Here is a late trip report of an epic weekend in Aotearoa. I had met this influx of nations at the Wairoa extreme race, and one of them Jono the Englishman was nice enough to let me live on his couch for a couple of weeks In Auckland. I had left Auckland to travel the north and south Island as well as a bit of Australia but on my return to Auckland I discovered they had a trip planned to run a couple of rivers that sounded good for gold.   

Espen on one of the many short North Island run. Read more

The World Kayak Hometown Throwdowns are aimed at friendly sociable competition… fun for all. Simple format, points for everything, including a front surf, prizes by raffle of participants and not scores! We’re giving out free schwag and prizes from our event  partners… Immersion Research gear, American Whitewater memberships, Mountain Khakis, Mion sandals,  Kayak Session Magazines, Smith Optics, Red Bull Energy drinks, Jackson Kayak schwag, T-shirts, hats, videos, stickers…  There will be boats to try and lots of paddling advice for beginner and intermediate boaters. The event has several places to play for beginner(at the tides die down with very small waves) to big waves for advanced kayakers at the peak of the tide at 9am. So get there early to see all the action Please join me on the Saint John River at the Reversing Falls Park this Saturday August 23 at 9am … grand prize is rewarded at the end of the series in our region for the most participation! There are lots of great places to stay in St. John and the Cox’s will welcome any frugal paddlers that want camp at their spacious yard in Hampton which is a 25 minute drive down the highway from the event…imagine driving into the city to paddle There are also rumours of an after party to be confirmed at the eventPlease register online to help things things flow as smoothly as possible plus be eligible for the grand prize draw!http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/register/

Tim Cox Having fun on the Greasy Chicken

The day started off just like any other paddling mission from Calgary. I got up early, met Mikkel and we headed to Fernie to paddle the Upper Elk. We had three choices of places to go for the weekend and for some reason Fernie was at the bottom of my list. It worked best to go there for Mikkel and since it really didn’t matter to me where we paddled I didn’t have a problem going. Have you ever felt like you were getting a sign or that someone was trying to tell you something? Well, Fernie being on the bottom of my list was sign one.

About to break my nose on Leap of Faith (Photo: Shon Cottrill)

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