Josh's Film tour, A success

Where do I start... After 3 months of working on the orchard and editing in the evenings I finally at the end march had a film ejecting from the DVD burner. One final watch over to check it was good and it was off to the printers. I was definatly stoked with the final product and happy to have a week rest before the shows started! First up was the home town show in Hawkes Bay. A good social affair with all the local friends and family along to see the third addition. This was the venue for my first ever show and was cool to see the regulars along for the third time to see the story. The response from the crowd was great and the personal aspect to 'Ways of Life' was a real hit!
Battling a week long migraine leading up the show was not the ideal way to start but things went well and an early night after the show was much needed!
The next day I was off to school. Back to the halls where 8 years ago I had once walked, socks pulled up and shirt tucked in and now i was back but this time up the front! Friday morning I did a show for the senior school at Karamu High School and talked a bit about what I had done since leaving school.

-Keen kayaker at a young age!

That afternoon we were all loaded up in the car and off to the big smoke. The capital city of NZ is a great place for a show. Wellington is home to many people I went to school with and where my aunty lives which makes organising a show a breeze with her help!
7pm Saturday was show number 3 and a cool new venue. Close to town and once again Joeli came to the party with a great introduction and help with getting the show going!
With the migraine subsiding and lots of old friends round we went out for a few beers to catch up once the show was done. It was cool to see Hayley and Soph's family there watching and they were very proud to see the part these girls had played in the film but more so the efforts they had put into the Nepali Womens Kayak Expedition.

-Some quality NZ forest
With show 3 over, number 4 was right around the corner. Well actually over the cook straight and back to were I, and all the kiwi crew from the Nepal Expedition studied. Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology would host the show for the second year in a row with a great theater set up for the night. The crowd here were made up of mostly CPIT Recreation students and old friends from when I was down there. I think it was good for these younger students to see where previous students were and how far they had taken the skills learnt on the program. I even think a few of them were a bit shocked at the skills the nepali women had gained in kayaking in just 10 days too!

-West Coast hideaway

-View from the Bach door

With Easter falling in the middle of the show dates it was a perfect opportunity to have a rest and go kayaking. With family flying down to the West coast for Easter and a good bunch of mates on the coast it was set to be a great week off! My parents had hired a bach on the beach to relax for the long weekend but for me it was a mix of relaxing and mad phone calls trying to sort a helicopter ride into the river the next day! It was decided... Pat and Josh had a spare seat on a trip into the Wanganui and I was prepared to fill it! Pat and Gina drove down and picked me up and early the next morning we were loading the sack and off we went!

- Early morning views of Aoraki, Mt Cook

-Wanganui River Heli Airport Terminal, next to DOC sign

-Pat holding down the gear as the machine nears

-Heli coming in for pick up

-The view Pat and I enjoyed for Easter

-West Coast Easter eggs!

It never gets old. The smell of the chopper, the feeling of lift off and th low swoops over ridges as we made our way into the Southern Alps. Since Pat moved to the coast and I live in the North we hadnt got to paddle much in a while so this was a wicked way to spend Easter on the cool, clear waters of the Wanganui with a good mate!

-Unloading amongst the beauty!

-Pat in perspective

-West Coast days!

With the thought of chocolate easter eggs hidden around the bach we headed back to 12mile to the family to share stories of the day. Early monday morning I was on a plane heading further south to the adventure capital of NZ, Queenstown. With a day spare I caught up with some mates at Q-town rafting and went kayaking on the Shotover River. Tuesday the 14th was show 5 in Cromwell. With a bit of last minute organising we had a picture on the wall and the show went smoothly from there. This was the smallest show so far but was all new territory and good to get the story out anywhere possible.

-A spot of clothes shopping in Queenstown

The next destination was somewhere I had never visited before but heard a lot about. Te Anau is a small town on the lake on the way to Milford Sound famous for its amazing rainfall but also stunning scenery! Fiordland National Park Centre came on board and organised this one in their theatre room. A wicked venue all set up and ready to go. It was a very cool croud who brought up some interesting questions about the Nepal trip and my lifestyle. One of the big questions I was asked at every show was how are the nepalese women getting on now after the trip? It has been great to be a part of the Nepali Womens Kayak Group on Facebook as I was able to get day to day updates before every show so each time i answered it I was able to add new things and let everyone know how things were going.
-Lake Te Anau an hour before the show, beauty!

As I had a spare day in Te Anau before my flight home we decided to have another show the next night for those who couldnt make the first one. Another great evening!
Back up in Hawkes bay it was back to work for a few days before shows 8 and 9. Thursday night I headed out to Taranaki for a show in New Plymouth. A cool coastal town with a keen kayaking community!
-Fish and Chips at the beach in New Plymouth!

This was to be the last show raising money for the clinic as the Rotorua one was going toward the NZ Freestyle Kayak Comittee to keep that on the water. With a small competitive freestyle community in NZ it is hard to get enough funds to keep it going so this was a good opportunity to gather some people and raise a bit of money for another cause.
With all the shows over I was relieved, happy, proud and exhausted! I have now seen the film about a hundred times and it is now set on the shelf for a while.
Up at the Kaituna for the weekend over a few beers hatched a plan to run the whole river in the morning. I had done the Upper run many many times and the next gorge down, Awesome gorge, once. From the take out of Awesome, the river steepens rapidly and carves its was deeper into the earth. In places less than a boat length wide and up to 30meters deep. Its dark, loud and fast. This gorge is called Gnarly gorge and definalty lives up to its name! 7 of us dropped in one after another and did just a Brendan said! "Keep your speed, keep your nose up and watch out for wood, its about to get intence!". One by one we got on the liquid rollercoaster and one by one came out the other end. well to the half way point at least. After a quick breather we were back in the Gnar again till we paddled out the other end! A few close calls but everyone was ok and excited to be out the other side! From here there was one last gorge, Smokey Gorge. This is still tight and fast but more mellow than Gnarley! a good way to end the run.... Well not quite.... an hour of flat water marks the true end to the run as exhausted kayakers haul their boats onto the road and waited for the 5.30 pick up. Soph and Hess brought the cars down but not only were they awesome for doing that but they also brought HOT CHIPS!!! a much needed re-fuel after an intence day out!

-Southern Alps from above!
What an amazing tour! 9 shows, 2 islands, 3 new rivers, lots of new friends, and a film that has seemed to inspire a lot of people. For some it was an adrenaline hit, others it was motivation to get out and do something new but the main responce was that people were inspired and proud to know that there are people out there like the Kiwi women on the Nepal trip doing amazing things and caring about other peoples lives. 'Ways of Life' set out to show a different perspective on some interesting people doing something different and encouraging change in our world.

-Aotearoa, like no other!
Thanks very much to everyone who helped make this film project happen! My sponsors, friends, the crew in the film, music people, and the amazing help from the crew at KEEN for giving me the opportunity to be on the Nepal trip! Thank you to ALL of you! But moslty thanks to my family for all the help and support you have given me while I have been working on this project! I couldnt do it without them! CHEERS!

If you would like more information about this film or how you can get to see it please dont hesitate to contact me at joshneilson@gmail.com



- New Plymouth an hour before the show

Spring sessions on the Ottawa

Hey just a quick shot Rush just fired through from Gladiator wave on in Ottawa! Sounds like there is good water up there right now!
I am off there in 2 weeks to join H-Team member's Lou and Sam to search out some spring creeks!
Till then check this out! Cheers Rush
-JoshRush Sturges - Gladiator Wave, Canada
More photos can be found at the Official TRIBE website

Tyler Bradt runs 186 foot Palouse Falls

In the age of modern kayaking it's not often that you hear of something that leaves you lost for words. Kayaker's are pushing harder and harder within the different facets of the sport and continuously raising the bar.

Tyler Bradt has blown things up with his successful descent of Washington's 186 foot (56m) Palouse Falls. Rush Sturges and the team are staying pretty quite with any footage shot at the moment. This astonising line can be seen on Rush's up coming Dream Result.

For a play by play account of Tyler's world record drop check out John Grace's (LVM) interview with Rush here

Auckland White Water Park

Currently there is a push for the construction of stage two of the Telstra Clear Pacific Stadium. This would see the construction of a world class white water kayaking park in the white water desert of Auckland.



New Zealand's white water community could only benefit from having such a facility available. It would also provide an opportunity for thousand's of kiwi's to get out on the water and feel the thrill of paddling some sweet white water....




If you think this is something you would like to see happen then tag through to this link and have a look. Sweet

Ben

Rush Sturges Hail Mary's Celestial Falls

Ever since I did the first Hail Mary (a front flip off a waterfall) at Maruia Falls, New Zealand, i've been wanting to do it again on something bigger and taller. From the moment I first laid eyes on 45ft Celestial Falls in White River Oregon, i'd been dreaming about repeating the trick. The Hail Mary is a super risky and committing move.

In fact, since I first did the trick almost 4 years ago, no one else has been able to "stick" the trick again to my knowledge. I returned to NZ again in 2006 but even after 10 attempts I still couldn't stomp it. Granted, the water levels were pretty low and every time I hit the rock. What makes this trick so challenging is finding the right waterfall to throw it off of. I have only found a handful of drops that are deep enough at the lip to support a bow stall initiation.

I went to Celestial Falls 2 summers ago to try the trick again... However, Celestial is illegal to run and within a few moments we were kicked out of the park by a really uptight ranger who gives himself the alias of "The Guard Dog." I returned this spring on March 31st with the hopes that he would not be there. We all showed up at 9:00AM ready to film and huck. Tyler Bradt and myself would both be attempting the Hail Mary.

The rain was bitter cold and it was super windy out. Nonetheless, there was no telling when we might have another opportunity to try the trick and with no rangers in sight, it needed to happen quick. The parking lot was littered with kayaks, camera equipment, and friends who had come down from Hood River to film and shoot photos. I knew if a ranger drove by we would be busted instantly. We all geared up as quickly as we could and by 9:30 I was standing at the lip of a waterfall I had been dreaming about front flipping for 10 years. I cautiously hiked down the slippery rocks to the 10 foot seal launch above the falls. It's actually kind of a sketchy seal launch and you land in an eddie directly above a little undercut. Not that bad but you still need to pay attention. I dropped in and caught the eddie on river right. A thumbs up from Cody Howard of Huckin Huge Productions meant it was game on.

I really wanted to warm up with a freewheel but I was concerned about rangers showing up and knew I might only get one shot... The Hail Mary is the definition of commitment and I really didn't want to land on my face from this height... The falls was at a medium high level and everything was perfect. I peeled out of the eddie, initiated my double pump, and then looked down to the pool below. It was actually much higher looking then I expected and for a split second I thought I had maybe initiated too early. My bow tapped the rock a little bit and then at the last possible second I hucked myself forward as hard as I could. I felt the loop come around perfect and i was looking back down at the water... I landed pretty much dead flat and took a solid hit. Still, with that much aeration, it was no worries and I rolled up right away. Not the "perfect stick" I was hoping for, but I was surprised to have nailed the rotation first try. All my buddies were screaming from up on the cliffs and I was stoked to be ok. I thought about calling it good right then, but I knew I would not be satisfied until I stuck it clean.

Tyler tried his attempt next, but fell short after he initiated too early. Ian Garcia threw a free wheel and imploded his skirt. I went for a second attempt, but also started my initiation too early and backed out at the last second... While I was hiking back up for a third attempt I saw 2 rangers on the cliffs above and I knew it was over. They threatened us with fines and jail time but told us a "life ban" would suffice as long as we left within 10 minutes. They took our license #s while we loaded our boats and threw our gear into the cars. I was disappointed with not sticking the trick perfect, but also happy that we came away with anything at all. I'll be back to get stick it clean someday...

Rush's hail mary footage will be featured in the upcoming film "DREAM RESULT."

ALL PICTURES COURTESY IAN GARCIA & LANE JACOBS

Rush's words and Ian and Lanes pictures sourced from http://blog.teva.com