Buck and I have some pictures and a movie of some of the funnier moments of our week long logistics trip in New Zealand. Hope you like em!

Tino

Buck looking out for our own good

Me learning how to drive on the other side of the road

The country side

More of the country side

Buck filming the country side

Sprinting back from the waterfall to get into gear

The water falls

Buck with the mountains in back

Maori Church

Just off the run

Broke my paddle

Rainbows!!!!:)

Trampoline Time!

We have only been at the holiday park for about a week, but to me it seems like two. The place is really nice, we have shelter 5 minutes away from the river, hot showers, a  nice kitchen and very good classroom spots. My favorite about the place is the supper fun, super safe no spring trampoline! It provides good exersize and lots of fun, it has no springs or metal bars around it and it has a net so you don’t fall off, I feel a lot safer now trying new moves!

          After a good week and a half on the Kaituna, we are packing up base camp and travelling to the beach in Raglan to catch some surf. They are in expecting 8 foot swells on the west coast which will end up great, especially for spectators! It will be good to get some wave surfing in after playing in the amazing Kaituna hole every day. 
    I have a feeling I am about to learn to appreciate and respect the power of the ocean a lot more. Check out the home of Media 1 and 2 for our latest on New Zealand!
I have been having a great time with New River Whitewater, food, and am looking forward to hitting the beach in the upcoming days! 

by Keegan Grady

    New Zealand is a long way from the Ottawa River. I arrived with the New River Academy Sunday morning after 20 hours in flight, 10 hours sitting in airports, and a 5 hour van ride from the Auckland Airport to Lake Rotoiti, near Rotorua. We hit up the Kaituna River first thing, it is a short paddle across the lake to the head of the river, and just a short walk from the takeout back up to the put in, so there is no need for shuttle.

Keegan Grady styles one of a dozen waterfalls on the Kaituna River, Okere Falls.  

  The run starts off slow with some a fun slalom course and then narrows into a full on gorge surrounded by vines and greenery that crawl up the steep faces of the gorge walls The whole river is amazing, with continuous current down the whole run. The first significant rapid is Double Drop, with a late boof drop at the top, followed by a must boof poor over. The second drop is a hard 15-footer, the water funnels in at the top of the drop and falls into a huge boil at the bottom.

The next stop after a few more smaller drops is Kaituna Hole where I have stayed completely dry thanks to my Mountain Surf Drydeck. It is a fast, deep, technical hole that gives up any trick in the book, and also some huge air. New River Academy has been throwing down with Phonix Monkeys, Mcnasty’s, and huge airloops.

The Kaituna River is known as one of the world’s best clean waterfall and freestyle training grounds on the planet.

    This weekend we are heading to the Wyroa river, a class 4 gorge run. Tight and Technical with a couple significant rapids. New Zealand has been great so far, with great rivers, great food, great friends, and ginger beer.

Photos taken by kayak school public relations coordinator Claire Dibble.

 
f/9.5  1/30s iso 40This is our dock out on the lake, were we put in to run the river. That evening the water was still allowing for good reflection .
 

 f/8.0 1/30  iso 200
we have a little play ground set up here. This was early morning with dew still on everything, maybe the next post won’t have any reflections.

things here are good. new zealand weather is crazy, it is raining, and then 5 minutes latter sunny. the catuna is awsome, i ran the river once, getting worked in all three holes at the borrom of the 10, 12 and 18 foot water falls. in the last one i went to pull off my skirt and swim out, becase the hole was not letting me go, and found that it was already off.
    the hole at the bottom of the run is sweet. i have learned how to cartwheel and loop there.  (cartweel means bow under water and then sterna dn so oen and so forth, loop is bow underwater and then do a flip in the boat). things  are good, and i will try to post weekly.

Hello from New Zealand!!!!!

Ok. So I have found my future home. Mom dad, we are moving to New Zealand. It is soooooo gorgeous. Rich green fauna and rolling green hills 100 yards away from a world class river in the jungle. Unbelievable.

The plane ride was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. True, it was long, but we had tons of movies to pick from, and the food was pretty good. We were all pumped to land in NZ. We stood in the longest line possible to get through immigration. And then again to get through customs. Talk about a hassle. We definitely got a lot of funny looks and questions while waiting for customs with our boats. After finally getting into the country, one group took off for “home base” while the other group (my group) stayed behind to wait for Nick, our new student from England. It was pretty easy to find him…he flew with a boat as well

Then we drove five hours to get to where we are staying. It was cool getting to see a little bit of NZ. I kept freaking out thinking we were going to hit a car! I cannot imagine having to drive here. We stopped at a gas station for some lunch. They made the chicken fingers from scratch in front of us! They had spreads of mince pies, sausage rolls, mutton pies, and so on. Talk about weird. Anywho, the drive went by fast and in no time flat we were rolling into our picturesque new home (at least for the next two weeks.) It was still morning in NZ, so we suited up and hopped onto the river!

It was so surreal. 8 hours earlier, I’d been on a plane. All of the sudden I was immersed in jungle and ice cold water. The hole is at a high level, but it is still super fun! No time was wasted in throwing big tricks. The river is in this gorgeous gorge. It is so pretty. I am so pumped to spend the next two weeks here!

We got to go into town yesterday. Crossing the streets terrified me! New Zealand drivers do not slow down at all for pedestrians. Plus, I kept looking the wrong way before crossing!!! There were lots of cafes and cool shops. I bought some sweet slippers! All the boys bought these foam swords. They then persisted in hitting me with them for the half hour ride home. Awesome. I think I may break them all before our time is up here. I really hope we get more time in town. There is so much to explore!

I cannot get over how amazingly beautiful New Zealand is. All the greens are so varying and overwhelming (in a good way). Everywhere you look there are exotic plants and flowers. It is stunning. I am so happy to be here!

Keep it real!
-Tracy

Hello from New Zealand!!!!!    

    Ok. So I have found my future home. Mom dad, we are moving to New Zealand. It is soooooo gorgeous. Rich green fauna and rolling green hills 100 yards away from a world class river in the jungle. Unbelievable. 

    The plane ride was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. True, it was long, but we had tons of movies to pick from, and the food was pretty good. We were all pumped to land in NZ. We stood in the longest line possible to get through immigration. And then again to get through customs. Talk about a hassle. We definitely got a lot of funny looks and questions while waiting for customs with our boats. After finally getting into the country, one group took off for “home base” while the other group (my group) stayed behind to wait for Nick, our new student from England. It was pretty easy to find him…he flew with a boat as well

    Then we drove five hours to get to where we are staying. It was cool getting to see a little bit of NZ. I kept freaking out thinking we were going to hit a car! I cannot imagine having to drive here. We stopped at a gas station for some lunch. They made the chicken fingers from scratch in front of us! They had spreads of mince pies, sausage rolls, mutton pies, and so on. Talk about weird. Anywho, the drive went by fast and in no time flat we were rolling into our picturesque new home (at least for the next two weeks.) It was still morning in NZ, so we suited up and hopped onto the river!

    It was so surreal. 8 hours earlier, I’d been on a plane. All of the sudden I was immersed in jungle and ice cold water. The hole is at a high level, but it is still super fun! No time was wasted in throwing big tricks. The river is in this gorgeous gorge. It is so pretty. I am so pumped to spend the next two weeks here!

    We got to go into town yesterday. Crossing the streets terrified me! New Zealand drivers do not slow down at all for pedestrians. Plus, I kept looking the wrong way before crossing!!! There were lots of cafes and cool shops. I bought some sweet slippers! All the boys bought these foam swords. They then persisted in hitting me with them for the half hour ride home. Awesome. I think I may break them all before our time is up here. I really hope we get more time in town. There is so much to explore!

    I cannot get over how amazingly beautiful New Zealand is. All the greens are so varying and overwhelming (in a good way). Everywhere you look there are exotic plants and flowers. It is stunning. I am so happy to be here!

Keep it real!
-Tracy