South Silver- The injured photographers perspective

Luckily when California was built they made a few rivers with easy access for walkers so when you are injured you can still enjoy the excitement of kayaking but from behind a camera lens! South Silver Creek is a great example of this with a track from top to bottom and easy access on the granite to each of the drops! On Wednesday Toni, Dan and Yan were at the bakery in Coloma (where i spend most of my injured time) and they were heading up there for the day! I Jumped on the opportunity to escape Coloma and head in there! The flow was stull healthy but I personally think this is the optimal flow because it actually has water to paddle on not just rocks!
It true South Silver style i passed on the beta that the first rapid had to be run blind and they took it and ran it sweet!! Its a huge slide about 200m long that runs straight down the middle the whole way!
There was mixed success on all the rapids during the day apart from Toni. This was up there with some of the styliest kayaking ive seen on this river ever!
For more on Toni's Kayaking you can check out her blog at www.toni-george.blogspot.com

Toni getting air on the bottom drop of 'Left Left' - Photo Josh Neilson

- Toni part way into one of the sickest drops on the planet - 'SKYSCRAPER' - Photo Josh Neilson

- Toni on 'Off Ramp' - the second part to skyscraper rapid, manditory at this flow - Photo Josh Neilson

- Yan and Toni trying to figure out the portage - Photo Josh Neilson

- Yan on 'Plastic Surgery' - Photo Josh Neilson

Tim out testing his kayak in the swell-

So wow what a month May was. After nearly 9 months of drought, along came May and reminded us what rain was. So what have I been up to in my preparation for my expedition? Well the big news is that my website nzkayaker.com is now fully up and running. This was an amazing experience to learn how it all happens, and I’m proud to have a place to finally show off all of my sponsored gear. I also had my vehicle sign written. Apart from slowing down my driving a bit, it makes me feel like things are just that wee bit more professional.

- Some of NZ's Beautiful coasline!

In between all of the rain I managed to get a fair amount of kayaking achieved. The big trip for the month was to paddle out to Mayor Island, which has been a dream of mine for ages. So you may ask “what is so special about this island?” Firstly it is 21 nautical miles off shore from Tauranga. To you landlubbers this is a distance of 38.9km. Secondly it is a privately owned island with complete pest free status. This means landing is permitted only with prior permission from DOC and if a DOC quarantine officer is present on the island.
So roughly 40km, not a big deal under usual circumstances. But when you are this far off shore there is nowhere to hide, and no one to come to the rescue. The trip took me 5 and 1/2 hours, and I was buggered by the time I landed. I had to deal with 15kn winds and a 2m swell so it was a real battle but strangely the worse it got, the more I loved it haha. Even the kayak seemed to love the waves. So much so, that she earned her new nickname ‘Waverly’.

Waverly up on the sand!

Arriving at the island around lunch, I got my kit sorted with DOC then spent the rest of the avo just cruising in around the island. I caught fish, played with the seals, and generally just enjoyed life. After camping the night in Sou West Bay, I had to endure the same trip all the way back. This time the swells were so big that a passing boat couldn’t even come along side me for fear of capsizing. But as we all know, you just put one stroke in after another and eventually you will get somewhere. For me that somewhere was a comfy couch and with a large pizza haha.

Paddle hard everyone.
Tim.