Monday, June 18, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
A soiree at the castle in honour of the queen...
Queen's birthday, a time to celebrate our continued governance by her royal highness. We all thought it would be quite fitting to head to the castle to celebrate her June birthday.
Castle Hill I mean,
Winter had arrived and as per usual an early June southerly starting blowing into Christchurch early on Saturday afternoon. We had arranged accomadation in Castle Hill village courtesy of the St Andrew's College Outdoor Instructors Staff House. Kim, Lindsay & Lucien headed out into the hills early in the day to ride the Craigieburn mountain bike track, while Megan and I waited in Christchurch for the day. (Watching/playing netball).
At 5pm I had arranged to pick up my nice new 'Wear on Earth' down jacket from Blair Jacobs, I am now the only stylish person in the known world to be rocking a 'Wasabi Green' two layer gore tex down jacket. Let it be known that I stand out in a crowd!
After parting with cash in exchange for warmth, Megan & I headed out to the village. Upon arrival we had a huge feed of Nachos courtesy of Lucien & his assistants. Dinner was washed down with various wines & some very amusing games of girls vs guys pictionary.
So sunday morning, the rain had stopped, the sun had risen and we eventually made it to Spittle Hill. With two castle hill newbies (Lucien & Kim), there was a quick introduction to smearing & slopers. Lindsay was quick into action working the V4 Torpedo in the first 30minutes, before finally sticking the top hold.
Megan once again returned to the self-titled 'Megan's Problem' which she managed after a couple of attempts this time around. 'Megan's Problem' soon became 'Kim's Nightmare' as she tried at least 20 times to tame the beast within....
Lucien & I soon discovered an interesting problem adjacent to 'Megan's Problem'
- A combination of tiny feet with one solid arete and a miniscule crimper - then throw high to a solid sloper, hope you feet don't pop and yell/grunt.
After an hour or so I finally stuck the top hold & felt satisfied having solved an interesting problem.
The rest of the afternoon passed & the sun faded beyond the hills, temperatures rapidly dropped and we all retreated back to the village, happy with the thought of a warm fire & some dinner.
Monday morning saw the first solid frost that I've seen all year, a hearty bowl of not quite original porridge & a couple of coffees saw us packed and heading back to the hill.
Our mission at the start of the day was to find a boulder and not leave until we had climbed to the top using 5 different routes. After about 4 successful missions on various boulders it was lunchtime, right beside the 'Lung Dyno' Lindsay & I both had played around on this before we were both keen to see if we could actually top out...
While Lucien, Lindsay & I played around with the grunty throw & hold on to nothing problem the girls headed off to find some nice technical slab climbs.
The Queen's party started to die down so we all slowly made our way back to Christchurch, a great weekend & definetely an escape we shall have to do again soon. (Considering Castle Hill is only an hour away).
Antz
Castle Hill I mean,
Winter had arrived and as per usual an early June southerly starting blowing into Christchurch early on Saturday afternoon. We had arranged accomadation in Castle Hill village courtesy of the St Andrew's College Outdoor Instructors Staff House. Kim, Lindsay & Lucien headed out into the hills early in the day to ride the Craigieburn mountain bike track, while Megan and I waited in Christchurch for the day. (Watching/playing netball).
At 5pm I had arranged to pick up my nice new 'Wear on Earth' down jacket from Blair Jacobs, I am now the only stylish person in the known world to be rocking a 'Wasabi Green' two layer gore tex down jacket. Let it be known that I stand out in a crowd!
After parting with cash in exchange for warmth, Megan & I headed out to the village. Upon arrival we had a huge feed of Nachos courtesy of Lucien & his assistants. Dinner was washed down with various wines & some very amusing games of girls vs guys pictionary.
So sunday morning, the rain had stopped, the sun had risen and we eventually made it to Spittle Hill. With two castle hill newbies (Lucien & Kim), there was a quick introduction to smearing & slopers. Lindsay was quick into action working the V4 Torpedo in the first 30minutes, before finally sticking the top hold.
Megan once again returned to the self-titled 'Megan's Problem' which she managed after a couple of attempts this time around. 'Megan's Problem' soon became 'Kim's Nightmare' as she tried at least 20 times to tame the beast within....
Lucien & I soon discovered an interesting problem adjacent to 'Megan's Problem'
- A combination of tiny feet with one solid arete and a miniscule crimper - then throw high to a solid sloper, hope you feet don't pop and yell/grunt.
After an hour or so I finally stuck the top hold & felt satisfied having solved an interesting problem.
The rest of the afternoon passed & the sun faded beyond the hills, temperatures rapidly dropped and we all retreated back to the village, happy with the thought of a warm fire & some dinner.
Monday morning saw the first solid frost that I've seen all year, a hearty bowl of not quite original porridge & a couple of coffees saw us packed and heading back to the hill.
Our mission at the start of the day was to find a boulder and not leave until we had climbed to the top using 5 different routes. After about 4 successful missions on various boulders it was lunchtime, right beside the 'Lung Dyno' Lindsay & I both had played around on this before we were both keen to see if we could actually top out...
While Lucien, Lindsay & I played around with the grunty throw & hold on to nothing problem the girls headed off to find some nice technical slab climbs.
The Queen's party started to die down so we all slowly made our way back to Christchurch, a great weekend & definetely an escape we shall have to do again soon. (Considering Castle Hill is only an hour away).
Antz
Whoops - I missed out May!
May : The month that comes between April & June, it appears that the whole month dropped off my rader & that I didn't do anything interesting at all. Well that's probably true, I'm sure that no one really cares what I've been doing! It is just a simple way of making myself feel good about myself... possibly an outward expression of my thoughts & 'doings' that makes everything in some strange way seem worthwhile.
So on that note I am happy to say the May was not a wash-out, I actually think that it may have been one of my busier months this year:
- A trip to Dunedin
- Lots of climbing (beginning to get the inspiration to climb back, possibly due to poor surf conditions & low rivers....)
- Back into instruction....
- A fresh new qual - Wilderness Pre Hospital First Aid.
- The magazine has been sent all over the place, and subscriptions are coming in from all over the place.
- I paddled the Rangitata Gorge again, it'd been a few years...
- I finished working at Kayak Unlimited and starting looking for winter work... although the looking has been delayed several times by instruction & first aid courses.
- We had a pirate party, we all dressed up like pirates & had a great shin-dig. With famous appearances from Danger Dan, Wild Weasel & Mongrel Mark from ye old port of Timaru.
- Some night climbing at Albert Terrace (darkness makes it a little harder & a lot more amusing.
Anyway I'll have a few posts online soon. As I try and catch up on what has been going on.
Antz
So on that note I am happy to say the May was not a wash-out, I actually think that it may have been one of my busier months this year:
- A trip to Dunedin
- Lots of climbing (beginning to get the inspiration to climb back, possibly due to poor surf conditions & low rivers....)
- Back into instruction....
- A fresh new qual - Wilderness Pre Hospital First Aid.
- The magazine has been sent all over the place, and subscriptions are coming in from all over the place.
- I paddled the Rangitata Gorge again, it'd been a few years...
- I finished working at Kayak Unlimited and starting looking for winter work... although the looking has been delayed several times by instruction & first aid courses.
- We had a pirate party, we all dressed up like pirates & had a great shin-dig. With famous appearances from Danger Dan, Wild Weasel & Mongrel Mark from ye old port of Timaru.
- Some night climbing at Albert Terrace (darkness makes it a little harder & a lot more amusing.
Anyway I'll have a few posts online soon. As I try and catch up on what has been going on.
Antz
Thursday, April 26, 2007
An afternoon on the Toaroha
Two weekends ago I went over to Greymouth to visit Megan who's doing a physio placement at the Greymouth Hospital. While I was there we met up with Ben & Elise from Wavemonkey Australia.
Ben & Elise were in NZ for two weeks and were keen to check out some of the West coast creeks, unfortunately there had been no rain. We checked out the Styx which looked very low & opted to go for walk up it's neighbouring river the Toaroha. An hour and a quarter of boggy mud later we were at the put-in, low water meant that the rapids weren't technically difficult but a good time was had by all.
Check out the photos & video. All photos are courtesy of Ben & Elise www.wavemonkey.com.au
Meg's enjoying the pleasant walk.
Elise getting a taste of NZ's natural beauty.
Ahh the put in.
Megs
Megs
Elise
Ben
Antz
and a small video, I'm just getting used to the new video editing program on the MAC.
Ben & Elise were in NZ for two weeks and were keen to check out some of the West coast creeks, unfortunately there had been no rain. We checked out the Styx which looked very low & opted to go for walk up it's neighbouring river the Toaroha. An hour and a quarter of boggy mud later we were at the put-in, low water meant that the rapids weren't technically difficult but a good time was had by all.
Check out the photos & video. All photos are courtesy of Ben & Elise www.wavemonkey.com.au
Meg's enjoying the pleasant walk.
Elise getting a taste of NZ's natural beauty.
Ahh the put in.
Megs
Megs
Elise
Ben
Antz
and a small video, I'm just getting used to the new video editing program on the MAC.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
River Festival & Slalom Photos
Here's a collection of photos from photochick.co.nz she keeps popping up at kayak events throughout the south island. Some quality shots which are all available free online via her website.
A few of her shots from Bullerfest 2007 made it into issue 2 of CUMEC magazine too.
Aaron Osborne from Rotorua, currently ranked #1 in the NZL slalom team.
Me, mid extreme race on the Citreon Rapid.
Me leading the peleton... well actually there was about 8 people infront.
Ngaio Hart
Stu Daniels playing during the mass start race.
Dylan Thomson in the head 2 head extreme race.
James Dawson on his way to winning the national C1 title.
Barney Young gets amongst like it a true west coaster.
A few of her shots from Bullerfest 2007 made it into issue 2 of CUMEC magazine too.
Aaron Osborne from Rotorua, currently ranked #1 in the NZL slalom team.
Me, mid extreme race on the Citreon Rapid.
Me leading the peleton... well actually there was about 8 people infront.
Ngaio Hart
Stu Daniels playing during the mass start race.
Dylan Thomson in the head 2 head extreme race.
James Dawson on his way to winning the national C1 title.
Barney Young gets amongst like it a true west coaster.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
CUMEC Magazine Issue 2
After a few months of playing around in Indesign, emails back & forth from contributors & a few anxious nights Cumec Magazine Issue 2 is finally here.
Ready to make it's mark on the NZ & Australian kayaking communities, a real stand alone independent kayaking magazine for the general public, no shop or business affiliations just kayakers providing news & articles for kayakers. I'm stoked so hope everyone enjoys (despite the few grammatical errors!)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Teva River Festival 2007
The Teva River Festival was held of Easter Weekend in Central Otago, the event ran alongside the NZ Open Slalom Nationals. Mike Dawson from Tauranga dominated both events winning the extreme race, mass start down river race & Open Mens Slalom Championship.
A top weekend which consisted of the head 2 head extreme race on the Citreon Rapid - Grade 4, Grand Prix Slalom in plastic boats & a mass start down river race. I kept my performances equal and finished in the middle of each event. Knocked out in the top 16 for the extreme race, getting about 8th in the slalom & somewhere about 10th in the mass start.
Since I was too busy enjoying being on the river all the pictures are by Jono Conway & Megan Foster.
A top weekend which consisted of the head 2 head extreme race on the Citreon Rapid - Grade 4, Grand Prix Slalom in plastic boats & a mass start down river race. I kept my performances equal and finished in the middle of each event. Knocked out in the top 16 for the extreme race, getting about 8th in the slalom & somewhere about 10th in the mass start.
Since I was too busy enjoying being on the river all the pictures are by Jono Conway & Megan Foster.
The Arnold River & Random Pic's
The Arnold River is a short drive from Greymouth, a small grade 2 river that is the local training grounds for Tai Poutini Polytech & Grey High School students. A regular flow and nice eddy lines make a fun little trip down the river.
Spent the afternoon in the sun with Megs & Viv Buxton who has just starting working at Grey Vet's. The first half of the run was pretty smooth with some nice little eddy lines, we spent about 20 minutes playing in the most pathetic hole I've ever stopped to park 'n' play in!
Further down the run there were a few nice catch on the fly waves & holes.
As with many rivers the Arnold is under threat from a dam proposal, submissions have closed and we await to see the outcome for a fantastic wee run that would be impossible to replace if lost.
Now to the random photos
Meg's showing off! Photo Antz Longman
A quick stop by Maruia Falls, we didn't feel like paddling.... Photo Antz Longman
Being crazy.... Photo Megs or Kim
The Arnold Put in, Viv's trusty brown wagon. Photo Antz Longman
Viv playing in our mini park 'n' play. Photo Antz Longman
Spent the afternoon in the sun with Megs & Viv Buxton who has just starting working at Grey Vet's. The first half of the run was pretty smooth with some nice little eddy lines, we spent about 20 minutes playing in the most pathetic hole I've ever stopped to park 'n' play in!
Further down the run there were a few nice catch on the fly waves & holes.
As with many rivers the Arnold is under threat from a dam proposal, submissions have closed and we await to see the outcome for a fantastic wee run that would be impossible to replace if lost.
Now to the random photos
Meg's showing off! Photo Antz Longman
A quick stop by Maruia Falls, we didn't feel like paddling.... Photo Antz Longman
Being crazy.... Photo Megs or Kim
The Arnold Put in, Viv's trusty brown wagon. Photo Antz Longman
Viv playing in our mini park 'n' play. Photo Antz Longman
More New Brighton Surfing
Megs cartwheeling in the whitewash. Photo Antz Longman
How's the serenity? Photo Antz Longman
They call him the Sandman... Photo Antz Longman
Megs Wavewheeling. Photo Antz Longman
A little bit of air... Photo Antz Longman
Maybe there are alternatives to kayaking? Kiteboarders dominating the foreshore... Photo Antz Longman
More Buller Fest Shots
Mikey Abbot being a show pony.... Photo Antz Longman
Sam Sutton working the airscrew. Photo Antz Longman
Louise Urwin drops in. Photo Antz Longman
Zak Shaw gets a little competitive in the slalom. Photo Antz Longman
Some people just 'flipped' out with the heat (sorry couldn't help the poor pun) Photo Antz Longman
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