Upper Wanganui - Maybe a first?

Years ago Bruce Barnes mentioned to me that the Upper Wanganui would be worth a look sometime. That there was plenty of solid class V up there that would now be navigable since the development of new kayak technology and the contemporary paddlers mindset. After some meticulous investigation of the rivers gradient and character (looking from space via Google Earth) and indepth research into the meteorological condition for Sunday and Monday (checking the MetVUW forecast charts), Shannon and I decided that it was on! Barny took no convincing and organised a helicopter and we were set, flying 10am Sunday 27th of November. Our crew was Barny, Daniel (Shannon Mast), Justin Venable and myself.

Smyth Hut is a long way from civilization (p. Justin Venable)

Trying to get the cradle back into the Chopper (p. JV)

Flying in, we soon realised that we had caught the flow pretty much perfectly... not to mention the stellar blue skies. We were able to fly right to Smyth Hut thanks for some stellar work by Zeb Laing, and we knew we were in for a bit day. The river was ridiculously steep, somewhere in the realm of 80-100+m/km. Obviously this meant portaging, but we probably ended up with a 50/50 paddle to portage ratio and there were definitely a few big things in there that would of gone... Anyway, the 2km or so down to Galway Creek took us about 4 hours so by the time we got to the normal Wanganui (at high-ish water) we were ready to mob and get down to Hunters Hut. One scout, and 45 minutes later we had covered the 5 or so km of the normal Upper Wanganui and were ready for a night of relaxation and reflection at the a very classy establishment.

Alpine boulder-gradens (p. Jordy)

Getting steeper (p. Barny)

Daniel (p. Jordy)

Slings were priceless on the steep portages! (p. Jordy)

Barny amongst the unparallel West
Coast beauty (p. JV)

Tight and beautiful! (p. JV)

Inspecting... next time maybe?! (p. JV)

The final drop, the one after the section
above (p. Jordy)

JV soaking it in (p. Jordy)

The boys about to go one two (p. Barny)

Shannon on the charge (p. Jordy)

JV cleaning it (p. Jordy)

The one in the background is still
to go... Just so you know (p. JV)

Clean (p. JV)

Steep steep, check the decending bushline! (p. Barny)

Hunters Hut, a place for well earned rest! (p. JV)

In the hut, goon, food and good conversation (p. Barny)

Falling asleep that night to the predicted patter of rain on the roof, little did we know we'd be getting 100mm and be riding out a big brown gravy train the next morning! Perfect!!! Everything worked out perfectly, the access, white-water, weather, food, rain and everything. There is definitely a few more things to go up there for the bold, and the added extra incentive of hotpools at the top and bottom should convince more and more crews to get on this one.

Gradient & Water - Whitewater Calendar 2012

Well here we go again! Another year has passed and both Barny and Myself have been fortunate enough to have an action packed year, paddling in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and California. Here are a collection of photos that we not only think illustrate the difficulty of our sport, but also the beautiful settings that we are privileged to visit. This year we have included a few photos of other bliss-stick paddlers Ari Walker, Brendon Bayly, Jared Mitchell and the late Simon Davidson. Principle photography is by Barny and myself, with Daan Jimmink and Tyler Fox contributing photographs. SO here is a preview to get you going... order one for yourself, your mother and get ready for another year of looking at Barny and me!

Cheers for all the support,


Jordy and Barny

Cover: Paddler Jordy Searle - Photo Barny Young

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A little tribute to the late Simon Davidson

Here is an edit from the two trips down the Nevis on opening weekend. Unfortunately our boy Si wasn't there with us in body, but we all felt him in spirit. It was good to have such a big group of paddlers, as numbers have slowly dwindled over the last few year. The crew was Barny, Willzy, Ari, Dylan 'the Villan', Masty, JV and myself. We ride with Si!

Cheers to Tyler Fox for the opening image.

Nevis River - Central Otago

It is always an anxious wait for the Nevis River to come in, watching the guage (yes one of the only runs in the South Island that has one), checking the forecast and speaking to the local paddlers of the Central Otago Area. Usually we devote a week or so to the 'Nevis Season', also paddling the Kawarau (Nevis Bluff, Citeron and Retrospect) and taking full advantage of the continual party that Queenstown is. This year, however, there was something special missing. On June 22nd, 2011 our good friend Simon Davidson was taken away from us, doing the thing he loved most. I had previously paddled the Nevis 7 times, 5 of those were with Si and we always crashed at his pad. Hungover Bluff runs and massive nights on the town, these were all things that Si had always been a part of. It was an odd feeling being at the put in of the Nevis without Si, but we all knew that our boy was with us in spirit... he'd never miss the Nevis Season.

Our typical evenings in Q/T (p. Jordy)

Simon routing Freight Train (p. Jordy)

On his way to check out little brother, first
day we ran it... together! (p. Jordy)

Simon looking back up at Big Brother... right before he said
"Not this time my big brother"... (p. Jordy)

Now here are some snaps from our two laps on opening weekend, the crew was Barny, JV, Dylan the Villan, Willzy, Masty, Ari, Eden and Myself. Good lines and good times!

Dyl sitting at the dodgey portage (p. Jordy)

JV hoping to miss the rock (p. Barny)

Willz soaking it in (p. Jordy)

Barny on Freight Train (p. Jordy)

JV... Beautiful! (p. Jordy)

Safety first! (p. Jordy)

Boofing the lead in to Big Brother (p. Barny)

Route this! (p. Jordy)

Willzy having ANOTHER slick line (p. Jordy)

Another clean line on Big Bro (p. Jordy)

Dyl just routing in... the next bit looked fantastic! (p. Barny)

Me rolling in (p. Barny)

Ari the Curry, showing he's hot stuff! (p. Barny)

We spent a fair bit of time taking footage of this trip and hope to put together a little tribute to Si in the next couple of weeks. On this southern mission we also paddled the Young River, Routeburn River, the Marion Creek Section of the Hollyford and I bagged a sunny day on the Okuku with Jared Mitchell and Skux!