Still in Murchison. . .

So, I finally was feeling secure enough in my blog to 'release' it's location to you all. I hope you enjoy the updates. Please don't worry if there's not a post for awhile. I'm not always good at getting myself to a computer, but I'll try to be pretty good about keeping you all posted on what's going on with me here in my travels.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was having some trouble finding a used kayak. A couple of days before the course (see last post), I found one on the kayaking internet message board, and the day before the course drove up to a town called Richmond to buy it. I got a great deal and it's turning out to be a great boat: Dagger CFS.

I'm going to hang around Murchison to kayak over the weekend, and then may continue my travels starting next week.

Hope things are going well with all of you. Take Care!

NZ Kayak School

Over the last week or so, I've been talking to the NZ Kayak School about learning their style of teaching, i.e. observing some of their beginner classes. They've been open to the idea, but encouraged me to focus a little on my own paddling first. In order to do so, I signed up for an Intermediate/Advanced Kayak Course with the school. It was a four day course that was definitely challenging, informative, and rewarding.

We worked on so many things over the course of four days: pool session every morning to work on perfecting our rolls; flatwater sessions to work on drills and boat control; river sessions to work on the application of those flatwater skills; and some river rescue/safety skills. (This picture is taken during one of the river rescue scenarios.) We would start at 8am and finish our third session of the day, usually, at about 6pm. That sounds like a normal day, but the amount of focus required and the physical demands had us all quite exausted by the end of each day. The course ended a couple of days ago, and I've been just recouperating ever since. I'm still quite sore in a few places, but really glad for every bit of the course. I have plenty of things now to keep practicing.

The intermediate/advanced class included: (from left to right) me, Emilene (from Ireland), Mike (from the States), and our instructor Zak Shaw. Jenny (not pictured) was taking a beginning course on the same days as our course. We all stayed at the lodge during the courses and had a great time. Even though we were exausted at the end of the day, we all ate meals together and were able to process our experiences and bonded quite well. I now have three new places in New Zealand where I know people and can visit while I'm here. Yay!

In January and February, the NZ Kayak School will have a number of beginner classes going on, so I might be able to observe some of those, but for the next month or so, I have a little time on my hands. I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with that time, but I'm guessing it will probably include some kayaking. It might be a good time to check out some other areas on the South Island. I'll keep you posted. . .

Murchison

My kayaking adventures have begun! I drove from Christchurch to Murchison (home to the NZ Kayak School) on Saturday. I arrived just in time to attend the birthday party for Mick Hopkinson, director of the NZ Kayak School. The potluck was a veritable who's who of the NZ kayaking community, and the next day we all did a group paddle on the Middle Matakitaki (Class 2+). Counting all of the kayakers and rafters (one raft for the kids), there were 84 people in all. Here's a shot of some of the folks at the put in:

It was quite a scene. It was fun to paddle with all levels and all sorts of paddlers. It was a great introduction to the NZ paddling community. I was a bit distracted, however, because I was paddling a boat that was WAY too big for me, so I wasn't able to really explore the nooks and crannies, i.e. play on some waves and/or practice with eddies and ferrying, as I would have liked, but it was a good intro to some of the people who paddle around here.

Today I paddled the Lower Matakitaki (Class 3+) with Shannon (employee of the New Zealand Kayak School). Here's the put-in for that run:

Perfect amount of flatwater at the put in for a warm up, but there wasn't much flatwater after that. I stayed upright and on-line for the most part, but it was quite different than most of the paddling I've done. This stretch had continuous and technical boulder fields that created different hydralics than I'm used to paddling. It was a great challenge and I look forward to getting more practice on it. I was paddling a boat that fit quite a bit better than the one I paddled yesterday, so it felt really good to eddy hop my way down this stretch.

Getting Road Ready

I am the proud owner of a Toyota "camper" van . . . I use the term "camper" loosely. The van is a Toyota mini-van with a bed platform instead of the two bench seats. I bought it from Chester St. Campers, which is associated with the Chester St. Backpacker Hostel. They specialize in getting visiting tourists on the road. I could tell you about the whole process, i.e. Warranty of Fitness (WOF), Change of Ownership, Registration, Insurance, and Roadside Assistance, but that would take more time than I have on the computer right now. Suffice it to say I'm glad that the folks at Chester St. Campers were able to walk me through the whole process.

My next project is getting a kayak, which may be tougher than I originally thought. Used kayaks for sale are few and far between here. I've been told that I really should have brought mine with me. With the economy not doing very well here and the cost of shipping things so high, the kayak stores are cutting back on what they are bringing into the country. . . dang it.

I'm heading up to Murchison this weekend. I was hoping to have a kayak with me when I did so, but it's not looking as if that'll be the case. There's a big birthday party tomorrow night, Saturday, for the director of the NZ Kayak Schook in Murchison, which is supposedly going to bring kayakers in from all over, so maybe I'll have some luck there.

A couple of things I learned today: a cooler is known here as a "chilly bin" and newer cars have sturdy side mirrors that bend all the way back without any damage to the mirror (got a little close to one on my first left side of the road driving adventure).

And so it begins. . .

My New Zealand adventures have officially begun. Thank, God! After years of dreaming about it, reading about it and asking people questions about it, I have finally made it across the Pacific Ocean to the South Island of New Zealand. I safely arrived, yesterday, in Christchurch. To those of you who haven't yet heard my travel plans, I am here in NZ for 3 months. I'm hoping to do as much kayaking as possible with some other exploration as well, i.e. hiking (here they call it tramping or trekking) or surfing (if I can afford it). In support of the kayaking plan, I'm heading up to Murchison, home of the NZ Kayak School, with the hopes of learning their style of teaching.

Before I go into any more details about my travels, I want to thank, with my whole heart, each and every one of you who sent me off to NZ with encouragement, kind wishes, and lots of love. I didn't get a chance to get home to see my family in Indiana before my travels began, but I appreciated the phone contact and emails from you all. Over the past few weeks I journeyed from Jackson, WY (after a season of guiding for Jackson Hole Whitewater), to Portland, OR (where I got to spend time with my sister, Mary, and where my flights began), via Husum/BZ, WA (where I got to catch up with friends and do a little kayaking on the White Salmon River). I feel so grateful for the dancing, meals, kayaking trips, gatherings and tequila toasts that sent me on this journey with a full heart, knowing that I have the love and support of many. After being in constant company of such great friends and family, I felt a little alone once I settled in on my flight across the ocean, but as I catch up on my sleep here and think about where I'm going, I know that none of you are very far away.