New Zealand

Greetings from New Zealand,

I am attending New River Academy and for the second quarter we are kayaking in New Zealand for 6 weeks.  I am here on my third week, and so far it is the best place I have ever been and kayaked.  We have been having daily play sessions on the Kaituna River which has one of the worlds best play spots.  The river travels through a deep jungle like gorge and the river is not very wide maybe 10 feet wide and has several waterfalls and fun rapids.  

Last week we took a road trip to the coast to surf at Raglan which has the worlds longest left point break.  These waves were 12-20 feet in hight, and amazing.  We also took a day trip to the Wairoa River which is a small narrow gorged class 5+ technical run with lots of drops and fun moves.

Just the other day we went to Huka Falls which runs every once in awhile. When we got there it was running at 300 CMS (metric), the optimal level for the worlds best to even consider paddling it is 80 and we needed 60 for the school to be able to do it. So after hanging around for awhile we were unable to run it due to levels.  This run is very short maybe a 1/4 of a mile, but it is a narrow gorge with a big 20 footy at the end of a class 5+ big water lead in with a terminal eddy and holes with the 20 footer being almost impossible to boof at levels above 80. The hole is deadly at the bottom, if you got worked it would be bad because the boil line goes back about 100 feet down stream.  If you swam above you would be pushed so deep your body would be unable to handle the pressure and you would run out of air. One person tried several years ago to run Huka falls at 150 and he got stuck in the eddy above the falls for 4 hours and a heli had to pull him out.  

Today we are finishing up our last day here at the Kaituna and heading farther South to the Bliss Stick factory where we are going to get to design with our own designs and colors a boat for supper cheap.

Then 2 weeks later we are in the South Island at Hokitika where we are doing a Heli trip down a great class 4+ river into the Pacific Ocean on the West coast.

I will be getting the chance to Huck Malloria Falls, which is the drop that Rush Sturgesdid   the HailMarry.  I will be heading back home December 11.  Right now it is summer here, the water is warm and the country is staying beautiful.

Kayaking here has improved my skills in play and river running. In a 45 seconds comp ride I can score around 120 points.

It was a long travel to get here with a 6 hour flight from Philly to SFO and a 15 Hour flight from SFO to Auckland. 

Until next time...

~Ross