Me and Toni then left to the West Coast to head to Bullerfest, a kayaking festival held in Murchison, New Zealand. Which included a number of competitions as well as massive parties.First up was the boater cross, a short race with 5 kayakers at a time going as fast as they can down a rapid of the Matataki river. In my first race I came second out of four, giving me a good heat for the second race. In the second race though I got off to a bad start which Icouldn't make up for and ended up coming 4th out of 6 and being knocked out. The big air competions was also a lot of fun, with a specially built ramp being used to pull flips, spins and airscrews before landing in the water, I went backwards, and attempted a flip, but it didn't quite happen. I also entered the slalom, and raft race, however our raft had a big hole in and we sank and had to be rescued.
Everything kicked off in the evenings first at the Commercial Hotel and then with a neon party hosted by Ultimate Descents and building human pyramids in the middle of the road.
It was now time to head back North for the plane on the 20th and for the legendary Fuljames trip the weekend before. Toni had a plane to catch ridiulously early in the morning, so we drove up to Nelson and camped in a park by the airport to ensure we could get there. I made my way North by ferry accomponied by dolphins and headed back to Auckland. On route I paid a visit to Katrina in the Wairapara and we raced sticks down a stream to get our fix of whitewater.
It was then on to Gisborne where I stayed with my cousin Celia, where I attempted surfing (its not easy) swam with a dolphin (he found the kayak really interesting, and tried to capsize me) and visited the Rere waterfall, and Rere rockslide. I then headed back to Auckland to sell my car
Rere rock slide - photo by celia
Four of us were keen to run it, Me, Toni, and Pete from AUCC and Eric, a slalom paddler and friend of Toni and Pete. We waited till evening, as that as when the flow is at its lowest, before getting on. Eric and Toni went first, followed by me and then Pete. As I set off I could see Eric and Toni going down the gorge seemingly OK, I failed to boof the first weir and got, briefly recirculated, before coming out, shaken but fine. I then headed down to meet Eric and Toni in the last eddy before the drop. With a bit of effort I made it and watched Pete come down. Pete got rolled on a drop called Pencil Sharpener and got pushed sideways into a recirculating eddy. He tried to get out but every time he tried he got pushed back, he couldn't get out. I was watching from the eddy below, but couldn't do anything, and it was getting darker. The next 15 minutes felt like an age. I paddled down the falls, in fading light and came out at the bottom. Pete ended up having to be pulled out of the gorge by throwbags. Me, Toni and Erik then had to make our way thorugh bush for almost an hour in the dark, to get out of the river. In the end though everyone made it to the party that night and we all appreciated the power of the river a lot
A few more days to sort stuff out and it ws time to say goodbye to all the people I had met in New Zealand and head back to the UK to plan my next mission.
New Zealand is a beautiful country, with some stunning rivers. But it was thanks to all the awesome people I met and paddled with that I know I will definately go back, it was sweet as.
