Paula's Funsized Adventures

Winter Wonders – January 2010

paula — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:06:48 +0000

This has been the coldest winter in the UK for 30 years apparently, which I could well believe as I was wondering what I was doing breaking the ice at the put in at Hurley weekend before last. However our luck changed the following weekend. I could feel the excitement starting to build as the weather forecast came, the snow was due to melt and the rain forecast was looking good. Matty was keen for a day trip and he gathered a small team together. We were planning to head to the Mellte and Nedd Fechan – and we set off at the god-awful hour of 5.30 in the morning. Our hopes were fulfilled as most of the snow was gone when we woke up. We drove through heavy rain and arrived in South Wales around 9.30 in the morning after a quick and naughty stop at MacDonalds to keep our calorie count up. Matty and Mandy had already checked levels and the Mellte was too high. The Nedd Fechan was huge and chocolate coloured – I did not see a single eddy and plenty of trees were down. A group decision was made to head to the Upper Tawe instead. Our attempt to drive over the hill to the next valley along was scuppered when we found a metre of snow at the top of the hill. We had to take the long way around and we ended up getting on the river later than we had hoped.

Me on one of the slides on the Upper Tawe

Me on one of the many small “boof” drops on the Upper Tawe

There was still snow on the ground, but the river proved a real gem – we walked up about a km from the put-in in the guidebook - past many sweet little drops, one of which was described by Matty as a “mini Ulla” – we had a great time on the first section. The day continued in a similar fashion – not many eddies were to be had, though, and our progress around the many blind bends with a relatively big group of 5 paddlers, was fairly slow. We found lots more sweet drops and slides – a real playground of a river. As we approached the entrance to the gorge, we had spent around 3 and a half hours on the river and the darkness was drawing close. We decided not to risk the gorge as we weren’t sure how easy it would be to get out if it got dark! I left the river feeling completely satisfied though – great new river, awesome day! Thanks to Craig, Will, Matty and Mandy for a great day. Apologies to Mandy for not getting any decent pics of you!

Matty Nicholas reaches for a big BOOF on the Upper Tawe!

Will Hatt does his best “Blue Steel” while boofing on the Upper Tawe!

Craig Ayres disappears over the edge on the Upper Tawe!

The next day came and the river gods continued to smile on us and Marsh weir on the Thames was high – only an inch below the wall (not that I was any good at getting on it despite that). We had a brilliant day in the sunshine, as we enjoyed not only the tropical temparatures (well, it was above zero which seemed tropical in comparison to the weekend before!), but also seeing the much talked-about new Pyranha Molan in action, as Richard had got his hands on one of the few pre-production boats.

Richard Brooks puts the Molan through its paces on Marsh Weir on the Thames

Joe Bradley shows us some BIG AIR on Marsh Weir on the Thames

NEW BOAT!!! Scotland – December 2009

paula — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:22:31 +0000

December is here…. and I have a lovely shiny new pyranha BURN!! So I took my new toy up to Scotland for a week of fun We got a few good runs in, the Orchy – the Spean on 3 pipes…. right from the dam all the way down to the end of the Spean gorge (missing out the minessy section) – four sections of the river in one day (three of them new sections too)! Needless to say we were very cold and it was dark by the end (numbers had also dwindled from 12 to 3 by the end as people got tired and cold!)

We got a fair few good pictures on the Etive on a cold day in Glen Etive. I had to resort to using pogies however – and as a result of the wonderful colour combination with my drysuit…. I end up looking like a baby blue lobster!!

Happy New Year All!!! One of my wishes for 2010 is even more awesome paddling than 2009 – can’t wait!

Paula

I know, I look like a blue lobster!

You would make that face too if you got splashed with water as cold as this.

Boofing right angle is never a good idea…. unless its so cold that its worth it to keep your head dry!

Glen Etive…. what a beautiful place.

Uganda – Part II

paula — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:30:06 +0000

Hi Again!!

So, I have acquired some more photos from Uganda – mainly the river-running highlights of the trip, so I thought I would share them. They are bringing back great memories of the trip and I just want to go back!!! Thanks to Scout (and Tommy) for providing the pics. Enjoy!

Me contemplating my line at Kalagala

Me going off the lip of the drop on Kalagala

The entry ramp to Itunda – at least I’m in the right place this time!!

I decided to go straight for the guts of “The Cuban”, a hole on Itunda

I manage to skirt just around the corner of “The Ashtray” hole on Itunda (!)

The Crew: (Tommy, Jeff, Chris, Helen, Islay, Scout, Craig, Gordon, Me)

White Nile, Uganda – October 2009

paula — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:16:22 +0000

When Craig asked me a few months back if I wanted to come to Uganda with him and Islay, I was immediately thinking about how I could fit it into my holiday year. The group increased to 8 of us heading out there… Then the day had finally arrived and Matt and I were joining the 6 others who had gone out the week before. We flew via Brussels and arrived in Entebbe airport – I didn’t have a clue what to expect. I was glad to see the kayak the nile shuttle driver had spotted us immediately – and we got going towards Jinja. The others had started the party in preparation for our arrival and we arrived at NRE as the drinking was in full swing at about midnight. After dumping our stuff at our campsite (Eden Rock – cheaper and quieter!), we headed back for our first party night at NRE! The others had picked up a few stragglers and our group was now at 11 people

(Tommy runs the boof line on Bladerunner)

The next day we were introduced to the Bujugali falls and Silverback run – the big water was definitely scary at first but we soon got used to it. Especially the fact that you don’t need any warm clothes to kayak on the nile. What a beautiful river! Uganda was much greener than I expected too. Although everything you take there will get covered in a film of red African mud! When you get to the end of the river you have to get on a motorbike thing (Boda Boda) hold on to your kayak and paddles and they zoom along on the dirt roads to drop you off at the camp – definitely scary at first as well! We stayed in Bujugali for the first week or so, getting a grip of the run – and when some of the group had gone on Safari we explored some of the backchannels too.

(Me getting the hang of the rope for Nile Special)

Next stop was Super Hole and then the day 2 section down to the Hairy Lemon island. It is an island bang smack in the middle of the nile – its beautiful. The routine there was getting up and going for a Club Wave session in the morning and then chilling out for a bit before heading to Nile Special in the evening… usually getting of the river in the dark. It took me a little while to get the hang of the rope but I got it eventually! Dan had to head off half way through our stay on the island… and everyone decided that as punishment ”Dan belongs in the Nile”, at about midnight!

(Finally I’m on Nile Special!)

Leaving a few people who couldn’t be torn away from the Hairy Lemon some of us left after 5 nights and headed back up to bujugali – the next day saw a few of us head up to challenge the mighty Itunda rapid (pics to follow), which saw me have a bit of an epic!!! All good fun, thanks to Tommy and the boys for helping me out there. That was the last day for some of the others…. so we headed to the Black Lantern - once some of the guys had polished of 1kg of ribs we headed to NRE for a last night together!

(Loading up the Delica for the drive back to camp from Super Hole)

I couldn’t believe that I had already spent 2 weeks in this paradise - we waved goodbye as 6 others headed off leaving 4 of us to cause trouble. The last day was eventful, with another trip to Itunda (I had to go back and make peace with the rapid which was cool ) and then a final Silverback run followed by the most scary Boda Boda drive in the world in the dark and through the mud. I fell off in front of a massive bus but it was all good – I came back covered in mud from head to toe! A final night in the NRE bar with great music, dancing and some old friends to catch up with…. and then we had to bid farewell to Uganda. Just wish I could head back right now!

Here are a few useful links:

For the kayak shuttle or if you want to have any coaching/ guiding: http://www.kayakthenile.com/

Advanced and bespoke coaching: http://www.loveitliveit.co.uk/

Camping at Eden Rock: http://www.edenrocknile.com/

The Hairy Lemon: http://www.hairylemonuganda.com/

Take a look at Tommy’s blog to see some more awesome pictures and a more detailed account of the trip: www.tommyhatwell.com

Wet West Paddle Fest 2009

paula — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:27:44 +0000

Hi All

I had a great time at Wet West Paddle Fest as usual this year

Saturday night we headed to the Falls of Lora – which is a big tidal rapid. Lots of huge swirlies, but forever wave was a wonderful glassy green wave!

500 people at the party apparently, well I had a good time!

So many people turned up that the Morriston on the sunday was like picadilly circus. Great time though. Thanks to the organisers as usual!

Voss Ekstremsporksveko 2009

paula — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:41:26 +0000

( Me on S-Bend Rapid on the Upper Brandseth – the portage)

Well another year has gone by and I find myself in one of my favourite places in the world. Norway. The weather is not particularly great when I arrive from Bergen having scammed a lift with Olav. We head straight for the Strandelva to do a warm up on the lower section (nedere Strandelva). After that we head to the deserted festival camp at the airfield.

(Mark Basso on the Brandsethelva Competition Section)

Once at the campsite I met up with Nick Horwood and Lowri Davies and then later Rick Moxon. This year it seems I was hanging out with the Brits to make a change! Great fun. Sunday saw a combined british and norwegian trip to the “shooting range” and ”play section” sections of the Raundalselva. It was pretty high and some of the lines were somewhat scarily close to rather large holes!!

(Me getting scarily close to the gnar! Church Rapid on the Play Section of the Raundalselva)

The weather was unbelievable. From Sunday onwards it seemed to be around 30 degrees every day. The snow and glaciers got a good melting spree, and we got baked out of our tents too early!!

The Upper Brandsethelva was the choice of river for the next few days. It was at great levels and I was running all the drops that I had portaged at last year’s extreme week, so was pleased with that. We were also training on the competition section in preparation for the race on Thursday.

(Eirik Øvereide on the final boof on the competition section of the Brandseth)

(Girls discussing tactics! Lowri Davies and I on the competition section of the Brandseth)

Of course, if you’re in Norway you have to do a waterfall. So we headed to the old classic… Money Drop. The levels were pretty high and it was pushing towards the right-hand undercut, rather than the left. Lowri had a rather more intimate experience of this than desired. See her blog: http://www.lowridavies.co.uk/?p=463 for the full story

(Me on Money Drop)

(Matt Tidy coming into the finish line on the competition section of the Brandseth)

Lowri and I ended the week by heading up to the Upper Merkdalselva with Matt Tidy – the lower looked like it was way too high. The upper section turned out to be on the very high side and only just runnable really. Those slides had some pretty meaty holes in places and there weren’t too many eddies to be had either.

Rick and Nick decided to go on a big boys mission – the Teigdal is one of the most classic rivers in Norway and it rarely runs. The week of intense sunshine had brought the levels up and they were off to test their mettle! Both came back with broken paddles, and since they borrowed my camera, I thought I’d share one of the pics

Sad to leave – always leaving the Voss week with a hangover, I was on my way home again. Boo!

(Nick Horwood on Double Drop of the Teigdal)

Spring in Telemark, Norway

paula — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:27:17 +0000

(Morten Bergsland on Homerun)

(Ric Moxon on Homerun)

Well, Telemark is an area of Norway famous for its slides and drops – so I was a bit nervous heading there for a weekend for my birthday, but it all went well and here are the pictures to prove it. I know I have gone a bit overboard on pictures, but its just such a photogenic area, and we were having a bit of a mission to get as many photos as possible in the shortest time!

We stayed at a super comfortable bunk house in Rjukan (http://www.jakobfink.com/ give him a bell if you’re going to the area, he speaks excellent english and is a paddler himself, so very paddler friendly!).

The pictures show three rivers – the world famous homerun section of the Mår river, the Gøyst river, and the upper Austbygdåi. There is so much left to do there I can’t wait to go back next year.

For more info about our trip check out:

http://www.teampyranha.com/paddler-lifestyle-articles/per-christian-pedersen/a-weekend-in-telemark/

(http://burtworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/corsica-kayak-festival-2009.html is soon to be updated)

I still can’t believe 5 blokes managed to bake me a birthday cake, but it was an awesome weekend and reminded me as ever, how beautiful Norway is, how much I like boating, and how lucky I am to have good friends there! Thanks everyone. Enjoy the pics

(Lead in to the waterfall on the Gøyst)

(Ric Moxon on the waterfall on the the Gøyst)

(Me on the same drop)

(One of the numerous slides on the Gøyst)

(The Austbygdåi)

(Boofing on the Austbygdåi)

(Olav Håvik on the Austbygdåi)

(The Austbygdåi)

(Per Chrisitan Pedersen on the Austbygdåi)

Heli-shuttles and New Zealand Kayaking

paula — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:42:58 +0000

(Me taking a leap on Maruia Falls)

(Spanna and the beautiful scenery of the Whateroa river)

What a great way to travel…. helicopter shuttles are a definite highlight of any kayaking trip to New Zealand! Of course Maruia falls is a must-do as well.

I had four weeks to see the many wonders New Zealand – so I decided to stick to the South Island, and arrange my trip so it fell at the same time as two major kayaking events – Buller Fest (http://www.bullerfestival.co.nz/index.html) which is held in Murchison, and the Citroen Extreme Race which is held on the Citroen rapid of the Kawarau River near Queenstown. Bullerfest had some epic parties, but the “head to head” at citroen was also a big highlight. The standard of paddlers at both events was incredible. Kayaking festivals are also a great way to meet new friends when you’re travelling and bump into plenty of old friends too.

(Me with Spanna and the Chopper)

(Flying into the Arahura)

The festival dates largely determined my itinerary. I started off in Murchison for a couple of days warm up, before heading to the west coast to Hokitika for some heli-boating! The whateroa provided an excellent warm up and I headed up with Spanna of the NZ Kayak School. Its a glacier fed river that runs longer than many other run. It is medium volume with some beautiful gorges and pristine blue waters. The second day saw me fly into the Whitcombe with Zak Shaw and two other local boaters - we flew into the bottom of Price’s gorge – it is an incredible day of continuous classic new zealand boulder-drop class IV. Having spent a little time in Hokitika – I headed back to the Bullerfest for the festivities.

(Jakub Sedivy on Cesspit rapid on the Arahura)

After Bullerfest, with a new British dominated crew, I headed back to the west coast to spend some more time in Helicopters and got amongst others, the Kokapotahi, Wanganui, and classic of all classics – the Arahura under my belt.

The journey continued down to Queenstown with just enough time for a few practice days and some heavy drinking before the Citroen Race. Seeing that the competition was fierce, I opted for the comedy-line of straight into the rock rather than left or right, with the intention of keeping the punters entertained ;P

(Some of NZ’s finest on the classic Nevis Bluff rapid on the Kawarau river)

After the race I spent enough time in Queenstown to get a few more classics under my belt and even brave the Shotover road (which is far scarier than the river), kayak through the tunnel there, and get a good intro to Queenstown nightlife, which is certainly amongst the best on the South Island.

(Me on Curtain Call rapid on the Arahura)

As the stormy weather blew in, we headed to Millford Sound to catch some awesome boating on some great welsh-style rain fed rivers – with welsh sounding names too. The highlight of camping with the sea kayak guides down there being that they have a drying tent complete with rocket heater – truely awesome for those chilly NZ days!

Sad to leave, I finally drove back up the east coast – taking in the amazing scenery before flying out of this kayaking mecca! Can’t wait to go back.

(Spanna and the beautiful scenery of the Whateroa river)

Wet West Paddle Fest 2008

paula — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:13:21 +0000

The Wet West Paddle Fest is held in Fort William in memory of Andy Jackson. British paddlers from all corners of the isles congregate to make the most of dam release rivers and a big party!

There are dam releases on the Garry and the Morriston. We had done a fly-by-night Friday night to Sunday night visit, and so we paddled these rivers as well as the mighty Etive. The Etive is a classic Scottish run that has a number of great drops, culminating in a 6 metre waterfall at the end!

Boring James rips it up on triple step on the Etive

Local boy Tom Brown shows us how its done on Right Angle Falls on the Etive

I have a go too!

Austria in August

paula — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:25:11 +0000

I had originally booked the last week of August off work thinking I would go to Ottawa like I did in that week last year – its a good week because there is a bank holiday in it, so I only have to use 4 days leave instead of 5. Well, funding didn’t work out for me on that front, and the same thing happened to most of the people I thought I would go there with… So I had a think and decided to do a road trip to the Continent. Anywhere where there was water. Probably around the North Alps area of Austria and Switzerland.

The week was perfect weather wise – we arrived in Munich to torrential rain on the Saturday after driving all night. My friend Benjamin who lives in Munich told us to meet him at a bridge over the river Iser. We parked up, bought some food and beer for the evening and then got changed in the pouring rain. The wave was pretty sweet, although the eddy access left a bit to be desired – we eventually set up a rope system which solved that problem.

Danny loving the wave on the Iser in the middle of town in Munich.

Teaching Cate how to kayak on the beautiful flat section of the river 2 hours drive downstream.

That evening we headed off to a party at München Kajak Klub EV – a very random invite through a friend of a friend. We got horrendously drunk and met some new people, all good fun. The next day we took Benjamin’s insider tip for a picturesque (flat) river section on the Iser, two hours drive South for Cate, who had been kayaking once before the trip. The sun came out, and didn’t go away again all week! Afterwards we did an early evening run of the Loisach – a North Alps classic, a continuously fun class 3 with lots of eddies and rocks to play around on.

After that we headed off to Landeck to set up camp for the week. Rivers we managed to tick off included Inn sections Tösens, Haiming and Imst, the lower Oetz and the Venter Ache. Many bottles of wine and beer were consumed and the sun shone all week! We taught Cate to roll in the lake and on the rivers we met some Scottish, German, Austrian and Canadian paddlers along the way. Awesome holiday – thanks Cate and Danny!

Gnarly!(?)

An early evening run of the lower Oetz.

Danny on the picturesque Venter Ache, before it starts hotting up!

Poser!