New Zealand Junior Canoe Slalom Team

Last few photos....

2011-07-22T11:53:00.011+12:00

Chicago, stunning!!

Boys and more Levi's!!

Closest we came to a run in with the law

Me driving, them sleeping.....

Laurence SUP, Duluth

Me, SUP, Duluth whilst Geoff tried a new boat out
Self explanatory....

Absolutely brilliant plank exhibition found on top of kayak statue. Thanks and goodnight!!!! See you all next year.

Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO [OFFICIAL LYRICS]

2011-07-22T11:52:00.000+12:00

This tune may have been cranked up on the radio a couple of times.......

Wrap up

2011-07-22T11:26:00.003+12:00

Well the journey home with the kayaks turned in to yet another mission. We had to pay at every airline. Kelly, Marcus and Geoff spent the whole day in LA after getting an earlier flight. Thanks to them we managed to make our connection to the AirTahiti flight even though we were the last people to check in for the flight. Kelly also managed to talk them down on the price they charged us per boat. Finally back in NZ we ruched over to domestic transfer with Marcus and Geoff and paid to get their kayaks on. Lou then drove them to the domestic terminal , only to be confronted by yet another issue, the airNZ rep didn't believe I had paid for the boats so wouldn't allow them on the flight so the boys missed their flight and had to wait 2 more hours for the next after Lou paid extra and got a parking ticket too.
Thanks heaps to Jackie and the other lady at Virgin America and the guy at Air Tahiti as well as one person at AirNZ for being the only 4 airline people we met all trip who made any effort to help us.

The group that had stayed in Chicago got packed up and went back to the windy city to walk the 'Magnificent Mile'. Full of tops brand names.....sorry Jill, I couldn't really afford the beautiful rings at Cartier !!

Kelly had some fun on the flight home, passed out in a deep sleep she shouted "Dale" at the top of her voice and then kicked me hard enough to give me a dead leg. It bought a much needed smile to our faces!!

Well, that's about all from me folks, I'll post the last photos in a second.

Thanks kids for a great trip, you all were fantastic and your parents should be very proud of you.
Thanks again Dale and Wendy for organising such a great trip. I hope you're enjoying a much more relaxing time in Europe. Everyone is already looking forward to next year.......
I hope I helped you all have a fun trip and you think of great memories in a couple of years, the next time you hear "Party rock anthem" and you crank it up loud!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIOOwhmkoLo

Andy Fuller, coach, mentor, driver, rule fracturer, ice cream container cleaner (I somehow lost 3 KGs on the trip anyway!!) and now I'm off for a nap.

we got all the kayaks on for free

2011-07-20T00:52:00.002+12:00

YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! And we had to pay for our normal bags too. Matthew now has no kayak for 10 days and Kel, Marcus and Geoff are heading to LAX with a headache to sort with air tahiti. 10 kayaks, 14 paddles and 7 passengers.....
back to sleep, that was a bad 5 am start.
At least the airport parking guy had a sense of humour and after scaring the shit out of me.....let me off the $160USD fine for leaving my van at the kerb with Laurence trying to talk his way out of it.....very happy to see me run back out....

close to home

2011-07-19T16:25:00.003+12:00

well, at last we got some kayaks on a plane when Dale and Wendy left today.
Meanwhile the 8 left went shopping at a huge mall in Chicago.
Straight after we shot in to Chicago city and went up the tallest building in North America, the sears/willis tower. I even braved the glass floor section 103 stories up!
We then shot back across town to Wrigley field, home of the Chicago cubs baseball team. We arrived late, found out I had been led astray by the online puchase and had tickets to tomorrows game. A few frustrating minutes and several $$ late we were in our seats. Locals told us the cubs would be thrashed (I hoped this as I have had many friends in Phildeliphia who were playing).
The Cubs thrashed the Phillies though and the kids sang their theme tune all the way home ....."go Cubs Go...."
A highlight was Bill Marray actor from Ghostbusters singing during the 7th inning stretch.
Poor Matthew, every time he got up to get a drink or a souvenir he returned to find he missed another home run!!!!!
Off to the airport at 5am for the first flights.......

Numbers.....

2011-07-19T01:39:00.004+12:00

Hi everyone, it seems like many of you have had a great laugh at our expense. Don't worry, 95% of the time we've been laughing too!! I just didn't think it possible for so many random things to happen on one trip! Anyway, we were going to write a list of numbers on day one but this list will be way more impressive as we have our last breakfast together.......well sort of together, shared with about 30 other people in a crowded hallway of a motel near the airport in Chicago.

1 team

28 days away (or 56 for Dale, Wendy, Finn, Carl)

13 people

10 athletes

1 coach

9 kayaks at departure

0 kayaks at arrival

3 kayaks for the lucky few…shipped from Europe

8 days waiting for kayaks from LAX

4900 KMS my car has driven

5400 kms Wendy car….lots of trips to supermarket and Garmin getting her lost!!

4700 ish kms wendy drove

1500 ish for dale

5600 kms for me including trip to fetch kayaks.

25 pieces of luggage at start, 14 arrived in Ottawa

46 hours time to get to Ottawa from Auckland

72 hours for Dale!!!!

4 flights of stairs to get kayaks to our rooms in this hotel

97 sets of roadworks

Score….Andy 34, Garmin GPS 3 (That’s roughly how many times I was right with no map and Garmin was wrong!!)

17 hour drive from Niagara to Wausau

10 hour drive last night from Duluth to Chicago

4 days, roughly how long we have spent in the cars!!!!!

8 baseball caps bought

2 overloaded minivans with 12 kayaks on the roof with 4 large bits of wood.

00 yes zero run ins with the law…..so far.

165455463654646 hours kids spent combined on the internet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 hour spent doing homework (combined for whole team from what I can work out)

72 loads of washing

1 foreign ’hookup’….but the boys are still trying……

8 different accommodations

9 kayaks and 14 paddles......that 7 of us are going to attempt to fly home with....

23 times we thought about hitting the bottle…….but 0 times we did

Racing, meal, SUP and lazer tag

2011-07-18T01:09:00.002+12:00

The race course was pretty interesting at Duluth. It was a very hot day and just kiwi vs aussies.
A big drop, an up in the middle of the flow and a very tight surf in a big hole that was fast enough to give you whiplash. Our guys sucked it up and raced pretty well considering the nature of the course.
Laurence was top kiwi in 3rd, Finn 4th , Carl 5th, Cole 6th. Marcus 10th.
Kelly won C1W.
In the evening we went back to the course at 6 for a great italian meal where we watched racing from the 90's (Yes I had a 10 second clip!!) and surf and big drop movies. Many of the team went for a SUP (Standup paddle board) on the lake, many with trembling knees, worried about falling in.
When we got back we shot down to lazer tag.......I found something I can beat the kids at still....top scorer on both games. We played 8 kiwis against 8 USA plus Cole and Laurence. NZ DOMINATED!! I think Laurence shot some yanks!!!!!
Just leaving now for the sprint race and a 10 hour drive to Chicago. Foxy left this morning to go to Ottawa for 10 days more paddling, with our usual airport dramas, 330am, closed roads, detours a forgotten paddle and a refused kayak.....so, the fun begins again!!

Duluth photos

2011-07-17T09:07:00.011+12:00

Middle hole/gate 10

Bottom drop

View of Duluth lifting bridge from our hotel

Matt, doing the video link from almost in the river!

Big drop at gate 3!! off the slab was the only route

Rugged landscape of start area. I can't call it the start pool as there was no pool, only rocks!!

Conjoined cold idiots!!!!

Duluth

2011-07-16T07:20:00.002+12:00

We're in Duluth now.
The river here is a little low, the flatwater gates are gone and the river run is too low. Apart from that it's perfect!!
It's not quite what we had hoped for in the last week but we're making the most of it. We had 2 WW sessions yesterday and one this morning and then off to race tomorrow.
We have some nice accommodation in town right by the wharf and not far from a lifting bridge and great chocolate shop!
The course is quite rocky but we think we've found most of them now. There is a big rock slide at gate 3 and another 3 significant drops down the course. The last is quite fun and tricky.
We seem to have plenty of injuries (Carl-back, Kelly-shoulder, Marcus-back, Anna -shoulder, Foxy-shoulder) but they're keeping their spirits up.

Fun Day

2011-07-14T00:23:00.002+12:00

Yesterday we had another day off paddling. Everyone was still pretty tired and we had no good whitewater to paddle (The course in Wausau isn't running).

Instead we drove 2 hours south to the town of Wisconsin Dells. It's like a mid-western version of Las Vegas, a town built purely on a theme. Their theme is water parks!! We went to the Worlds biggest water park and rode the worlds longest water coaster. Half the kids also managed to get on the 'scorpions tail' where you start in a tube and free fall into a spiraling drop at huge speed.

Following this we shot down the road to the outlet malls where we got new sunnies, jeans, shoes, shirts, skirts etc.
A quick Taco Bell and then raced back to Wausau as I was out to tea with old friends from the 90's.

This morning we're off to Duluth, we may have to use a pry bar to get the kids out of these luxury rooms. We have 3 days of slalom and river running to look forward to and then a race over the weekend before we start to go our separate ways.

BBQ photos

2011-07-13T16:14:00.005+12:00

A great location for a BBQ....

Dale and Wendy relaxing at last....

The whole gathering.

0 then BBQ

2011-07-13T00:20:00.003+12:00

After one of the most hectic 2 weeks of our lives......yesterday we did a big fat nothing!!!!
Kelly and I went for a flatwater session. Everyone else went to the movies.
Of course while we were all playing, Dale and Wendy were as always.....working...more emails and sorting various plans for the rest of the trip or making sure things are ok with the business they own that they have closed for 2 months for this trip. These 2 are absolute legends. Their planning for this trip was impeccable. Yet, for some reason there have been more weird and unexplainable things go wrong on this trip than any other one I've been on in 30 years of kayaking and travelling the World. So many in fact that we now seem to able to predict them in advance!!!! They have held their heads up high, and despite unbelievable (hey we all know life could be far worse!) situations have kicked on through with barely a murmur of complaint.

Whilst on the subject of legends, we picked the kids up from the mvie and headed to see Corrie and her family and friends at their house for a good ol' USA style 'cook out' BBQ. GPS got us lost for the 37th time but when we got there.......Fantastic food and company, thanks so much you guys, what a great evening and the first time I've seen Dale and Wendy relax so far :-)

Photos

2011-07-11T15:27:00.008+12:00

Team on the Wausau WW stadium statue

Mrs Owen..for those of you who remember her.

Carl and Finn on podium

Kelly 3rd

Proud Dale when we have the top 4 spots in B-final.

Finals day.....

2011-07-11T15:24:00.001+12:00

Here are some highlights unedited from the paddlers today…

Carl’s highlight was being able to hold it together throughout the whole weekend and not being influenced by other paddlers to try faster lines etc and of course the biggest highlight was getting Second in Juniors and having a clean run.

Cole’s highlight was his two clean sweet runs on Saturday coming in third both runs. On Sunday he had a solid semi final run apart from one gate he tripped up on putting him out of the finals. Trying some different lines in the B Final he held them together coming in second in the B final.

Laurence is cool. But really… racing was really cool I had good couple of runs, one in heats and in the B final. I missed out on the actual final though. For me this race was a learning curve on how to approach a race mentally.

Anna’s highlight from this weekend was sitting through rain and unbearable heat and observing the rest of the team do so well

Kelly’s highlight was putting together the fast and smooth sections of individual runs during the past two days and coming 3^rd junior women k1. Being with some different competition and having a blast in c1 even though the run wasn’t how it was planned was another highlight!!

Finn’s highlight of the weekend was making finals after a mistake in the semi finals. Then going on to come third junior and fulfilling his goal of doing a run that felt like he couldn’t do better (other than a touch). Another highlight was hanging out with all of the Canadians and Australians at the river.

Marcus’s highlight was doing solid runs and feeling great at the end. I missed out on the finals by one spot which was slightly frustrating but on the whole my race went very well and I am happy with my result.

Matthew’s highlight of the race was knowing he had done his best and pulled off the moves he had planned, despite messing up the last gate in the B Final. This race will be something I will always remember and I have learnt lots of new skills from. Watching the top three runs of the days was incredible.

Foxy’s highlight was making finals despite a sore shoulder and some mistakes. Had a great time at the competition and had a very good finals run although he made mistake on one of the upstream gates which ruined his chances at a medal.

Geoff's highlight this weekend was competing with some extremely inspirational athletes. I can safely say that this has been a huge learning curve for me, like having to deal with huge amounts of pressure and competing to the best of my ability without mistake. In my semi final run I ended up with a pretty poor time, stopping my chances of making the A finals. I went onto the B final and finished 5^th. After this race I now have new goals to focus on.

Wendy’s highlight was watching the whole team achieve well but Finn getting his bronze was pretty cool, the whole team looked really professional in their white tee shirts and black shorts and stood out from all the other teams – they all helped at the end to clean up the site and pull down the gates and made us proud.

Dale was very happy to see the entire team looking great in their team gear. The whole experience of Wausau has been fantastic. Being settled all week with a good routine of training, sleeping and eating certainly paid off with a great last day of results. I’m just so proud of the way the kids conducted themselves all weekend right down to when they took down all the tents and gates for the organisers at the end of the day.

Andy, well not everything went totally to plan in the semis but the final runs of the day were pretty much stunning. Just about everyone finished with a flourish. 2^nd, 3^rd and 5^th in A-final and amazingly 1^st,2^nd,3^rd and 5^th in B-final. Kel flew down in K1 too finishing 3^rd. There was only one protest from us, it was too bloody hot. I think I sweated half my bodyweight!! I was a very proud coach ;-)

Note on results

2011-07-10T23:48:00.002+12:00

when you are looking at the results please be aware this includes over 18's too. In men it is the bibs around 40's. Confusing eh! So Carl 2nd, Cole 3rd, Laurence 6th etc....

Live coverage of racing

2011-07-10T23:26:00.001+12:00

Today there is live coverage HERE
click and enjoy watching, Matt has done a great job I understand.

photos

2011-07-10T14:43:00.010+12:00

Local crowd

Racing

Upstanding for the USA national anthem before racing starts.

Pre race kiwi camp, mid course

Sam Murray (Ex Alex /NZ jnr team) Wendy Dale and a body or 2 (Kel+Anna?)

Worst kayak key hiding attempt ever!!!!!

Race reception Friday night.

Had a great day with lots of visitors today. Early in the day a guy came up and said "Thanks so much for brewing Speights"!! I missed when all the kids turned up and were buzzing around the kiwis asking how they become kayakers. I also met Mrs Owen who has housed many kiwis and Aussie in Wausau over the years...I had heard many great stories in the past.

Matthew's post

2011-07-10T14:42:00.000+12:00

First day of racing at Wausau today, everyone did their best and all the New Zealanders made it through to the semi finals tomorrow. Michal smolem took out the junior category today with an incredible lead of ten seconds. The amazing performance from top athletes has been great to watch. We are all exited for more racing and feel well prepared thanks to our coaching from Andy and Michelle we have had of the last few days in the scorching heat. The course will prove to be a challenge for us but it will be great fun. This trip has been a great experience for us all and we have enjoyed traveling around Canada and America. Especially to Niagara falls. The fireworks display next to the waterfall was something we will never forget.

Matthew Arnott

Racing time

2011-07-10T12:08:00.002+12:00

Wow, what a day. I am so proud of everyone today, I have never seen most of them race so well.
Results are on the Wausau website,
http://www.wausauwhitewater.org/Documents/2011%20Documents/Wausau%20Open/Saturdayendofdayresults.pdf
Highlights were Geoff's first run, Laurence's first run and Finn's 2nd. Cole had 2 great runs and Foxy's first run was solid and clean like his namesake. Carl had an ok first run (neither me or him were satisfied but his solid training put him 2nd anyway) but risked too much later on.
The team had prepared well yesterday so when the water didn't come on for 1/2 and hour we didn't sweat it like the others. Then everyone went for solid first runs in case the predicted storms arrived. The storms didn't but wind did so some 50's and slow times came on 2nd runs as people tried to guess where the pole was going.
Everyone made it to semis and have now walked the course at least twice after demos and are set for the morning.

Race time

2011-07-09T12:03:00.002+12:00

Sue beat me to it so you know where to find coverage hopefully.
I set the course and put it up with a Canadian and American. Demo runs looked amazing if I do say so myself. The course is pretty straightforward apart from a run through a sticky hole at 3 and a hard down in left eddy on big drop.
Racing starts around 10am.
We just had a reception with dignatories like the mayor and past Olympic gold medalist Joe Jacobi (C2).
Today has been stinking hot but some rain has been forecast to cool things a little over the racing.
Half the team did a final session this morning and looked great whilst the others took time to recover and nurse minor niggles (Carl's back is sore and Foxy's shoulder whilst it looks like Anna will be sitting this one out.)

Live coverage Wausau Open

2011-07-09T09:13:00.003+12:00

Today there is live coverage HERE
click and enjoy watching, Matt has done a great job I understand.

Photos

2011-07-08T14:22:00.002+12:00

Main drop in the middle of the course

Top hole, very sticky, has claimed many tails this week!

Top 1/3rd

Geoffs Blog...

2011-07-08T14:12:00.002+12:00

Our team trip has been fantastic so far. We’ve visited the great Horse Shoe Falls in Niagara, Ottawa River and participated in the Canadian Summer Series. My personal highlights include the Minden course that featured steep gradient and strong eddies. Also the night in Niagara was excellent with the display of fireworks was cherry on top. Then the next day we travelled past the great lakes Ontario, Huron, and Michigan. It’s pretty cool to see the biggest lakes in the world. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Geoff.

(From Andy...)

Today we had just one session on the course. We did split 1/4 runs down the course and everyone had good runs. Matt and Geoff have their paddles back and they look great. Sadly Anna's shoulder is pretty bad so she looks in doubt for racing this weekend. Thanks Pete Eckhart who is one of the Aussie coaches and physio and gave her a good check up this afternoon.

I went for a run this morning and stopped right next to a deer 3 metres away who just happily sat and eyeballed me for about 3 minutes while squirrels hopped past!

Michelle Kvanli from USA K1W team has been helping coach our group this week and she has been fantastic, thanks Michelle.

Blog contribution from Marcus

2011-07-07T15:00:00.002+12:00

Our trip so far has been absolutely amazing. Kayaking on the Ottawa River and visiting Niagara Falls were big highlights. The night at Niagara Falls was one that I will never forget, having dinner right beside one of the seven wonders of the world was amazing, and finishing off the night with a great display of fire works was the icing on the cake. The races so far have also been great as they have been run smoothly thanks to all the helpful volunteers. The venues have been great for warming us up to big races at Wausau.

(From Andy...we found a guy who has repaired paddles like new and he's on a mission to fix ours. Anna subluxed her shoulder this afternoon in the sticky hole late in the course. We're waiting till the morning to see how bad it is. Tonight we had a visit from Corrie who worked as a doctor in Alex, she bought more food (she had left tons for us on our arrival already) and stayed for the evening catching up with everyone).

Wausau Training

2011-07-07T04:12:00.002+12:00

We are nice and settled and everyone is catching up on some sleep now.
The course here is really good and the team all had 2 good sessions yesterday.
Unfortunately we had 2 cracked tails (Finn and Anna) but minor and 2 snapped paddles (Matthew and Geoff) so we're about to crack open the repair kit.

The weather has been really hot but we have aircon in the rooms and big screen tv's so the kids can mellow out between sessions.
We just had an early flatwater sprint session on the lake which most came through well. Those sessions always show who has trained hard ;-)
Full and split runs today at 1.30 so I'll try to get some photos of the course.

more photos

2011-07-06T00:15:00.009+12:00

Loaded....Roadtrip!!!! Love 'em. No point having a Porsche in this traffic mate

No Andy, you're not cool enough to pull off the gangster look.

Sth islanders minus Foxy.....must have been at desert bar?

Cole has already been to desert bar and couldn't carry any more!! Laurence in awe...he finished them!

Team @ Niagara making international friends.......we could have a write in comp.....where are they from????? Vancouver!!!!

American Niagara Falls

Team next to Candian Horeshoe falls

Everyone who raced Minden/Gull.

1st Carl, 2nd Cole.....RESULT!!!!!!

photos

2011-07-06T00:09:00.009+12:00

Tightrope fail!

Carl and Foxy on Minden podium

Foxy, bottom drop

Laurence 2nd drop

Laurence top drop

Stunning lake above course

Arrival in Wausau

2011-07-05T22:58:00.002+12:00

Hi everyone,
Finally after being sent away by the grumpy freight man 3 times, the kayaks arrived at 9am. Dale and I completed our 28 hour round trip back to Minden. The road trip was hysterically funny and frustrating at times but if you ever have 8 hours and a bottle of whiskey I'll fill you in!!!!!

When we arrived in Minden at the Gull river the boater cross was just finishing. Cole finished 2nd. (I'm writing this at 5am and don't have results with me).

That night all the paddlers had 45 minutes on the river with very happy faces back in their own boats finally. We went back the next morning for another session before the race started at midday. The course at Minden is very big and has a huge fast chute for the first 5 gates then a big drop at the end. Photos will follow. At the end of that day the course moved downstream. The next morning we returned for another race before the series prizegiving in which several of our team won teva shoes for their overall placing.

At 2 pm we drove to Niagara Falls. Sadly due to traffic we missed our jet boat ride on the massive rapids. However all the team loved Niagara followed by all you can eat tea/desert and fireworks over the falls at night all floodlit.

11pm to bed and 530 to rise after a sleepless night on the van floor (hostel was about 300 degrees and van has aircon!!) we started the massive drive to Wausau. It took 17 hours including stops but we made it. I didn’t know my body could stand to drive that long but cruise control worked hard for 14 hours. Wendy was an absolute legend also singlehandedly managing the drive and the kids managed to get some well earned if uncomfortable rest.

Dale and I spent the entire day in radio communication telling jokes, singing songs and generally keeping our spirits high....sorry kids if it kept you awake but it certainly passed a very long day well.

We arrived at 10pm to luxury accommodation at bargain prices at Rib Mountain Inn. Checked in and to bed…..smart enough not to give kids the internet password ;-)

Off to the course at 9 for our first session and 8 days in one place.

I’ll send photos and results later today.

Feelfree to leave a comment so we know people are reading. Cheers, Andy.

we're alive

2011-07-05T03:27:00.002+12:00

Hi everyone,
We are alive.
We have the boats from a few days ago and raced in Minden.
Then visited Niagara falls and are now in the middle of a 14 hour drive to Wausau.
When we get there we will have internet and I'll do a proper update.

Jinx update (see below)!

2011-07-01T14:17:00.002+12:00

Well......after a long drive and getting held up for an hour at USA border we made it to Syracuse but no boats here yet. We're in a motel for the night and will go at 7am to the depot round the corner to collect boats and start the 6 hours back to Minden. On the plus side we met a great guy when we asked for directions and he runs a major shipping company so next year......!!!!
Dale has banned me from talking, the guy at USA customs thought we were partners on holiday and had a great sense of humour (thank god!) never mess with USA customs!!!!

This morning the team had a good session on upstream gates and sprints before packing and heading to Minden. They now have boats for the boatercross tomorrow.....good luck team.

more photos

2011-07-01T13:57:00.010+12:00

NZ/Aus 8 way computer wars!!!!!

Carl, big trophy

Anna

Carl

Course checking, MKC

Twister clouds

Team stretch

Team plank

Foxy, freestyle silver

Laurence

Photos

2011-07-01T12:53:00.007+12:00

Double plank!!

Foxy at Waikiki waves

MKC

Kelly at pumphouse.
Pumphouse course

boats almost....

2011-07-01T11:50:00.002+12:00

Here are some highlights from the paddlers today…

Laurence’s highlight is spending quality time with me as his coach (yeah, he’s still using my boat and being nice!!)

Anna loved her 2^nd run down the Ottawa river and surfing again at ‘waikiki waves’.

Kelly got surfed in the biggest hole on the first rapid and loved it. The hole was 2 metres high and she looked like a pin but was actually in pretty good control and worked to the end and out like a pro!

Finn is loving the fantastic spread of food here at MKC

Marcus enjoyed yesterdays race (and loved beating Finn!!). He was one of the of the few who managed gates 11-12 forward and had a fun race. The big surf waves at Ottawa were fun and helped him step up a level.

Matthew had a great day on the Ottawa surfing ‘Waikiki’ wave and loved seeing the amazing landscapes on our trip so far. He’s also enjoyed learning new skills on the river here at MKC

Robert was in his element paddling on the Ottawa. He came 2^nd in the freestyle comp and was throwing some amazing tricks on the big waves as we all watched in awe.

Geoff loved the weather on the Ottawa river so much, he went skins all day to add to his sunburn from the day before. Several pints of 'aftersun lotion' later he is turning brown not red!

Sorry about the lack of contact, no internet near here. We have been at Madawaska Canoe centre just outside Barry’s Bay in Ontario. This is a lodge on the river banks right by the slalom course. It is owned by Claudia and Dirk Van Wijk (their daughter Katrina has been paddling in NZ over the past couple of years) who have a rich history in their family of slalom and down river paddling.

Once again the Canadian and Australian paddlers were incredibly generous in lending their kayaks to our team for another great race.

We started with down river sprints at 830 am in really cold conditions which continued through the whole race. Standouts were Carl Whitehead and Anna Higgins who won their classes.

This was followed by the slalom at 10am. The course here is natural, wide and has a few holes. Just like the last slalom, things got technical at gate 11 but our team seemed to have it sorted. The top paddler here from Canada got 50’s both runs pushing the limits.

Carl Whitehead won a huge trophy (see photos) for winning the entire race. Kelly got 3^rd junior C1.

Marcus did a great little speech at prizegiving and presented the organisers with a book about NZ.

Dale and I are now in Syracuse collecting the boats…..let’s hope I didn’t jinx that…then we’re off to Minden for 4 days training and racing. Then we’re off to Niagara falls where we have been offered a jet boat ride in a monster submarine style jet boat courtesy of Joe Kowalski at Wilderness tours.

Here’s our team travel tip, NEVER follow a GPS in Canada or trust anyone when they say “it’s close” or “about an hour away!”. We have been lost more times than we care to remember and the worst was when we arrived at the start of 61km of gravel road……no we didn’t continue!!!!

On the way here to MKC we travelled in to bad weather. I said “wow this looks like perfect twister weather”, we then stopped for gas and were told twisters, hail and 90km/h winds were ahead! We ventured in to black skies with circling clouds and all eyes were on the sky. Apart from heavy rain we escaped but whilst getting directions were met with stories of trees down and hail as big as jaffas.

Wendy here ….. just a quick update on the location of all our boats and gear …. Its taken all week to organise but they are now on a truck from LA arriving in Syracruse sometime later today (this is Thursday) . We have been offered the use of a big mini van thing from here at Madawaska Kanu Centre, we have taken the seats out and Dale and Andy are driving from here back down into the USA and are hoping to meet up with the truck at the freight facility in the early evening – they have some $$$$ to convince the driver to let them unload the kayaks tonight into the back of the van and they will drive back through the night to meet up with us in Minden tomorrow morning a big drive of around 14 hours all up – huge relief to have a positive plan now in place – its been very stressful for everyone – kids were very stoic about using gear which had been loaned to us and boat sharing at the races was a tricky experience. We are very thankful for the support of the Australian team, the managers of the various venues and facilities we have been at. What goes round comes round and we have some hospitality to dish out in new Zealand in the future when these guys come to visit us.

Ottawa River

2011-06-28T13:35:00.002+12:00

Here are some highlights from the paddlers today…

Carl not happy about waking up at 4am with jet lag…sucked it up and spent a great day in the sun and just loved the big water. He had great surfs and was really stoked to see close up action of Laurence getting beaten in big holes….see below!!

Cole spent a huge amount of time of time on the big wave by ‘buseater ‘ where we had lunch by the river. Initially he paddled on to the wave heaps and then just fell off. However when I came back after lunch he had it wired and was getting good spins, reverse surfs and even ‘blunts’.

Laurence dropped in to a small hole had a nice surf then fell off and hadn’t looked behind him where there was a massive hole waiting to collect him. Paddling 2metres to his left Kelly and I saw his face and the words ‘HOLY SHIT’ just as he dropped in for a beating! He loved it and it gave him the confidence to attach the massive colloseum wave which he also surfed whilst it towered above him.

Anna said paddling ‘Colloseum’ a monster rapid was awesome and surfing big waves all day. It was great to see the girls with their ‘man pants’ on ripping up on a huge river.

Kelly said surviving ‘colloseum’ a huge rapid where she got the line a little wrong and nearly took a hiding was a big highlight. She told Dale and Wendy how at the bottom of the eddy ‘coach’ ordered her to walk back up and surf a nicely formed 1 metre wave. This gave her heaps of confidence and shortly later she was happy playing in a pretty sizeable hole that was later used for the rodeo comp.

Sorry, the others went to bed before telling their highlights ;-)

OK, time for an update.

Today we paddled on the Ottawa river which is renowned for it’s big water. Everyone had a great day. Better news is that our boats are confirmed to be with us by Thursday night. This has been a huge logistical mission but hopefully will conclude soon. Jet lag is coming off slowly and the weather has been great. The low key race in Ottawa was great although borrowing boats wasn’t ideal of course. The Canadian and Australian team were incredibly generous lending boats and gear.

This afternoon we had the kayak rodeo. Half the team (let’s call them the north island pussies ;-)) was exhausted from 3 hours on the river already but the hardy south island guys sucked it up and ‘represented’. Rorbert Hervey (Foxy) placed 2^nd in the junior mens freestyle.

We are staying in a big raft/kayak lodge base. Hopefully the internet will improve and I’ll be able to get up all the great photos from Pumphouse and now Ottawa river.

Racing over...here comes the big stuff.

2011-06-28T00:26:00.003+12:00

I'm sitting in a really nice raft base by the mighty Ottawa river. Kelly and Anna tell me they have put on their MAN PANTS and we're off big water paddling for the day. We have a day of plastic boating coming up with big surf waves and holes and a bucket of fun I'm sure.......more later

Yesterday we had a great day of racing at the pumphouse slalom in Central Ottawa. Plenty of borrowed boats but everyone had ok and the sun was blazing so lots of sunburn too! It was raining in the morning that's why we got caught out!!

Kelly was 2nd junior K1, 2nd junior C1. Laurence brown topped our group followed by Carl Whitehead. I think the adrenalin was running high for Laurence as he found a big hole in the bottom of my new boat that he was racing in. He was very relieved to find out it was there from earlier in the day when it fell off the roof of the van on to my head....thanks for the sympathy bro'!!!

We'll dig the results out later or post a link, just rushing out the door to the river.....

Travel photos.....

2011-06-26T21:54:00.005+12:00

Everyone on laptops....something of a familiar sight!!!

Bear tracking.......
The team have been warned to look out for bears!!!!

Cole and Laurence soaking up the atmosphere in transit, Tahiti.

Team photo

2011-06-26T21:49:00.002+12:00

We are lucky to have a team photo...the Aussies still have people stranded in Tasmania due to the ash cloud apparently!!!

Ottawa

2011-06-26T21:13:00.005+12:00

Everyone is now re-united back in Ottawa. We still don't have many kayaks, they are being freighted from LA to New York and we should see them around Thursday.

All the team got to paddle the great little course at pumphouse in the middle of Ottawa today. Carl, Cole and I had collected our shiny new Vajda Kapsl 2 kayaks, fitted them out and had a good paddle. The rest of the team borrowed boats from various local Canadians and managed to get about 30 minutes on the river. We had an evening out at a restaurant followed by a little retail therapy on the walk home.

The bottom of the course here flows straight in to a tunnel. Carl went to explore but when he got to the bottom found he couldn't get back up......hopped out and walked up someones garden I think he said......and then had to sprint across a 6 lane highway to get back to the course....just to prove kayaking is an adventure sport even in the middle of a city.

Sunday we are getting up early for a paddle on the course hopefully before a midday race and then drive to wilderness tours for 2 days of whitewater paddling and fun whilst we await our kayaks.

Jetlag has been hitting most of us pretty hard, that's why I'm writing this at 5am (!) and Wendy has amusing stories of waking people up in the middle of the afternoon and them not knowing who she was or where they were! The next couple of days should hopefully see us settling in and feeling higher in spirits.

Refreshing new experience.

2011-06-25T06:15:00.002+12:00

Today we had a great new experience. It seems that by some miracle we all got on a flight, no dramas, no lost baggage (not that we have much left to lose!) and even arrived on time!!

Latest news, Dale is in Los Angeles with boats, I'm in Toronto (no drama, just a pre planned side trip), Wendy and all kids are in Ottawa. Hopefully by 9am tomorrow morning we will all be re-united.....whether 9 people have boats or not remains to be seen.......

Start of the journey

2011-06-24T16:57:00.002+12:00

First off we would like to send our thoughts to the family and friends of Simon Davidson who died kayaking in Banff a couple of days ago. We are currently in Calgary and Banff is only an hour away, many of the team had paddled with Simon and are all very sad right now.

Our trip so far has been difficult but this news has put it all in perspective.

We had problems getting kayaks on the plane in Auckland, then left some tickets behind, re-found them, flew to LAX, had all the kayaks refused, lost Wendy's cellphone.
In an emergency decision we decided the team would fly anyway and we ditched poor Dale Butcher in LA with 9 kayaks and a mission....should he choose to accept it....to get 9 kayaks to Ottawa by tomorrow. We'll find out how he does soon. So far we have been traveling for about 38 hours, not much sleep, 2 flights to go. Finn's bag has also gone missing on the last flight....

Oh well, off for another flight at midnight....more news soon. Good luck everyone racing in Tacen this weekend at the World Cup race.

Good LUCK

2011-06-23T16:35:00.000+12:00

Good luck for all the racing and have an amazing time. Best wishes from all the families and supporters in NZ.

Kawerau training

2011-06-19T19:27:00.002+12:00

Today Anna, Kelly, Cole, Carl and Laurence trained twice at Kawerau on a high flow. about 15 other juniors and members of the senior team joined them for a great warm day and awesome training.

Laurence got lucky, his kayak was found dumped and he has been re-united with it. Sadly his paddle wasn't found but the insurance company is paying up so the Canadian coach has come to our rescue again and has organised a replacement flown in from Europe in time for our arrival on Friday.

Last weekend in NZ...hope we find Laurence's boat.....and the ash cloud goes away!!

2011-06-15T19:57:00.004+12:00

This weekend there was meant to be a Kaituna slalom but due to high water (wettest ever first 6 months in Rotorua!!) and an algae bloom most paddlers will be heading to Kawerau to paddle on the slalom course and hopefully fit in a river run too.

Sadly yesterday Laurence Brown had his Galasport kayak stolen off the roof of his car (and G-power paddle too). We desperately hope he gets it back in the next few days or the insurance company payout quick so he can sort a replacement.

Planning for the trip is looking fantastic thanks to Wendy and Dale. Right now they are sitting somewhere with their fingers crossed that the ash cloud goes away so there are no problems with our flights ;-)
3 new kayaks have been delivered to Ottawa for the team (thanks to Michal Staniszewski
the Canadian coach/local Vajda importer for clearing them through customs for us before then flying straight to Europe himself).

Kawerau training

2011-06-11T18:03:00.004+12:00

With the river flowing super high after yet more rain most of the north island members of the junior team headed to Kawerau for a session. There are some gates hanging on the lower course at the moment and after a few more were set up some of the team did full runs whilst others did short technical courses. Another great warm day in the Bay of Plenty ;-)
Happy Birthday Bruce Webber who spent the day teaching a group on the Tarawera river too.

Training camp

2011-06-05T21:12:00.003+12:00

This weekend, Anna, Carl, Laurence, Cole headed down to Mangahao slalom course for a long weekend's paddling and coaching from national team member and coach Aaron Osbourne.

Whilst the water releases haven't played ball for them, they have managed to get a couple of sessions on the river and also some valuable technical sessions on the flatwater gates at Palmy north lagoon as well as a good surf session at the beach to improve their hole jumping skills.

Thanks Lou Higgins for organising the camp.

2011-06-05T15:19:00.002+12:00

The team this year is traveling to Canada and USA for nearly a month. Starting in Ottawa with about 8 days big water paddling, followed by the long drive to Wausau, Wisconsin, USA the site of next years junior world champs and under 23's world champs. Finally the team will race at the river festival at Carlton, Duluth.
The paddlers are as follows....(in no particular order)
Anna Higgins
Kelly Travers
Finn Butcher
Carl Whitehead
Geoff Johnson
Cole O'connor Stratton
Laurence Brown
Marcus Norbury
Robert Hervey
Matthew Arnott
Andy Fuller and Michelle Kvanli (from USA) will be coaching whilst Dale Butcher and Wendy Roberston are managing the trip.

Team 2011 heads off soon- follow their travels on this blog

2011-06-05T13:55:00.000+12:00

Race Photos

2010-07-16T02:07:00.004+12:00

Thanks to Peter Ewing and Odette and Max Webster for taking photos of NZ team.

Team nearly home

2010-07-14T18:13:00.001+12:00

We made the most of the final day and drove to Barcelona via Perpignan and a French village , Collioure, on the med. Had a final team lunch at a cute place on the beach.Watched all sorts enjoying the stinking hot day and saw all sites from topless to an army group learning to kayak with camo gear and face paint. Kids all swam in the med and we wandered around before getting back in the car for the drive to Barcelona. Arrived by 6.30pm and were on the bus into the city from the hotel by just after 7 to make the most of the last hours. Wandered up the famous La Rambla and absorbed the sites of thousands of tourists, street theatre, shops etc. Had pizza dinner near the Placa Catalunya and then found the night bus home ( different to the one we caught in ) was 1.40 euro each so a much better idea than battling the traffic in the team van with kayaks on. Up again early to get everyone sorted for airport- brand new terminal , huge but not on GPS so took a wrong turn, so thought we might have cut it a bit fine. Anyway dropped kids and boats, parked , they got VAT forms stamped for gear , checked in, had breakfast with them then waved farewell. Felt a bit sad to see them go as it is always a great journey seeing everyone's first wide eyed impressions to a few weeks later when everyone heads for home with a plethora of memories to treasure for a lifetime. Will update some photos, signing out for juniors 2010......

Finals Day

2010-07-12T18:36:00.011+12:00

It was hard to believe that the last day had arrived. The course was set, with not too many changes- same to gate 7, then changes 8-14, the same move as the heats course from 14-15 (now 15-16) then double up then a stagger . With semis racing there are lots of mistakes as the paddlers have to really go for it to make the cut of finals ( top 10). It was amazing to watch some of the top athletes make a silly mistake and their finals chances were over.eg the Italian girl Clara Gai Pron number one qualifier in K1W rolled at gate 14 and that was it!!...
anyway to the NZ team- first up C1W and Jane ... paddled a great race and walked along with a happy smile and hadn't realised she had a 50 on downstream gate 12. We looked at the video and then paid the 75 euro protest fee but it was upheld. - they said it was "half head" , flat time 155.74 + 54 ..... Pretty disappointing as that time medalled in finals.
Kelly did really well with a not so attacking run, and safely got all the moves to gain a 7th place and a finals spot. Her finals run was similiar, keeping steady and not being overawed by the occasion she did really well. -finishing 6th in the inaugural C1W junior world championships- a great achievement for Kelly and something to tell the grandkids. Time 179.08 clean.
Jessica Fox took the gold in 133.51 + 4
C1W is a developing class and the ICF had a training camp for developing this group for the future. At the moment not many countries are taking it seriously, with not many of the powerful slalom nations paddling eg no Germans, Slovenians, Slovakians or Czechs in juniors. Am sure that will change especially if it becomes an Olympic class in 2016.
The K1 men- Up first was Callum. Knowing how tight the K1 mens final would be the boys had to lay down a special run without errors and nailing every move.. Unfortunately this wasn't to be on the day. Callum had some trouble at gate 7 and then mucked up gate 14 . His time 115.97 +2 Carl had to recirc for 7 and his time ended up 140.30 + 4. Tight racing with 10 seconds from 1st-21st in K1M.
Callum, who was pretty disappointed ended up 23rd and Carl 37th.

Jessica Fox made it two gold medals and won K1 W ahead of Karolina Galuska ( Vlada from Galasports daughter).

Kids all safely home after the party last night and just about to get up and start the clean up. Driving to Barcelona ( approx 4 hours) for the night then will put them all on the plane.
I will update in the next few days with some fantastic race photos taken by Peter Ewing and Max and Odette Webster from Australia- keep looking....

I am staying in Europe until after senior worlds so if you want to follow my travels www.sjctravels.blogspot.com

Day 3 and Teams

2010-07-11T23:47:00.000+12:00

Disappointing for K1 men time was great but too many touches denied them a finals place. Exciting racing in finals. At course now for C1W semis this morning- Jane and Kelly , followed by K1Men- Callum and Carl in semis. Course hasnt changed much but a couple of tricky moves added in.

Photos from yesterday...

Race Day 2

2010-07-10T10:43:00.001+12:00

With the scorching hot day turning into a crazy electrical storm overnight we wondered what race day two would bring. Well cooler temps and threatening rain which didn't eventuate meant more comfortable racing. First up Jane and Kelly in C1W. As all go through it was great experience and standing on the river bank talking to Jean Michel Prono from the ICF, he expressed how pleased he was at the level. Kelly paddled a solid first run and a great second run to finish in 7th while Jane improved her overall performance in run two except for one move that didn't quite work leaving her in 12th. Jess Fox was 26 seconds ahead in the heats, but the real test will be on Sunday in semis with Jess as favourite. One of the Chinese looks strong as well as a Canadian girl and a British girl.
Haven Bellamy was up next in C1M- he started well with some solid paddling but a roll at gate 13th caused some issues , however he recovered to finish well. Sitting in 40th with 30 going through he had his work cut out to make semis in his second run and unfortunately he couldn't quite pull it off.
The K1 was a tight race with 10 seconds from 1-40th, with 40 going through from the field of 72. Malcolm Gibson was off first and posted a good run with 1 touch to be in 36th after run 1. Carl Whitehead attacked the course from gate one and had a great performance to be 16th after run1. Callum unfortunately got a 50 in the gate that caught many out- gate 15. It was a nervous wait in second runs to see who would make it and for Callum a slick, penalty free run saw his final placing at 26 or 27. Carl on 23rd and sadly for Malcolm he missed out - that small touch in run 1 costing him a semis place.
Just had the team leaders dinner and was surrounded at the table by many nationalities- Iran, Sth Africa, Swiss, Italy, Australia and French. Interesting and I was reluctant to go but is was good. The French guy was on the committee and said they had 250 volunteers and 30 of those were down at the course at 3am rescuing tents etc that were victims of the storm that went through. I am amazed they could get 30 people out of bed to help out at that hour.
Everything is running so smoothly and this is the best run junior worlds I have been too. The French know how to do things well. Teams races tommorrow and we have high hopes for the kiwis boys, and the girls to have a good performance.

Race Day 1

2010-07-09T04:16:00.000+12:00

In 42 degrees the Junior World Champs kicked off today. The competition in the women's K1 was intense with a course designed by Jean Michel Prono and Matilde Pichery. General consensus was that it was a good course but 15 of the 62 K1W had a 50 second penalty in run 1 ,and most on gate 15, a tight line through a hole that was unforgiving if you misjudged it.
The NZ girls all got through run one without incurring major penalties and were 30th,31st and 40th, however many of the girls who incurred 50's had it sorted in run two. Of the New Zealand girls ,first up Alana Wood paddled well and was pleased with her result which reflected her improvement in her Europe trip. Kelly Travers had a solid run with no major errors. Jane Nicholas nailed the top section but had some trouble in the hole and lost her line, rolling in gate 19.This left her in 30th and the prospect of a better result in run two, giving her the chance of a semi final.
Going into second runs the girls had to pull out something special to make top 30 and secure a place in the semis on Sunday.
Alana improved her result and she was happy, Kelly couldn't quite make the time required and Jane dropped too low in the double ups 11 and 12 ,wasting precious time, something that she could ill afford. With many who 50'd in run one, having cleaner runs in their second run the kiwi girls were pushed down the rankings.Only the top 30 go through to semis in the women so the girls now have teams on Saturday and for Kelly and Jane C1W on Friday.
The final placings - Jane Nicholas 40th, Kelly Travers 45th and Alana Wood 54th.
Tommorrow is C1W ( 20 - all go through), C1M ( 30 go though) and K1M ( 40 go through)and the NZ team is hoping for cooler temps, although the same is forecast.

Racing Tommorrow

2010-07-08T08:07:00.030+12:00

A very hot Foix today, hit 38 so the pool was used heaps. Boat scrutineering was a long hot process but eventually got all the paperwork done and all boats sorted.
Home from course for all the team and I had managers meeting. Not much that we hadn't already heard but good to be able to ask a couple of questions. Back down to the course to check out the course setting, all quite happy as we have practised most of the moves.
The opening ceremony was great- all lined up and marched through the town. Lots of French called out "All Blacks" then after opening and national anthems of France and ICF anthem and flag raising the athletes were invited to drinks and nibbles with the mayor of Foix in the town hall. We were just about to leave when the town band started up and dancing and frivolity. Kids starting to meet with others from all over the world- 233 athletes from 37 nations. Photos will tell the story..
Came back for a swim at and dinner - still 31 st 9pm.
Race times approx for tommorrow Alana 13.59 and 15.59 ( NZ 11.39 and 1.59am)
Kelly 14.20 and 16.20 and Jane 14.31 and 16.31.
Live streaming www.foixcanoe2010.com and wwwcanoeicf.com

The final countdown

2010-07-07T17:32:00.000+12:00

Racing starts tommorrow with K1W. Opening ceremony today and boat control, managers meeting.Friday is K1M, C1W and C1M. Saturday teams and Sunday semis and finals.
Just awake and looking outside to find blue, blue sky so looks like a scorcher today.
Yesteray team had their one white water session at 10.30 am, watched some others teams in the afternoon and then we went up the road a few kms for a recovery flat water paddle on the lake. BBQ dinner and video review. Kidda and I caught up with a few other coaches, managers and parents in the town square for a beer. Very nice being able to sit outside in the warmth.Will post details of how to access race results etc after managers meeting this arvo. Thanks to everyone for their messages of good luck.

Mirepoix Market Photos

2010-07-07T17:27:00.003+12:00

Market activity- Kidda in Sue's new hat, knife artisan, gorgeous fruit and olives

Monday night

2010-07-06T09:36:00.000+12:00

Training going well, all paddling and although slots are hectic the team are just refreshing and re familiarising themselves. Yesterday had a quiet day, being Sunday and after our session at 2.30pm got our accreditation and home for a BBQ dinner. All except Callum went into the town to meet up with the Swiss juniors for some socialising - have been trying to foster this so they meet athletes from other countries.
Today our training was at 8.30am and then Kidda, Haven , the three girls and I drove for about 30 minutes to a small town called Mirepoix. Very cute, old medieval , with a market this morning. Sat at a cafe and had lunch and all really enjoyed it. The other boys watched the German and French paddlers and wandered back about 1pm after buying lots of baguettes.
Home from Mirepoix about 2pm and chill out/sleep time for kids -food gathering and cooking for me. About 6pm the Swiss juniors came for a swim and then when they left we had dinner in our garden and I asked our hosts Andy and Corrine to join us. I use their oven upstairs as needed and tonight was a baked meditteranean tomato chicken dish, pasta with garlic,lemon and beans, salad,bread then fresh fruit salad with creme fraiche and yoghurt. Was very pleasant and we had wine that I bought for 1.99 euro and it was OK.
Hope to post photos tommorrow, night for now ..

Foix the build up begins

2010-07-04T08:57:00.000+12:00

Arrived back in Foix yesterday and met up with Kidda who had flown into Carcassone. Andy our host had picked him up. The team had a final training with Jonathan in Sort, we packed and drove back through Seu , Andorra and to Foix. Feel like I have done that trip a couple of times and wondered why today I had a sore knee- Kidda suggested it was due to the number of gear changes on the Pyrenees and thought there might be some truth in that. Stocked up food again as shops closed over weekend- waived Jonathan off and all team said how much they enjoyed his coaching.
Down at the river it is now tent city- all nations have a tent for gear and with power for vid review. Flags are up and their is a definite change of atmosphere and the training is intense with many nations together in training slots. We are with Russians, Italians and Irish for the week build up. Callum was T boned by an Italian girl today- all a bit hectic! Met up with some familiar faces including Nathalie from Switzerland, Many of the coaches and team management are familiar as some do this year in year out. In the town of Foix there are lots of old canoes all decorated by local schools- lots on roundabaouts and down the street. A very festive atmosphere abounds.
It was 31 degrees yesterday afternoon , still warm but a bit drizzly today.
Our training today was at 12.30 and tomorrow 2.30pm. Sessions start at 8.30 am so a few going early tommorrow for a short paddle at 7am. Our team just focussing on re familiarisng themselves with course as we did all the intense stuff in our previous block prior to going to Pau.
Everyone paddled today and Carl has not quite fully recovered but better. Jane paddling two sessions as one is with C1W with a couple of coaches ( Spanish and French)
The days will pretty much settle into training, video review, lots of food and movies, facebook on laptops.
Hope all is well in NZ, au revoir mes amis or adios amigos - keep muddling up the Spanish and French now!
Internet connection varied today so not always available for skype if you havent heard from your loved ones in the team.

more photos

2010-07-01T07:32:00.010+12:00

Photos

2010-07-01T03:39:00.015+12:00

Narrow drive to our house in Nove dev Segres, near Seuwatching WC Seu just before Jess won her C1W

Malcolm training OrthezHaven Orthez

Boys watching WC Seu View from where we parked car in at Seu accommodation

Jonathan Marc, our French coachCoaching Sort

River run day 1 at Sort

Course at Seu

accommodation at Pau, La Ronceraie

Sort , Spain

2010-07-01T00:31:00.003+12:00

Front door of the house where we stayed near Seu

The last two days in Seu were pretty full. Had the training session, with gates on the artificial course which gave everyone a taste of it. After lunch back at the house in the village they team did a hard aerobic flatwater session- well only Malcolm, Alana and Callum. Carl's back still sore, Kelly did C1 on the flat, Jane took a rest as she hadnt had any time off and Haven rested also.
Jumped in the car for our planned evening trip to Andorra. The Spanish close everything from 1-4 so timed it to hit the shops. Split up and re gathered later in the evening. Some shopping done- massive blocks Toblerone for 3 Euro seemed to be the best bargain from the boys. Kelly got a ski jacket at less`than half price, Jane had a spend in Zara where everything was 25-30% less than in others Zara stores around Europe. ( Zara a big Spanish chain , very sucessful and used in lots business studies). Also fueled up as fuel cheaper there. Tuesday morning the big pack up. These`seem to be the most stressful times as cleaning up, packing car and boats brings out the worst in us all. A lovely, hour long, drive through the mountains and we arrived in Sort. the only place I hadnt been to. Had some advice from Col Borrows, Australian team manager and stayed in the same apartments as them. Very convenient with the slalom gates over the road. The weekly market was on outside the hotel so the girls straight into some shopping after we had visited the supermarket. Finding opening hours and then buying food is quite a challenge- always have to be thinking ahead unlike NZ when you can just whip out and get something. After a quick bite of lunch most of the team jumped in the car for a river run. Malcolm had been sick on the way in the car and Carl, still had his sore back ( we organised a massage for him ). This region is stunningly beautiful in the mountains and the river runs alongside the road. It was the venue a few weeks ago for the World Wildwater Champs ( DR).
Old houses perched right on the edge, geraniums from window boxes, stone bridges, and cafes tucked down alleyways. I did the shuttle and parked the car every now and then and snapped a photo of the group.
Later in the evening those who were able did a tech session on the river, just outside our accommodation.
For the three days here , I have divided kids into cooking groups for some team bonding. Callum, Jane and Carl did a good job of carbonara con pollo ( chicken) salad, bread and watermelon for dessert. Wandered around our small village and everywhere TVs blaring as Spain playing Portugal. Great result for Spain.
Woke up this morning to the most superb day and again did the shuttle for the river trip. The idea is that these trips are low key and like a recovery paddle as tapering towards Junior Worlds. Dropped the group off ( minus Carl, Malcolm and Kelly) as the most gorgeous spot- hey paddled off under an ancient stone bridge. I had an hour and a half to kill so wandered around the little village over the bridge and up an small country road. Picture postcard` Spanish garden with grapes along the fence, old stone walls and hunched over Spaniards tending their plot with little stone garden huts. Along a bit further an old chuch- Santa Maria ( seems to be a common name in Spain) built in 807, some of it in ruins. I was` the only one there and thought how great it is to get off the beaten track and soak in the environment without hordes of tourists. Got to the pick up point and sat in the breeze ( now 28 degrees) waiting admiring the majestic stone cliffs, pencil cypress and the river, hoping they all return in one piece with Jonathan.. The kids said the river trip was great, through a gorge and lots rocky outcrops and the water not too challenging. Times like this I wish I was a younger, competent paddler but then I guess everyone needs a driver! On the way back stopped by the old bridge and church and walked over again with the group. Lunch of luscious peaches, pineapple, bread rolls and some local croissant/doughnut combo filled with custard which was discovered in supermarket yesterday.
In lobby now with internet for the first time in a few days so catching up. Some in pool, some resting, Carl had a another massage, Kelly needing to fix her paddle and have suggested all do homework- think that fell on deaf ears.
Adios for now- will try and upload lots photos. Hope all well in NZ, thanks for emails, love getting news.

Ola

2010-06-28T18:16:00.000+12:00

Woke up to the mountains around our village covered in mist, but not long before the sun was scorching. Semis day and everyone a bit nervous and the course always more difficult. Jane was good at the top but a roll under the bridge took out one gate , up again and composed but quite a hard double up then a stagger- half head and another 50. Proud of her and they selling Tshirts here " C1W half the paddle, twice the women' The standard has really improved and the top women are going really well . Lou did well too and think seh finished 13th, jane 16th , so at least they werent at the botom of the field. The C1W final amazing with Jess Fox taking it out- she had 2 touches and still won and she is only 16.
The team watched all the top paddlers in the world and unfolding dramas , highs and lows of sport.
Luuka had a great semi until gate 16, which were the double ups over a big drop, slipped a bit and losts some time. Still a very credible performance and her country ranking is right up there after the powerhouse nations- 11th I think? 24th overall The kiwis ran along the river cheering for her and looked great in their NZ uniform. Everyone wants their T shirts- big thanks to Angela for all the hard work she does organising this for us. Seniors left for Augsburg, we in Seu two more nights then heading to Sort. Caught up with Colin Borrows Aussie team manager and he gave us lots info about Sort and said we would love it. They have Lousie Natoli as their coach.
Full finals results on ICF website. http://www.canoeicf.com/
The Aussie juniors arrived and our guys paddled after the finals unfortunately they took the race gates down and so just a play session, until a bit later they put some training gates back up- well at least we didnt have to pay. Training this morning at 10am.
Kelly's boat all fixed- thanks to Galasport tent and repair crew on site. They also gave us some more repair materials. Carl has a sore back so he rested and we will try and get him a physio today.
Haven had taken a chunk from his boat, so that sorted too now.
Well team all up, gathering in kitchen for breakfast- demolishing copious amounts of muesli, yoghurt,toast and nutella. Heading off in half an hour so better 'rattle my dags'
Adios

Racing Seu

2010-06-27T17:11:00.003+12:00

Callum racing seu

Battery died in midde of last upload so here goes, tis after midnight and snatching a moment to update.
Luuka ended up 23rd so a good result semis will be exiting today. With the new format the standard is higher so harder to get a good result ie now French can have 5 instead of three in World Cups. Team will paddle on course tonight with Aussie juniors ,after racing with to share costs. Rest day yesterday apart from a few who went for a run.

Malcolm training

World Cup Seu

2010-06-27T03:31:00.000+12:00

Arrived in La Seu last night after a very picturesque drive through the Pyrenees. Very steep and gorgeous views, wild flowers and cute Spanish villages.
Our house on the outskirts of Seu is a very traditional Spanish house in a village of about 40 people and crazy narrow streets that we could hardly get our car through. It is on 4 levels with little balconies, tiled floors and swallows nesting in the eaves. The kitchen is on the top floor with all the views over the mountains and the terracotta roofs and very old crumbing buildings.
Will post photos tommorrow . For now the team has enjoyed the racing today, still going with C2 second runs at the moment. Luuka and Louise racing again soon.
Callum had a very good performance- 2 clean runs and a 5 second improvement from run 1 to 2.
Jane in C1W had a pretty good performance in her first run , however rolled in her second causing a couple of 50s. No pressure as all the C1W go through to the semis tommorrow.
Battery on laptop about to die- more tommorrow

Bonjour

2010-06-25T19:57:00.000+12:00

Had the inspiration to head up to the main house on the farm we are staying on and sitting in their garden using their internet. Kelly been for a run and her and Alana been in the pool at 9am in the morning. Carl, Malcolm and Jonathan (coach) had an early seeion at Pau naturel course. Everyone paddling at midday before we drive to Seu.
Session last night in St Pe, all went except Alana who had not had a rest session. Kelly did C1 until we fix her boat in Seu tommorrow. I stayed behind and cooked roast pork, apple sauce, gravy the lot with bread and butter pudding with choc chunks and 'past their use by date' nectarines sandwiched between - good experiment and used up stale french stick, and went down really well with icecream. Think everyone preferred to the French experience the night before and were pretty happy when they walked in from the river at 9pm.
As I sit in the garden there are Shetland ponies walking around as pets and one is beside me munching hydrangeas from a tub by the front door- tres cute!
Demos at Seu at 6pm and opening ceremony at 8pm so hope to get there to give the team a taste of the big race experience. The GPS says a 4 hour drive so another adventure for the troops. have to get going to clean our gite before we leave- to save 75 euros so is worth it.

Hot and Sunny in Pau

2010-06-25T01:19:00.002+12:00

Limited internet has meant no blog posts but here goes....
Sitting in McD's, all on laptops. Week has been great in Pau. Our farmhouse(gite) very cute and only 10 minutes to courses in Pau. Team have paddled Orthez, Pau naturel, Pau artificial and St Pe. Had two sessions on artificial course and apart from Kelly getting a hole in her boat everyone has loved the challenge The stadium has been open one year and today had an interview for a French newspaper and a local mayor was present. We got a very good rate to paddle there- 6 euros each and there were only our 5 boats and about another 5 French paddlers.
last night had dinner at a typical French restaurant- had the set menu which is better value but was interesting. Had things like duck gizzard salad, so proved a challenge for everyone, but we decided we needed to experience local cuisine and as I said you can have pizza in any country.
Had a BBQ at our house, collected wood and it was the real Mccoy- no gas there!
Tommorrow we head to Seu to watch seniors and Jane and Callum race and get the World Cup experience.

Nous arrivons Pau

2010-06-22T22:54:00.002+12:00

Left Foix after a full day with Kidda coaching his last session in the morning. Still very cold but the sun was trying to peep through. Gibb seniors arrived as we were leaving so a quick hello and we were off to Pau. The trip took about 2 ½ hours and we arrived at 7.30pm. Jonathan Marc our French coach for the next 10 days was already there and our French farmhouse (Gite) was open. It is so gorgeous- a converted old stable with stone walls, tiles floors and chunky beams, we instantly felt at home. I had pre cooked a spag bol earlier so dinner could be relatively instant.

A plan for the next four days in this area and then in Seu , was sorted in conjunction with the plan that some of the athletes have from Thomas. There are lots of options and they will paddle at Pau artificial and natural course, Orthez and St Pe. We may also have a trip to the beach at Biarritz as we awoke this morning to blue, blue skies and even had to lash out with sunscreen.

We have no internet at our gite as it is out in the country, but Jonathan assures me the French team just sit in the car park at McDonalds and use theirs. I write this from the riverside in Pau in anticipation of uploading outside McDonalds later.

A typical day

2010-06-20T17:13:00.000+12:00

Our day goes like this.... breakfast, to river 9.30ish for morning session at 10.30, home via supermarket for French sticks, treat (pain au chocolat or pain au raisin, 1 each), cheese, ham etc for lunch and dinner stuff.
Lunch, video review then 3-4 hours to kill... either trip to handy man store for boat kit out stuff (glue, hack saw blades etc) some have a nap, school work , sorting photos, communication facebook etc. They have paddled two sessions a day everyday so the week has flown.
I do dinner dinner prep so it is mostly ready when we get back. Back to river 4-5 ish, home 7ish then dinner, maybe more vid review depending on sessions.
Tommorrow will be a big pack up to move to Pau and meet up with French coach Jonathan. Kidda flys to Nottingham- luckily Andy our host will drive him to Carcassone airport as we are going in the other direction. Sandra and Malcolm will take Jane and Callum to Seu and we meet up again Friday night.

photos

2010-06-20T05:24:00.004+12:00

Today after training most of team had a visit to a market about 45 minutes away. Was a real French market with lots of produce for sale. Boys cooked a fantastic dinner tonight- it was actually a recipe from Lachlie Milne paddler from AIS.

Still cold, have fire going again and hope it stops raining soon as we have lots wet washing hanging around.

Selection photos from Foix

2010-06-19T07:53:00.001+12:00

Post your message to the team here

2010-06-19T07:48:00.002+12:00

Post your message to the team here

Photos

2010-06-19T07:42:00.000+12:00

Friday

2010-06-19T07:22:00.001+12:00

Good session this morning. Trip into the small town of Foix for the girls and some shopping at the market. A trip to the lake for flat water paddle, prior to that a shop at Decathlon a huge store for all things sporting. Bought weights for boats- a combo of fishing weights and weights for those weight lifting bars aftyer having been all over the town trying to find lead.
Home for dinner and I made my first ever cherry pie- what a luxury to have enought cherries to actually cook some.

2010-06-18T16:47:00.005+12:00

Full run/race simulation went well and team got some idea of where they are at with some of the competition. The Brits were here with 5 support staff for 3 and a half days only , all funded by their Lottery board. We can only dream!
Afternoon session was a bit frustrating for some with tiredness and several with headaches. Bit of jetlag and cos it is a bit chilly possibly not enough fluid. Good to get these things sorted out early . Kidda has changed the plan to make a light day today with only 1 session and then Saturday/Sunday 2 sessions a day again. Havent even been into the town of Foix for a look so will probably have a wander this arvo. No coffee for four days so may have to shout myself one somewhere and kids an icecream! Still damp and a bit chilly but nothing like what we saw on news in other parts of France.

All boats sorted and team training with Brits this morning

2010-06-17T17:45:00.002+12:00

All boats now in Foix and kitted out. Back yard resembles a boat factory with bits of foam, glue, resin scattered everywhere. Lucky our hosts are so understanding and have lent, drills, hack saws and more to get them all kitted out. Very wet yesterday so boats inside- lit the fire to keep them and us dry and warm.
Team having a full run session with Brits and Italian juniors this morning and I will walk via supermarche to collect food.
Have use of a basic kitchen in our flat and our hosts full kitchen and two fridges so meals flowing well now . We have a dining table set up for 9 , and even having lunch together with the table all set- like the French! even having crepes today - made them for last night but kids too full to eat dessert- a good sign!!

BOP Times article here- not quite right but any news is good news !!...http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/sport/news/olympic-ambition-keeps-rep-at-home/3915920/

Foix

2010-06-16T16:46:00.003+12:00

Half the boats have arrived and hope that we have tracked the Vadja boats for this morning. Bit tough for Callum and Carl, but they borrowed baots and had a paddle after second session last night.
Haven kitting out C1 still which is a major. We have 14 sessions booked here in Foix, so lots of time in this training block to get really familiar with the river, which is the objective.
Was pretty cold yesterday, not what we were expecting at all!

photos

2010-06-16T04:22:00.006+12:00

Foix at last

2010-06-15T17:15:00.003+12:00

After a very long day we arrived in Foix at 11pm. Kidda was waiting and I had pre organised dinner- fantastic to have our host Corrine and Andy have the table set, salad and lasagne for the troups who were pretty tired. We had meant to leave Paris at 9ish but were told roof racks wouldn’t be ready until 12 . Trained back to airport area and Eurolease pick up to find a Frenchie or two trying to work out how to put them together. Got practical Malcolm, the farmer lad, and then all the team onto it and after a bit of an Inspector Clouseau affair and at least 2 hours we were on the road. GPS telling me arrival time 11pm, just under 800km. Was not impressed!! We stopped just for food and diesel and made it 11.01pm- the longest drive I have ever done , but motorway great- tolls of about $50 and vehicle cruises easily at the speed limit 130kph. The final straw- no boats on arrival so chasing up first thing.
But kids loved Paris so was well worth it. After the bike trip day , we all except Callum, who had forgotton shoes walked to the Jardin de Luxembourg and kids did a run. Back for brekkie a French experience with French stick, jam, cheese hot chocolate, OJ and coffee. Great value hotel as this was included (Hotel Marignan 13 rue de Sommerard for anyone’s reference who wants a budget hotel/hostel in a great location). Hot footed it to the Louvre- used a side entrance , info coutesy of our tour guide from the previous day- no queue and straight up to the Italian masters and the Mona Lisa.
Kids wide eyed at the enormity of the building, the quantity and size of some of the art. After Mona Lisa to the Egpytian section- sargophagus, a mummy and more. Enough art for some, so we agreed to split. Girls walked the Jardin de Tuilerie to L’Orangerie to see Monet’s massive water lily series- just a contrast for them and a bit of an art history lesson on Impressionists.
Met family friend Anna Chrisp ex Tauranga, who has a job at the Australian embassy, and her boyfriend, caught the metro to Le Marais area and a little French bistro for a ‘girls’ lunch. Great to have a local show us around- Le Marais, a busy place on Sunday afternoon for the French locals, compared to tourists. A big Jewish area and as their holy day in Saturday, lots shops open Sunday. Jane and Alana made an op shop purchase then back on the metro. Had a scheduled 4pm meeting with the boys and arrived near the Eiffel Tower to crazy scenes of riot police and hordes Algerians, singing, banging tins , marching in groups. They had just played Slovenia at WC soccer and we thought they must have won with the scenes around us! Thought we’d never spot the boys but luckily met as arranged. They had hired bikes from the guy from the previous day- 10 euro for the day- great value and had been back to see lots of things mentioned the day before- Arc de Triomphe, street theatre outside George Pompidou, inside Notre Dame- pretty impressed with their resourcefulness and they were having lots of fun. Padlocked their bikes then joined the queue. Luckily wehad pre purchased tickets via internet which cut the waiting time. Bit of a trick though as they take you to second floor then need another ticket. Nice man let me jump the barrier and a queue to get tickets and then we were at the top. Magic view and with our tour the day before they could all see all the land marks and areas we had biked. Lots of photos and off again. Super shoppers wanted to get back to catch the last of the stores at Le Marais, so two more metro rides and the girls have got this transport totally sussed now. Boys biked back with bikes and we all met en route to hotel about7.30ish by this stage. 30 minute turn around and off for dinner- then with very aching feet we traipsed to the Seine to view the Notre Dame , lit up and soak in the atmosphere of this magical city. Lots of people, street performance, fire dancers, magic acts and a group who had taken over a small bridge by Notre Dame for roller blading. The had set up a ramp and high jump affair- impressive! Photos later when we get organised !

Paris

2010-06-13T12:31:00.004+12:00

After the long flight we arrived in Paris at 7.20am. Most got sleep so we were ready to hit Paris. Eurolease company eventually collected us and we went to the depot, after putting kayaks in the van, with a little rearranging of headrests.
Our vehicle roofracks arent available until 12 noon Monday, but we had already plans for 2 nights in Paris. Caught the train into Paris and kids eyes are wide open at the melting pot of people on the train- Africans in caftans, being the most colourful. At one stop someone just jumped on and started playing the accordian- like something from a movie set. Followed the directions, wheeling bags to the hotel I had booked. 1 star to fit the budget but just off St Germain des Pres and 5 mins to Notre Dame and lots attractions. First much needed showers then off to a market at the end of our street- fascinating with the cheeses, whole fish. poultry, fruit and vege and gorgeous flowers- peonies that I would have loved to scoop up and take home. Off to the boulangerie next and it took some deciding on what to have, it all looked sooo good! after a couple of hours wondering the banks and touristy stalls of the Seine we met our guide and bikes and we were off . We got an overview and saw so much . The trip was nearly four hours amd we covered lots a Paris with lots of stories about different areas, biking through the Louvre, Les Halles, Le Marais, Latin Quarter past Georges Pompidou, Hotel De Ville, Notre Dame. The troups were a bit exhausted by then so we headed back and recommeded French Restaurant , in the Latin Quarter . Was nice but everyone was nearly asleep in their food. Bed while it was still light. Headed off soon for the kids to run around Jardin du Luxembourg, breakfast then Louvre then up the Eiffell Tower at 4.30pm.

World Cup TV

2009-07-17T10:07:00.006+12:00

Looks like Sunday 18th should actually be Saturday 18th- if you get SkyWatch the times and dates are there.
6pm Saturday looks like WC Slalom highlights, the morning one ,8.30am) may be Sprint( Hungary).
Monday 20th 3pm and then Wednesday 22nd looks like 7pm on SS2 and 7.30pm SS3.

last night

2009-07-15T01:35:00.002+12:00

Bangkok been great, flying home tommorrow
ICF Rankings out on ICF website http://www.canoeicf.com/default.asp?Page=2480
Also.... coverage of the Slalom World Cups so get to somewhere with sky and watch the following:

Sky sport 2 or 3 Channels 31 or 32

Wed 15th Jul 7pm SS2
Thurs 16 Jul 2.30 pm SS3
Sun 18 Jul 8.30 am SS2
Sun 18 Jul 6pm SS3
Mon 20 Jul 3pm SS3
Wed 22 Jul 7pm SS2

2009-07-11T22:16:00.005+12:00

The juniors did so well yesterday.... C2 two solid runs and finished 25th, no 50's

Callum had a great first run and just 2 couple of seconds off the seniors. Jane also a solid first run and she was happy. The results sheet show her incorrect placing so that is being sorted but she was ahead of the Nz seniors.

Some photos of the opening and all the Olympic medallists racing here were presented their race bibs.

Augsberg

2009-07-09T19:22:00.002+12:00

Team loving Augsberg and our apartment in the old city. Gives the flexibility to wander through the old cobbled streets to shops, bakeries or just meander.
Had a sobering visit to Dachau. It inspired lots of conversation and makes it quite real as most of the team had recently read "the boy in striped pyjamas' set in Auschwitz.
Last training and boat scrutineering before demos and opening ceremony this evening.
Results can be found www.swidata.com
Race website www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de

2009-07-09T19:12:00.002+12:00

Augsberg

2009-07-08T20:12:00.002+12:00

We left Avignon after an explore of the old city. Really interesting castle- Palace de Papes and the orginal home to the Popes and Catholic Church before moving to Rome. Jane and I did a tour which was great.
We left about 1ish for the second of the 500km drives, past some typical Provence scenes, with grapes in orderly rows, fields of sunflowers and the occasional mass plantings of lavender, to arrive in Biel/Bienne about 6.30pm. Nathalie was all ready for us and cooked pizzas then took us out to a cafe on the lake for dessert (very generous of her). We had a drive up to the Swiss national sports centre and admired the view down over the valley and Lake, being serenaded by cows with bells around their necks. We all stayed at Nathalie’s new house, which was very generous of her ( she even gave up her bed for me) We had breakfast and then a trip into the shops for souvenirs and Swiss chocolate.
After lunch with Nathalie we set off on the last of the big drives, to Augsberg. ( 1500km total over the 3 days) We made good time and got to the course as planned at 6pm with plenty of time to get on the water for an open training slot. Checked into our apartment after 8 and set off for dinner at a very German restaurant recommended by Peter Micheler who owns the apartment and a rafting business at the course . The apartment is right in the old city so great location with access to lot of shops and sites. Dinner ended up being late so a short sleep before up and back to the course at 7am . Good session and then all day free to explore shops etc.
We decided to go back to the course for another open session at 6pm as we had organized a young German coach to help the juniors for the week. All went well and video review and dinner over with time to watch a movie. We have Johnny from England/Nigeria and Jane’s friend Dannielle who is doing a school exchange in Sicily staying with us, so couple of extras in the mix, which is working well.
Now Wednesday and just finished another sessions with Jurgen our German coach. The weather is a bit chilly and have had heavy rain. We are heading to Dachau, a concentration camp this arvo. Internet only at course so will post some photos tommorrow.

Avignon

2009-07-05T08:41:00.002+12:00

We left St pe and had a training session at Pau before we hit the road to Avignon. Drove back the road we had travelled to Foix , sunflowers were now in full bloom. We stopped in Toulouse for a picnic lunch and a wander around. Jane and I got lost and arrived bak to the boys waiting for us... makes a change!
Carried on to Avignon and lots of vineyards dotting the country side. The total drive was 5 hours , mostly at 130km on motorways so not too bad. Found our hotel and very nice people and secure gated car park which is a must with kayaks on the roof.
Headed out for dinner and a wander around filled with stories of 11 and 12 years old gypsys stealing stuff. Had a gorgeous( read expensive dinner) in a small enclosed square with a massive church. Then walked down to the Palace de Papes and Pont Neuf ( Sur le pont d'avignon) if you remeber the nursery rythme. Icecreams and then to bed ready for another 5 hour drive tmoro.

massive paella for dinner last night and toffee apples tonight and teaching French the haka

2009-07-04T08:41:00.005+12:00

Jane and I went to Lourdes today for an hour as it is just 10 mins down the road from St Pe. the boys not keen so we left after lunch be back for the 3.30 full runs second session of the day. It was quite disconcerting.... lots of old and sick people in wheelchairs hoping for a miracle cure, supermarkets of tacky momentos of Catholism to the extent that images of Mary with flashing lights around her were able to be bought.

They say 7 million people per year visit so a booming tourist industry. We both felt sad when we left.

After dinner we visited the little town of St Pe, it always looks desserted but there were posters for a fete starting today. Unfortunatley the music didnt start until 10.30 so we had a ride on dodgems, toffee apples and came home.

There were a big group of youngish people from Paris who were on their last night of a week of activities and they cajoled the boys into teachy the haka... Callum was a star...

Thursday-Orthez in the morning Pau in the afternoon

2009-07-03T05:12:00.005+12:00

The week has gone quickly immersed in rural France at the Sport Nature complex. There are a mixture of people doing all sorts of activities .This morning we were talking to policemen who were there on a course to learn to teach outdoor activities. We are really being exposed to some basic French customs- types of food, language etc. My French has improved heaps as have been trying to practice with basic conversations. We drive along through lots of small villages and some that look very desserted. Many fantastic old stonehouses with creepers, all manner of shutters and pots of geraniums. As we are driving I talk to Jonathan, who wants to practice English and then I get him to correct my French. He was supposed to take an English class at Uni but that time was devoted to kayaking instead.His English is much better than my French and it will take a long time but some basic sentences seem reasonably engrained.
Last night dinner included moules (mussels) and salmon steaks as well as quiche, salad and frites, which went down well with the boys. The mussels were cooked in a creamy garlic sauce and were tres petite compared to NZ, but kids said sweet and delicious, and a Bretagne speciality- the region Jonathan is from. After dinner we talked training plans with Jonathan and received an insight into the French programme and the different training blocks they do. All of the canoe clubs in France follow the same plan but adjust the aerobic sessions to suit their lifestyles eg in winter they do cross country skiing for 3 hours as a club.
We woke up to rain and then travelled about an hour to a new course – Orthez. It took awhile to find but when we arrived it was really nice and the rain had subsided. Orthez course is a narrow chanel off a bigger river with lots of trees around and has some good features at the beginning, with a flat patch in the middle before a tricky feature- a curl off the wall at the bottom. There were two groups of Spanish training also. Some were really young, ten and eleven and paddling all manner of slalom boats from old 4m boats to Galaport, Dinos , specially built for young kids and had traveled from San Sebastian down the coast from Biarritz. The other group were the Spanish junior team who are in training for European U23’s and Spanish championships. Bradyn was not feeling great so he took the day off and Ben paddled Jonathan’s C1.
We had a picnic lunch provided- pretty substantial by NZ standards- bread, ham, cheese- 3 types, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs all wrapped, chips, muesli bars, fruit bars, packet prunes, chocolate mousse dessert. Even the starving boys couldn’t eat it all…

Back at accommodation now after a drive through gorgeous countryside with fields of sunflowers all nodding to the sun. Another session in Pau and kids now in sauna to recover.

Some racing photos from World Cup

2009-07-01T00:41:00.003+12:00

Photos at Sport Nature St Pe d Bigorre

2009-06-30T23:58:00.003+12:00

Our home at Sport Nature, Hautes Pyrenees. There is kayaking memorabilia all around us here and on the wall are old photos of French teams from many World Cups and World Champs, with autographs from some famous French paddlers. They had a world cup here in 2002. It is a great place for training as several courses are within 40 mins. Tmoro we go back into the natural course at Pau and also going to Orthez for a session.

Above are photos of the lunch when we eat here... today was another great meal . Think it will be hard for the boys to get used to a ham roll when we are self catering again. The awning intrigues ue all as it is extended for sun and rain. In this photo it is only half out, but last night there was some drizzle and we sat outside as warm and humid but staying dry.

There are many buildings, lots of trees and the river just beside us. There are other groups here caving, rafting, kayaking (sit ons) as it seems it is an adventure playground for young and old. We have seen signs that say ' St Pe de Bigorre Fete Juillet 3/4/5' so maybe we will experience a small French town fete on Friday night before we leave.

Some kids having a siesta, Callum doing homework and a couple are watching a movie before our afternoon session at 3.30pm. Still 30-35 and very warm and sunny.

BOP Times

2009-06-30T06:44:00.001+12:00

Link to BOP times article http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/sport/news/jones-opens-euro-campaign-with-first-top-20-finish/3900764/

Monday

2009-06-30T00:15:00.005+12:00

We farewelled Kidda this morning as he drove with Sandra and Malcolm to catch a plane from Carcassone to near Nottingham.
We now start on a 6 day training block with Jonathan Marc a C1 paddler who was recommended to us by John Michel Prono from the ICF.
He can speak some English and we all need to speak slower, but it is really good for our French.

The World Cup finals yesterday were very exciting and a great opportunity to see some great racing, The atmosphere was electric on the water and carnival like for the spectators. We gestimated that 10,000 plus people were watching, and probably more as some just came for the semis. It was plus 35 and no wind so we all felt the intense heat.
They had a band, entertainment, big TV screens, food stalls, beer for sale... quite an occasion.

On the racing front Luuka was well prepared but caught some bad water at gate 3-4 and then knew she had to try and catch up time, forcing a couple of errors. She finished 19th and still her best ever World Cup result.

There were lots of finals dramas...Martikan missing the finals cut, Hochshorners messing up and wrapping themslves around a rock , it almost looked like they might have to bail. Estanguet got 4th much to the diasppontment of the French crowd- their voices made hearing anything impossible while their French heroes were racing... Le fevre and Dejan Krahl tied for 3rd on 102.77, exact same flat times, 1 penalty each on the same gate.

Lefevre had a great day really as 2nd in C2. the other double medallist David Florence of Great Britain who was 3rd in C1 and in C2. Skantars the only straight C2 in the medals. The c2s were exciting and fast and clean. The K1W won by French favourite Mathilde Pichery who won easily even with a touch, Melanie Peiffer (germany), who had a low world ranking as she followed Jane down the course, 2nd and Jana Dukatova Slovakia in 3rd.

C1 W had its dramas too as leader Leanne Guinea AUSTRALIA top qualifier but got a 50 on the second to last gate ruining her chances of the first ever WC C1 womens medal. The Chinese girl took the honours.
The course was tough for the semis and finals and many paddlers made major errors.

Team had first session with Jonathon and all was good, we are now driving into Pau to try the moves from the finals. We have booked water for 4pm cost 140 Euro for 1 hour but sharing with thers to keep costs down.

We experienced our first sit down lunch at the place we are staying as previously had picnics while racing was on. The French close shops, supermarkets, garages, esp in smaller towns and take a 1 1/2 to 2 hour lunch break. We had the full catered lunch, hot meal, with salad, bread , cheese platter, dessert and fruit. At the course the officials and volunteers all sat down at long tables and drank wine and enjoyed the occassion. No such thing as a snatched sandwich on the run for them. Not sure how they stay so slim.

Photos later heading off now into Pau- 30 minute drive.

Live video finals

2009-06-28T20:01:00.001+12:00

Link for live video should be 2.20pm- 2.30pm in France so 12.20pm NZ ?
http://www.paucanoe2009.com/en/?p=186

Racing over in Pau for all except Luuka

2009-06-28T04:09:00.003+12:00

Tauranga's Canoe Slalom Olympian Luuka Jones has produced a stunning performance at the brand new Stade D'Eaux Vives Pau, white water centre in Pau, Southern France.
Posting a flat time of 109.25 with a 2 second penalty to finish in 10th place on 111.25.
With only 20 boats making it through to semis Jones was in a comfortable position of 6th after first runs. With a place in semis virtually guaranteed the pressure was off for the second run.
Her career best performance has been a 28th place at one of last years world cups.
After first runs Jones said ' I can't believe it, this has never happened to me'
Jones who is in the kayak squad at Waiariki Institute of Technology has been training hard over the NZ summer and is thrilled that the hard yards are paying off.
Mike Dawson, was fast enough in first runs, in fact would have been 7th, but a 50 second penalty dashed his semis chances, Aaron Osborne also had a 50, while Louise Jull was outside the pace, however had a better second run.
The NZ junior team who were also competing at this World Cup,finished near the end of their respective classes.They all did parts of this big pushy course well, but it is a huge step up.They represented themselves well and benefitted hugely from the experience. It is tough to race in your first World Cup as a junior with all the hype of TV cameras and lining up by Olympic stars. It was all about experience for the juniors and will be a long term benefit for them.
Janer had an unfortunate lesson to learn as was pulled over for random boat control. She failed as was disqualified even though she had done all the right things and had the paperwork signed off. They said her boat weighed 8.98kg at the end of her run, and it weighed 9.03kg when scrutineered. the moral of the story- 'add a bit extra to make sure'
It didnt change any results as she had a roll and got a 50. Lot's of 50's given to even the best paddlers.

After semis and finals ( cut down to 10 boats) tommorrow the NZ seniors face a gruelling 24 hour drive to be ready to race World Cup 2 at Bratislava next weekend, while the junior team has a training camp with a French coach before meeting up with their fellow compatriots in Augsberg, Germany for WC 3 on 10th July.

Good first runs

2009-06-27T20:21:00.004+12:00

C2 team posted a solid run of 124 plus 4 in 21st, and run included a roll so all sitting well for next runs and a top 20 place. Jane up next also represented herself well, 127 flat time , but given a 50 on an upstream "half head" flat time good for her on this pushy course. Louise 130 plus 2
Great news for luuka really did well and qualified in 6th
Emilie Fer 106 clean leading
DUKATOVA Jana SVK 105.62 2 107.62
JONES Luuka NZL 109.25 plus 2 111.25
Callum has just had his run great time 104 but given a 50.
Aaron 103.79 clean
Mike 94.91 plus 50 his flat time would have put him in 7th so a great run marred by a 50.

Results WC 1 Pau

2009-06-27T18:58:00.001+12:00

Live results here
http://www.paucanoe2009.com/en/?p=18

Friday

2009-06-27T07:44:00.004+12:00

Racing tommorrow and things hotted up at the course today. We had an 8.30am, half hour last slot. I stayed at the course and went into Pau while team went back for lunch and some boat repairs. Managers meeting at 1pm then demos at 4pm and there is a live video feed so I spent some time getting the tech stuff sorted. Demos at 4pm then on a bus to the opening ceremony. Back for dinner at 9pm and then video review of the demos.

My two hours in Pau was fun, nice shops and old buildings and big trees frame public squares. It really is a nice area.

The newspaper I bought today was full of the story of the French rugby guy who feigned being attacked to save face, right above the story about the WC at Pau. We got a pretty good reception walking through the square to the opening ceremony with cheering for us. There seems a bond because of the rugby. Lots of speeches and flag raising and French national anthem, followed by some girls dancing in the fountain, doing something supposedly creative with paddles.

2009-06-26T04:49:00.002+12:00

Thursday

2009-06-25T19:56:00.003+12:00

I am sitting in the athletes village in our tent that we share with Belgium and Poland. The heavens have opened up and we have heavy rain, thunder and lightening. Our session has been postponed until 7 pm tonight which totally stuffs our day up however we are feeling very smug as we went to the beach yesterday. Originally we were going today but as we needed to move from one place to another and get scutineering etc done so we changed plans.
It was lovely. We left Pau about 2.30 and were on the Atlantic coast swimming just after 4pm. There wasnt a cloud to be seen, the water was warm and lying in the sun very relaxing. About 6.30 we wandered down the beach from Anglet to the Grande Plage ( big beach which was actually small) near the old part of Biarritz and found a cute Pizzeria overlooking the coast. The Gibbs seniors and Kidda eventually found us and we had a fab dinner overlooking the beach. We splashed out and had drinks and yum dessert and it was all very pleasant. The sun was a giant fireball, setting and we stayed to watch the last rays diasppear before we headed back to Pau. Unfortunately I have left the cable for my camera behind so will update photos later.
This morning a 7am start to pack up from our lovely cottage at Clos Mirabel and headed to the course by 9am for the 10am session of full runs to find the postponement due to the bad weather. I guess the organisers dont want anyone taken out by lightening.
I dropped off the team and Kidda early and backtracked to a boulangerie I had spotted near the course,for the six baguettes to keep the troups fed after the session. Dedided to be like the locals and had une pain au chocolat et un cafe. Had the smallest cup of coffee ever and sat at the eating bar like the locals... seems an early morning ritual in France.
Currently kids gone for a speedy flat water session in the rain while I stay dry in the tent. No sign of the rain abating so possibly a day for school work. Yeah right!

Tuesday

2009-06-24T02:23:00.004+12:00

Another sunny day, hot at the course. Good training session, Malcolm and Sandra Gibb have arrived and they are staying in the manor house on our property. ( we in gate house).

Kids paddled from new course to old course in Pau. Photos attached to show how we could make some eddies at Kawerau.