Lou and josh in Thailand

So it all began in Bangkok when we arrived at 9pm and by 11pm they could still not track down my paddles that were once attached to the kayak and were now missing!!! Finally they told me they would hopefully locate them in the morning and send them the following night to our accommodation!!! From here things pretty much stayed on this level of dissapointment with Tylers gear not turning up and then getting shut down on some of Thailands best waterfalls due to the fact 'its too dangerous'....

- Looking at one we are not aloud to run - Photo Lou Urwin

Im going to leave it there and not go into these stories too much as we have a plan to do a stealth mission through the jungle later in the trip to run these drops and will show you them then!!!

- Where to go next... -Photo Lou Urwin

After all the stress of not kayaking we really needed to kayak so when we found Than Tip waterfall, even though it was not epic, we were keen to get wet at least. Our Kayaking efforts were quickly overshadowed by local kids wearing jeans not only jumping off the rocks into the water but climbing massive trees till the overhung the gorge then dropping in from there...

- Tyler Fox Boofing into Than Tip Waterfall gorge - Photo Toni George

- Josh Neilson on Than Tip - A nice start to the trip - Photo Tyler Fox

After Than Tip Waterfall we headed north for more and more rivers and drops with no water in them. We planned for the rainy season but the rain was not doing its part. That was Until we made it to Si Dit Waterfall. With the threat of getting shut down on yet another waterfall we stealthly unloaded the kayaks and ran them to the waters edge and got in. Lou and Toni went and set up cameras and Tyler and I waited for the go sign. Si Dit was a very un-natural looking drop that looks like you are boofing off a concrete slab but its not. Its a Natural drop with a soft pool at the bottom. Again although there was not heaps of water flowing off it was still a great way to kill the depression of not kayaking.

- Josh on Si Dit Nam Tok - Photo Toni George

- Lou Urwin Boofing Si Dit Nam Tok - Photo Josh Neilson

Josh at the Lip on round 3 - Photo Toni George

- Tyler Fox with Go Pro attached on round 2 - Photo Toni George

- Toni Georges turn, Si Dit, our first good drop- Photo Josh Neilson

One by one we ran the drop and got some sweet angles. After that it was back on the hunt. Next post will have more. Check back soon people...

California 2010

Having such a stella team of keeners meant that we covered a lot of ground. With lots of paddling to be had in Cali we managed to squeeze in a trip to Vail and check out the Teva Mountain Games. We packed all the gear we needed into Mum and turned east for the long drive to Colorado. Little did we know that we were embarking on a trip of legend. The 'kiwi house' in downtown Vail became quickly known around town. Ryan managed to uphold the 'kayakers' reputation in town and was arrested... but that's an entirely different story.

Doing my best to stay on top of things

Toni George repping hard. Watch this space paddling world

Keeping it road side on I80. Summit Run on the Yuba

Man love in the desert... Hmmm

It was this big....

Downtown Vail. Nice!

In car entertainment kiwi style. Ipod, duct tape and rear vision mirror. Sweet bix!

Back in Cali we were back on the goods scoring more laps on the Upper Middle Consumnes. I finally put my demons to rest on the South Merced with a sweet run down there with Rachel Moore and the always sweet Jamie Garrod.

Joining the dots on the South Merced

Sam Roil choosing life on the Middle Feather

Rachel Moore... not bad for a rafter

Barney and Jordy quite... amazing

No snakes harmed in the publishing of this blog. For real

Team Athlete carbo loading

Slides anayone? Yes please South Merced

Jamie staying out of trouble. Boofing is healthy

Cali kiwi tour 2010

Still on the injured list these days but to fill in my time I have taken to a serious regime of Facebook, airport shuttles and hiking food and cameras into multi-day sierra runs. Although seriously depressing watching everyone running super stout drops while im behind the camera at least i can still get out there and enjoy some of these amazing places!! beats being in NZ in the cold thats for sure!
Here are a few shots from the Gopro camera from some driving and life on the road! Been on the video camera for the kayaking part so limited in the Photos there but expect some sick stuff in the next film!!
Enjoy
Josh

-Toni trying to fit inside her kayak- not possible

- Mum driving away from the sunset on 99 - Photo Josh Neilson

- After 5 miles hike, Graceland slide is in sight - Photo Josh Neilson

- Go Mum Go! photo Josh Neilson

- Brad smart bringing a mozzy net! These fullas are brutal - Photo Josh Neilson

- Samoa aka Jared Mitchel getting limber before day 2 of west cherry - Photo Josh Neilson

- Practicing his Waka ama - Photo Josh Neilson

- Driving the 99 and missing the turn off to 3 rivers!! whoops! Photo Josh Neilson

- B getting ready to hike down into the slide in the background! MASSIVE!!! -Photo Josh Neilson

- The Greek Adonnis getting his drive on cali style!! no Air con so its HOT!! - Photo Josh Neilson

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.