I have been In the beautiful country of New Zealand now since the end of January, I will be here till August. While I am here I plan on paddling as much as possible meeting up with Max Fisher who is tearing apart the South Island’s west coast right now, and also taste interesting new food and beer that New Zealand offers. This is my story of an adventure to date.

Bliss stick factory in rural Taihape.

Bliss stick Kayaks offer an incredible program called the Ambasador Program that allows you to work for a period of time, learn all the inner workings of rotomolding and kayak assemblie as well as meet the people behind the show. At the end of the program you get to choose the colours and design of your boat and then get an incredible deal on it. this is a great way to get a boat while in New Zealand and it also has the effect of building brand loyalty. My custom Mystic was a deliscious boat to paddle. Here’s my ammbasador Story.

Making my own seat.

I hopped the Naked bus to Taihape from Auckland and as I was trying to lug myself down the road with a very heavy pack and some boating gear I took a short break at the corner of the road. Two Germans stopped after seeing my paddle and offered a ride if I show them the way to the Bliss stick factory. I didn’t know the way but
I hopped in anyways. Good thing too cause the factory is about a half hour drive through beautiful rolling hills and lots of sheep. 

Liane.

Gerd.

 After talking to the guy behind the show Norm, we agreed on starting on Tuesday. The week that ensued taught me various things about the industry. I gained a whole new appreciation and insight on the manufacture of White Water Kayaks, as well as determining that the Germans are very hard working and pay very clsoe attention to detail. I grew very fond of the couple after working with them and would like to visit them in germany when I get a chance. Other immigrants at the factory were three individuals from the Czech Republic who were friendly semi perminant staff members and also paid very close atttention to detail. From this I gather that Bliss stick kayaks are weel constructed vessels and they scrutenize on detail. I look forward to giving my Mystic a good rocky East Coast Thrashing.

 

Andy cleaning up my flash boat fresh from the oven.

 The driving force at Bliss Stick is Norm after that we have the heart and soul is Andy O’connel who is an Excellent boater and a fantastic kayak cooker. and after that there is the boat shaper Matty who shapes new designs as they come through and also helps out with everything else when he’s not shaping.

Andy running rollercoaster.

After working at Bliss Stick for a week I managed to negotiate a ride from Andy to Warioa Fest ( an Extreme Race with ample carnage). The Warioa is an incredible river with fun technical drops that can be challeging. my first run in my new boat was a real treat, and the river is exceptional with drops, falls, and looping holes. It is a short run but very entertaining and mutiple runs are a blast.

Hanser eating up the competition.

The race was quite exciting to watch and many head to head races were very close. Hanser a Czech from the factory paddled exceptionally well and was in my mind a very good position to take the race. Although a mistak at the eddy line at races end caught him up. Andy also paddled well but lost too Sammy Sutton, I later discovered was a boater that good ol Harry drove around for the world cup years ago.

Norm the Man at bliss stick.

The weekend was a fantastic occurence and I hope to be on the water again soon.

I’ve been living besides this beauty lake for the past couple of weeks helping brew some of New Zealands finest brews at Croucher.