK-kZQxf1R9u4a84YdTt733nwxdcEQc6TkpHrBF44QG5ByI0CaxjignhjGAWxRK4bEZTZTSgx7Q58Couiap8EnvF4NdmNZAYE8bg1KwyoOvMuYF6gRY9P/s1600/rattle+camp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRKtx0BeQ2QTPN0y5FJE7pyYUJK-kZQxf1R9u4a84YdTt733nwxdcEQc6TkpHrBF44QG5ByI0CaxjignhjGAWxRK4bEZTZTSgx7Q58Couiap8EnvF4NdmNZAYE8bg1KwyoOvMuYF6gRY9P/s400/rattle+camp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489366559302395570" border="0" /></a>The rattlesnake campsite - sick!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYzAmc8PRmag7K8WxCIA84Weuc-D8xxWezn-6ZJlnzLmmCzc2zQ70FJzTIYujXNZal26DoQQC-ArFQ16AKN4A9N7OUEiEi5e8ym3aHrnMHPbIdZ8Yfmb8DFawIEXEnA5IXPmLKmNOHTaU8/s1600/brad+rattle.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYzAmc8PRmag7K8WxCIA84Weuc-D8xxWezn-6ZJlnzLmmCzc2zQ70FJzTIYujXNZal26DoQQC-ArFQ16AKN4A9N7OUEiEi5e8ym3aHrnMHPbIdZ8Yfmb8DFawIEXEnA5IXPmLKmNOHTaU8/s400/brad+rattle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489362394547090370" border="0" /></a>Brad on the rattler<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK9m3wk8THA0w3Ir7R75M24JoZ9m4I1UrqyoEoUfIxTCrx8HH7i4pFQpjffdA6p6kWoR1-1ojQ_2cXOtfbeX-POEezyp9NNEuN7bRerV0zUKg_zKZLlyQ9yCBq_Tc8TWU5HYR60xLyPbzv/s1600/me+rattle.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK9m3wk8THA0w3Ir7R75M24JoZ9m4I1UrqyoEoUfIxTCrx8HH7i4pFQpjffdA6p6kWoR1-1ojQ_2cXOtfbeX-POEezyp9NNEuN7bRerV0zUKg_zKZLlyQ9yCBq_Tc8TWU5HYR60xLyPbzv/s400/me+rattle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489362426506339954" border="0" /></a>Me sending it.<br /></div><br />Day two kicked off with me and Toni firing the rattler up, she greased it and I went over the bars a little but it was still a pretty soft hit. Lots of choice rapids lead us slowly (or actually quite quickly) to the biggest drop in the run. Scott's drop is the stoutest thing I've seen over here so far, a 30 foot drop into a big hole into a slide into a 20 foot drop. It's unbelievably big and scary. Evan was fired up to run it so we quickly portaged around it and got out the throwbags and cameras.<br />Evan came in and styled the top of the drop but got kicked over the bars at the bottom hitting a rock in the landing and getting ejected. It was a super impressive line and unlucky that he didn't clean it.<br />Drew's line went a little diferently however.. He went over the bars on the first part but rolled up in the pool, he then had to work hard to get left and he din't quite make it. The same rock that kicked Evan threw him into the wall where he proceeded to get the equivalent of a curb stomping on the wall losing four teeth and getting a concussion just for good measure.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJbCLjQ157EagmLo20pYJh_Ifb5REu4pczd_w4xxonJ9FZ2IX1vBS-MQ6Vr5Kudgt3FIww4hydA6DN0ne3ipyrRUXohG5WnuDM5gAh13K-NSOeB2i7baZdZsrHXsff7iBXJylA6NqC_ve/s1600/Drew+scotts.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJbCLjQ157EagmLo20pYJh_Ifb5REu4pczd_w4xxonJ9FZ2IX1vBS-MQ6Vr5Kudgt3FIww4hydA6DN0ne3ipyrRUXohG5WnuDM5gAh13K-NSOeB2i7baZdZsrHXsff7iBXJylA6NqC_ve/s400/Drew+scotts.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489362405953865282" border="0" /></a>Drew just about to eat it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This made things a little more serious, being so remote walking out was pretty much out of the question so Will and Drew decided to just bomb out in one day to get Drew to the dentist - no mean feat when you are concussed and juiced up on candy.<br />We carried on down to the last big drop on the run where Evan wanted to cap off his grand plan - run all of the big drops in Royal in one trip which hadn't been done before. Funnily enough he greased the 70 foot Wabena falls in the same freakish style he had done the rest of the run with.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChtBujqQr5y_LZz2IBGszwCo-Hv5Fey-h8bYQPQdymE-Xx1dwHzpBzaGR-O49yBNP3RJsAxdEtlcV_hw-SLkMA9TWJxRtURIe9uWy1jVSzJeDeHAuwqPJbIz1sHvOSKyqQ2q1JEpcOo72/s1600/Evan+Wabena.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChtBujqQr5y_LZz2IBGszwCo-Hv5Fey-h8bYQPQdymE-Xx1dwHzpBzaGR-O49yBNP3RJsAxdEtlcV_hw-SLkMA9TWJxRtURIe9uWy1jVSzJeDeHAuwqPJbIz1sHvOSKyqQ2q1JEpcOo72/s400/Evan+Wabena.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489362416212780866" border="0" /></a>Evan getting ready to take it deep on Wabena<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">After Wabena we cruised through some more rapids and stayed at another sick camp where we were mercilessly savaged by mosquitoes until dark.<br /></div></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4bPnL1P-0Ktpray8WkX5ay5Qiw_ePAa0LqNpufTNPLpWTkpUXg9vnhr-f9HiXLYBOyH-E8Gnu-dZ07nCidPse-ikomse_ymFnOUybRXMzZcO_n1K0KTNlAAzhwFf6hdBkENM6MFvGeq4/s1600/last+camp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4bPnL1P-0Ktpray8WkX5ay5Qiw_ePAa0LqNpufTNPLpWTkpUXg9vnhr-f9HiXLYBOyH-E8Gnu-dZ07nCidPse-ikomse_ymFnOUybRXMzZcO_n1K0KTNlAAzhwFf6hdBkENM6MFvGeq4/s400/last+camp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489362441894115266" border="0" /></a>Sweet as lazy boys even!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The last day was a bit of a slog through about 25 miles of easy rapids to the takeout where the ever reliable MUM was waiting to take us to the closest available fast food outlet.<br />Next up we are off to Dinky creek and the southern drainages which are coming in left right and centre. I'm fired up!!!!! (in dirty southern accent)<br /><br /></div></div>All pics from this run are from the esteemed Ms Toni George, chur!!!<br /></div></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-15212185923879323392010-07-02T08:38:00.000-07:002010-07-02T09:10:46.360-07:00Golden GateThe last couple of weeks here have been pretty busy, there were a lot of different plans happening at once so it was a bit of a juggling act trying to figure out what to do. After a cheeky run on the Lover's Leap section of the South American with Nick Wimsett and a bunch of Americans I finally managed to catch up with the old boys (they like to call themselves the masters team but we can't let them get too carried away) after a lot of missed communication via roaming NZ phones which don't work that well.<br /><br />The call was for golden gate - another run on the South American which is supposed to be a long day of super cool rapids.<br />We got to the put in and found Mr Johnstone dozing peacefully while the others ran shuttle and it slowly transpired that we were going to have ten kiwis on a run in California - sick!<br /><br />The run starts off pretty chill with everyone cruising down all over the show and then we got to the first scout. After this the gradient just stood up and didn't let up all day, sick boat scoutable boulder gardens interspersed with bigger rapids which precipitated scouts (or probes by John and James..) Everything for the day was ran except for F-111 which has a pretty terrible hole and no one could be bothered because it was right at the end.<br /><br />Check the photos - this was my favourite 'river' run so far in Cali.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA8hsHv2KB80xEKvWNjTb_zaKmxow_IFbTbexP3F26_vdotg9BPeShg1Y0Jfs31kX99PiNMT8JW4bGkVLzrUMIJUJeFAkAHN6rcPYiiMUQa3ZMnIsKhSjGK8HT2tWB1GKrolqKb4XppJ0_/s1600/Tim+drainpipe.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA8hsHv2KB80xEKvWNjTb_zaKmxow_IFbTbexP3F26_vdotg9BPeShg1Y0Jfs31kX99PiNMT8JW4bGkVLzrUMIJUJeFAkAHN6rcPYiiMUQa3ZMnIsKhSjGK8HT2tWB1GKrolqKb4XppJ0_/s400/Tim+drainpipe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489338754341449522" border="0" /></a>T Pickering on the runout of the first big rapid of the day - drainpipe<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVZfGpTgZDlsI7-rhnX_nkGA8052-DCKsdcLYjiwYR_3TlTVd4Pkoal0bDh2nFZSx28s8Mk6cwuPOAQxYwe6t4iqM1rkMd9ufqG69xZ79Z3nGIxVGN9bJ1L7DRIh6kOD36ZaHytEiAW6u/s1600/john+taco.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVZfGpTgZDlsI7-rhnX_nkGA8052-DCKsdcLYjiwYR_3TlTVd4Pkoal0bDh2nFZSx28s8Mk6cwuPOAQxYwe6t4iqM1rkMd9ufqG69xZ79Z3nGIxVGN9bJ1L7DRIh6kOD36ZaHytEiAW6u/s400/john+taco.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489338727558139794" border="0" /></a>Snook probing 'Taco Bell - the last place you'd want to be'<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55MEtiZUn4C8maBCIrzxEgYw3u_qMhx27xnMQfQUAT1oLmgh_ggz7jxkcBrfXTLLFO4JueyyiPvbMoF_0wB7ijB4Bb-c1YjOglW-3kreRvp_xxcOqmtXy6-uQfQ9B3H3F6oRENIq7E2Ns/s1600/keith+taco.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55MEtiZUn4C8maBCIrzxEgYw3u_qMhx27xnMQfQUAT1oLmgh_ggz7jxkcBrfXTLLFO4JueyyiPvbMoF_0wB7ijB4Bb-c1YjOglW-3kreRvp_xxcOqmtXy6-uQfQ9B3H3F6oRENIq7E2Ns/s400/keith+taco.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489338738742995618" border="0" /></a>Now I know this is semi bad form but apparantly this is a rare image - Mr Keith Riley getting a little mixed up and going over the main drop of Taco Bell backwards and upside down...<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkK4HYZMYEgEnGSV3a2_Db0ZJJV_EQEybPpEp0yE-C1aZL9CCoU21wWC3NHFuDgkyKEihUEQ_2yCVR797vumG5DR2odE0wpc5wr5MuVBIBnwt70lc-9KuIIczKD1LN8Je7Xl8FEi43dRg/s1600/me+afu.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkK4HYZMYEgEnGSV3a2_Db0ZJJV_EQEybPpEp0yE-C1aZL9CCoU21wWC3NHFuDgkyKEihUEQ_2yCVR797vumG5DR2odE0wpc5wr5MuVBIBnwt70lc-9KuIIczKD1LN8Je7Xl8FEi43dRg/s400/me+afu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489338744590426386" border="0" /></a>Me on my favourite rapid of the run, I'm not 100% but I think its called 'All Fucked Up'??<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81qbo35uoW1xhY9AroUCctBQrW7JxTdMNE1e_g0xLx15xkjfxUMqJ4AskMyGbBan1_aUGObpndG3oFgwjk2I9G_vKZVA9jJIB3Ywruf0SmaRuEqBUiarXdk21-PxvVdSU7nMqrB2RDjzx/s1600/dj+afu.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81qbo35uoW1xhY9AroUCctBQrW7JxTdMNE1e_g0xLx15xkjfxUMqJ4AskMyGbBan1_aUGObpndG3oFgwjk2I9G_vKZVA9jJIB3Ywruf0SmaRuEqBUiarXdk21-PxvVdSU7nMqrB2RDjzx/s400/dj+afu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489338721879420242" border="0" /></a>DJ in the midst of All Fucked Up<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">After a sick day we made a plan to do the upper Silver fork of the South American. We lost a couple of people and gained one so we still had a big crew. We had another cool day on another cool run - no photos but that's ok. It was mean catching up and paddling with more crew from home - B is coming soon which will be awesome but in the meantime... shiver.. Royal Gorge was in...<br /></div></div>Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-8749374495080176852010-06-14T08:22:00.001-07:002010-06-14T13:18:03.901-07:00KimshizzleThe last week in Cali has been the best of our trip so far. We started off with a sick day in the Arches national park in Utah on our way home from Vail, then we had a pool party at a mates place.<br />We then got a little lap on the Slab creek section of the South fork American river - a cool little 4-5 mission.<div style="text-align: center;"> Thursday saw us back in the UMC (Upper Middle Consumnes) for a sick day of creeking. Unfortunately Josh took himself out of the game trying to plug V-Slide upside down - we had to nurse a very sick, very sore little man out of the rest of the run.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUvC5PfW9XFHXVmbdZdw1SrEZK8JTYa8RsVGQ-s6JzUkF70f4O3VwKTRGnAoLB8AjLSzQ4Hxx_NCfyL5e0tBWnKoO7LVR50_r2GVPd9L70dYmA3Y61N03qGzW0RU8MFqf2sClvu4XNxMc/s1600/no+lookee.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUvC5PfW9XFHXVmbdZdw1SrEZK8JTYa8RsVGQ-s6JzUkF70f4O3VwKTRGnAoLB8AjLSzQ4Hxx_NCfyL5e0tBWnKoO7LVR50_r2GVPd9L70dYmA3Y61N03qGzW0RU8MFqf2sClvu4XNxMc/s400/no+lookee.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482723195079141330" border="0" /></a>Me running what we dubbed 'no lookee' on the UMC (apparantly it has a name but it's way more fun making up your own)<br /></div><br /><br />Friday started slowly and we finally made it to do the summit run on the South Yuba which culminates in a sick drop called East meets West which got the hearts going nicely. Mr Neilson organised another party for us to go to down in Clear lake which we did in style and then Saturday dawned.....<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrbRghtQa-_Zf3uN4ITPpelCCssofBqJjW0nQipr51qRp-r2ZntXPV1lD6pRTNkB9fjtyGvzQ_Q8ohi912BHkWn3_VwYPSNFJvxRono49A6vV0o0nJG2bk2IBwEcxPoR2RgVx2P03kOmv/s1600/GOPR0266.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrbRghtQa-_Zf3uN4ITPpelCCssofBqJjW0nQipr51qRp-r2ZntXPV1lD6pRTNkB9fjtyGvzQ_Q8ohi912BHkWn3_VwYPSNFJvxRono49A6vV0o0nJG2bk2IBwEcxPoR2RgVx2P03kOmv/s400/GOPR0266.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482725216225404002" border="0" /></a>The crew scouting east meets west<br /></div><br /><br />I pretty much got to live out a life dream - ride behind big mean wakeboard boat and try to huck myself until I blow an eardrum. Turns out Josh's friends came equipped with a sick house, a sick patio boat and an even sicker wakeboarding boat. We hung out all day cranking dance music and watching Wes and Vince throw down some savage tricks behind the boat and even getting to ride a little ourselves.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgET4UjcZysRBv_-7pAhPbts0XQjv4_RZbBjyj7w34k2ISOxPNhdX5xFeQC1iRDydrLKmY9b4mzj36h4wdRePT51sXLacUolqQ_Pgt-WxLmPKAhSwJ_StPeVKX0iEHs-wANWoNbLgHzqj51/s1600/Sanga+flip.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgET4UjcZysRBv_-7pAhPbts0XQjv4_RZbBjyj7w34k2ISOxPNhdX5xFeQC1iRDydrLKmY9b4mzj36h4wdRePT51sXLacUolqQ_Pgt-WxLmPKAhSwJ_StPeVKX0iEHs-wANWoNbLgHzqj51/s400/Sanga+flip.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482712303387104674" border="0" /></a>Me throwing the fronty, pic - Neilson<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfdENZxA5kKMVBRdceMwCYlFMAXwOR7YmF4eTyGDWEFqVI0F8i4LjnrBKhIXWUZg7mjnvzj7SpWMwoGoIsRvWFOhrM69PYVkWJhbU2ocm30GWz7zp2msBr4jfy2LJ2f8ATuxbv9ZuxCKe/s1600/tantrum.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfdENZxA5kKMVBRdceMwCYlFMAXwOR7YmF4eTyGDWEFqVI0F8i4LjnrBKhIXWUZg7mjnvzj7SpWMwoGoIsRvWFOhrM69PYVkWJhbU2ocm30GWz7zp2msBr4jfy2LJ2f8ATuxbv9ZuxCKe/s400/tantrum.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482712314007401650" border="0" /></a>Vince packing a tantrum, pic - Neilson<br /></div><br /><br />We finally managed to drag ourselves away from paradise (it was a tricky decision) and rally to meet B1 and B2 (Barny and Jordy) in Oroville. They had just got off South Branch and were broken so the next day we found ourselves once again in the very capable navigational hands of Mr J Neilson winding our way into the hills once more for one of the runs we've been waiting for all season.... Big Kimshew Creek.<br />This thing gets talked about in reverent tones by all of the locals and semi-locals alike as being one of the 'big 5' - the five best day runs in Cali. So it was with a mixture of excitement and trepidation that we put on at the island portage for a day of adventure.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjRC0pD_nmZLkPx3ZXonUUHf2fq3sWCxP42BIc8QsPiOmlvt2p5JDk0Oo6G41RSvVBgNY7dF2if9I5eIYeNBhZ_bFeoUipoMPq1560CN8u5vLq6R7gMVrjtZXiKlEgxFa8_kYmsMlMqZG/s1600/GOPR0390.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjRC0pD_nmZLkPx3ZXonUUHf2fq3sWCxP42BIc8QsPiOmlvt2p5JDk0Oo6G41RSvVBgNY7dF2if9I5eIYeNBhZ_bFeoUipoMPq1560CN8u5vLq6R7gMVrjtZXiKlEgxFa8_kYmsMlMqZG/s400/GOPR0390.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482652813847481314" border="0" /></a>Josh showing me how to use the go-pro (I didn't really succeed)<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The run kicked off in style with the first real rapid having a pushy lead in, to 15 foot auto boof. We then got stuck into a few hundred metres of pretty full on boulder gardens before another set of stacked rapids, some more boulder gardens, some more rapids, some more boulder gardens.. you get the picture??<br />Then the character changed and went all slidey which was super fun, low stress creeking. After a wee while of this we came to the first big one and the signal of the start of the stouts.<br />Kimshew falls is a pretty rowdy looking 40-ish footer with some reconnects etc which looks like it might air you out or send you over the bars. We were pleasantly surprised to find it goes a lot better than it looks and all had nice lines.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHWvGH1IJRgJP_Dgw6N5N4lFPLDDkdX2RJNO81VYrEC5ipGtwSYN9hGZVCfKACQPFLERnV-rJ2o1Tlkz6n4qK3Tosuh1hHqc0t6PX3z2kf2JOtUTb91Wmim38xTlbaXi-JAQAPiD03Q66/s1600/GOPR0435.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHWvGH1IJRgJP_Dgw6N5N4lFPLDDkdX2RJNO81VYrEC5ipGtwSYN9hGZVCfKACQPFLERnV-rJ2o1Tlkz6n4qK3Tosuh1hHqc0t6PX3z2kf2JOtUTb91Wmim38xTlbaXi-JAQAPiD03Q66/s400/GOPR0435.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482652826280903026" border="0" /></a>Kimshew falls from the top - check the stacked gorge below it, swimming would be awesome...<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZbJUxe5LMc2kzUe8MUtqLDPJjc0ZS8lSEYfMIzLLkD45MsrZDwiXIlE9fdj7BxjdHWInedJuD7MddiMYQFTHemC0DJl8bAFzsonFJ7_c86sRl7XtAMo-R_huh5BmLEKkLyx2QU3FI4N_/s1600/Jdog+kimshew.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZbJUxe5LMc2kzUe8MUtqLDPJjc0ZS8lSEYfMIzLLkD45MsrZDwiXIlE9fdj7BxjdHWInedJuD7MddiMYQFTHemC0DJl8bAFzsonFJ7_c86sRl7XtAMo-R_huh5BmLEKkLyx2QU3FI4N_/s400/Jdog+kimshew.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482707924624742210" border="0" /></a>J-dog lining up first and greasing it<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRSK14PYO5Ypnm1MYWfA3-hdXK5wllC8sD-cEYURWFiAWtcM6i3OpNNq3MqzPA6csMz4CpMwhiYqYAGtRbGsc381zYayUrdMch029hQH5Gzj5wKVm7G2DoBsTbQuQ3FQ_YjskGhyy7l1H/s1600/Sanga+kimshew.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRSK14PYO5Ypnm1MYWfA3-hdXK5wllC8sD-cEYURWFiAWtcM6i3OpNNq3MqzPA6csMz4CpMwhiYqYAGtRbGsc381zYayUrdMch029hQH5Gzj5wKVm7G2DoBsTbQuQ3FQ_YjskGhyy7l1H/s400/Sanga+kimshew.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482707946399518354" border="0" /></a>Me doing the same - I hit the water at the dream angle and came screaming out upright - soft as bro!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">After the falls was the sick gorge which had so many clean moves - It looked and felt like what I imagine the high sierra runs are like.. fingers crossed.<br />We portaged around triple drop which is super burly but goes - we didn't have enough time to set up the elaborate safety we thought we needed. After triple drop the river changed character and went 'cracky' - several slots and tight drops led us into the next big one.<br />Frenchies was named for some dude who bombed in and ran right and got punished as the drop is 30+ feet onto rocks on that side. It involves a portage of the entrance, a seal launch into a pothole and then a strong ferry across to set you up for the line. I was feeling fired up about it and decided to send it. Pulling out of the eddy I set my angle and rolled off a little left of centre. I saw the left flake go past and started to tuck - just as I felt my tail go a little past vert.. Big hit, semi over the bars but I rolled up fine with just a little sore head.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwySHFLY9G8kwbUN9fRvFOeIJhp_BzQSTquic5WLhKT6qkm3nzVk8b5TXvpNNeDK-XVYMCTAnK6TIFY3gg92AR5AdLPHTpTXWSuTFDwQ6AE1ieCf5SnM1qTO-5IDKAAjkI_UCaoO_xR7k/s1600/sanga+frenchies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwySHFLY9G8kwbUN9fRvFOeIJhp_BzQSTquic5WLhKT6qkm3nzVk8b5TXvpNNeDK-XVYMCTAnK6TIFY3gg92AR5AdLPHTpTXWSuTFDwQ6AE1ieCf5SnM1qTO-5IDKAAjkI_UCaoO_xR7k/s400/sanga+frenchies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482707916794759026" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Geting ready for the hit<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">After Frenchies it was just rapid after rapid after rapid, everything went, hits were taken, rolls were had in dubious spots as we all lost energy. Finally we made it to the take out drop.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5g6Sr2OQak2H84r5xHwjEC7JXsZFPJw06q7eKdTN8chJHCr-hMDi-yVlereImFRt3C7dA3flBURWvi738cAcyK3I4oO3DaO8gM9VcRt32WGh8iuf_5FV43TJ27VhuiHwbMVwiYCgFhmdl/s1600/Jamie+last+drop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5g6Sr2OQak2H84r5xHwjEC7JXsZFPJw06q7eKdTN8chJHCr-hMDi-yVlereImFRt3C7dA3flBURWvi738cAcyK3I4oO3DaO8gM9VcRt32WGh8iuf_5FV43TJ27VhuiHwbMVwiYCgFhmdl/s400/Jamie+last+drop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482707941288220226" border="0" /></a>As is often the case - J-dog probing the line. In this case finding a rock in the bottom...<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChCT6iVJptBuP3h9SA1Y5bhbfWYPFpYGDbsCf0kBtAQXD8H7h2KNTzSPNDu4Hh_5W7BnGGJ8p1ndWY7O_92GbyJ7Fm8r9kqXQR6kAWx6SngP2Ko54EuZQdndTUpdBMowxFs5b2lDT3HZw/s1600/GOPR0448.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChCT6iVJptBuP3h9SA1Y5bhbfWYPFpYGDbsCf0kBtAQXD8H7h2KNTzSPNDu4Hh_5W7BnGGJ8p1ndWY7O_92GbyJ7Fm8r9kqXQR6kAWx6SngP2Ko54EuZQdndTUpdBMowxFs5b2lDT3HZw/s400/GOPR0448.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482652839380422434" border="0" /></a>Jared buried in the curtain.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBy3avf654yjtHWDAoBgh1LywqBZ-azserzUN4z5ZDh5uN6VC4fHLymESOEoh6V6Ur7btjsP-wtKTQSCUqDmiVBkS07xvjkZNETscheO3frmkb0osHiOiurZCX53rBdV1Etfowv1auGV7/s1600/GOPR0455.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBy3avf654yjtHWDAoBgh1LywqBZ-azserzUN4z5ZDh5uN6VC4fHLymESOEoh6V6Ur7btjsP-wtKTQSCUqDmiVBkS07xvjkZNETscheO3frmkb0osHiOiurZCX53rBdV1Etfowv1auGV7/s400/GOPR0455.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482652849417801938" border="0" /></a>Me tired and just falling off. And yes I found the rock too.<br /><br /><br /></div>This creek was the sickest thing I have ever run and also the sorest I've been at the end of a days boating. I can't wait to go back next time. Hopefully next time won't include the 10km walk out up the locked takeout road, but it's ok - the rose tinted sunnies have pretty much erased the walkout from my memory...Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459073530722664554.post-50133022859762099712010-05-28T16:10:00.000-07:002010-05-28T16:16:05.214-07:00ConsumptionApparantly it is summer here. Could've fooled me.<br />This last week has also been raining and cold all week but we've still managed to paddle most days despite spending large amounts of time playing Tony Hawk 3 (damn you Ben Jackson)<br />The run of the week has been the Upper Middle Consumnes. We did it on Monday with six of us and then went in yesterday with more water and ten of us. It turned into a bit of an epic with five swims, a broken paddle and a cracked boat.<br />I wont get too carried away with this post because Jamie and Jordy have got it pretty much covered on their blogs so check the links from here.<br />We're checking options just now and have a few things on the go so keep an eye out for our weekend antics.Sam Roilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700228928532066150noreply@blogger.com0