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

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

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

Photos at Sport Nature St Pe d Bigorre

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

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

Monday

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

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

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.