New Zealand
South Island
Nov. 20th-29th
Nov. 20th-29th
2008
Days 1-3
It all started like any other kayaking trip. Sanders showed up at the house, I threw my gear in the back of his car, and we headed out of Charlotte. Except this time I was not headed to the western mountains of North Carolina. I was on my way to the airport to hop on a plan headed to Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand.
This past summer during the ride back from our family vacation, my wife looks over at me ands says “Will, you need to go visit Cooper in New Zealand”. This was a huge change of course for her so I immediately replied “Sounds good to me” without much enthusiasm in order to keep it cool. After some e-mails and a 4am call with Coop, I bought the plane ticket for an 11 day trip in November. Coop said pack light, so I fit all kayaking gear into one carry-on without a change of clothes. The 24 hour plane trip was actually not bad. Outside the airport on the South Island I got my first sight of the infamous Cambri with a kayak on top and a bearded Coop (el Sage) in the driver seat. Man it was good to see Coop de Loop, it was close to a year since I'd last seen the old crazy mo fo. He informs me that it’s raining buckets on the coast which is home to New Zealand’s finest creekin. Ten minutes into the car ride and something is wrong, the plumbing is starting to rumble. I thought it was jet lag, but it was later diagnosed without a doubt as a stomach virus that was kind enough to wait until the plane landed. I slept and &%^# for about 15 hours. The next day we loaded up the car with boats and headed north to Murchison, New Zealand. It’s located north of Christchurch in the middle of the island. On our way up, the scenery was out of this world. (Postcard) With the rivers, valleys, and high peaks all crammed together; the place looks like something out of a fantasy novel (Lord of the Rings). By the way, Coop is obsessed with Frodo; he wouldn’t stop yelling his name out the window at complete strangers. Crazy Mo Fo.
Our first mission is to check out a 36-foot waterfall for a quick park and huck session. We scout and decide to put on about 75 yards upstream. Coop of course, styles it in a play boat making it look so easy. I walked upstream and got in a boat for the first time. The horizon line of a waterfall looks so peaceful that it’s hypnotic and hard to imagine what is awaiting your fate once you cross the harmless boogy water. It snuck up on me. All I saw was Class II water with trees in the back ground, nothing scary right. Then all of a sudden before my mind could react, I’m staring down and falling 36 feet into a pool of white fury. I knew I was supposed to tuck, but I was frozen with fear. I landed and immediately flipped. No problem I thought, I’ll just wait and flush out. This didn’t happen, and everything started getting more violent and dark. I assumed I was heading behind the waterfall curtain, which is a very bad place to be if you don’t have gills. At the same moment my stomach decided the morning’s PB and J sandwich was actually not acceptable. I puked and had my first swim within 45 seconds of paddling in New Zealand. After I pulled, I went deep, and I mean black-out dark deep. I didn’t fight it because I wanted to make sure I resurfaced past the boil line (area where you can relax) to prevent being pulled back into curtain. I resurfaced and noticed the boat was headed toward the abyss, but I was completely spent. Coop comes flying in like a bat out of hell, grabs the paddle out of my hands, and takes off after the boat. After getting the boat, we loaded back up for some action on the Makitiki River in Murchison.
It all started like any other kayaking trip. Sanders showed up at the house, I threw my gear in the back of his car, and we headed out of Charlotte. Except this time I was not headed to the western mountains of North Carolina. I was on my way to the airport to hop on a plan headed to Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand.
This past summer during the ride back from our family vacation, my wife looks over at me ands says “Will, you need to go visit Cooper in New Zealand”. This was a huge change of course for her so I immediately replied “Sounds good to me” without much enthusiasm in order to keep it cool. After some e-mails and a 4am call with Coop, I bought the plane ticket for an 11 day trip in November. Coop said pack light, so I fit all kayaking gear into one carry-on without a change of clothes. The 24 hour plane trip was actually not bad. Outside the airport on the South Island I got my first sight of the infamous Cambri with a kayak on top and a bearded Coop (el Sage) in the driver seat. Man it was good to see Coop de Loop, it was close to a year since I'd last seen the old crazy mo fo. He informs me that it’s raining buckets on the coast which is home to New Zealand’s finest creekin. Ten minutes into the car ride and something is wrong, the plumbing is starting to rumble. I thought it was jet lag, but it was later diagnosed without a doubt as a stomach virus that was kind enough to wait until the plane landed. I slept and &%^# for about 15 hours. The next day we loaded up the car with boats and headed north to Murchison, New Zealand. It’s located north of Christchurch in the middle of the island. On our way up, the scenery was out of this world. (Postcard) With the rivers, valleys, and high peaks all crammed together; the place looks like something out of a fantasy novel (Lord of the Rings). By the way, Coop is obsessed with Frodo; he wouldn’t stop yelling his name out the window at complete strangers. Crazy Mo Fo.
Our first mission is to check out a 36-foot waterfall for a quick park and huck session. We scout and decide to put on about 75 yards upstream. Coop of course, styles it in a play boat making it look so easy. I walked upstream and got in a boat for the first time. The horizon line of a waterfall looks so peaceful that it’s hypnotic and hard to imagine what is awaiting your fate once you cross the harmless boogy water. It snuck up on me. All I saw was Class II water with trees in the back ground, nothing scary right. Then all of a sudden before my mind could react, I’m staring down and falling 36 feet into a pool of white fury. I knew I was supposed to tuck, but I was frozen with fear. I landed and immediately flipped. No problem I thought, I’ll just wait and flush out. This didn’t happen, and everything started getting more violent and dark. I assumed I was heading behind the waterfall curtain, which is a very bad place to be if you don’t have gills. At the same moment my stomach decided the morning’s PB and J sandwich was actually not acceptable. I puked and had my first swim within 45 seconds of paddling in New Zealand. After I pulled, I went deep, and I mean black-out dark deep. I didn’t fight it because I wanted to make sure I resurfaced past the boil line (area where you can relax) to prevent being pulled back into curtain. I resurfaced and noticed the boat was headed toward the abyss, but I was completely spent. Coop comes flying in like a bat out of hell, grabs the paddle out of my hands, and takes off after the boat. After getting the boat, we loaded back up for some action on the Makitiki River in Murchison.
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