Kaituna

So, from the Bliss Stick factory, we drove back up to Rotorua and got on the Kaituna, a one kilometre class 3/4 with a 7m waterfall on it. With enough fitness and local knowledge you can run it in less than an hour. The extreme race boys and girls do it in 6 minutes. I had to pick up some gear from a local shop, Topline Agencies.  Walking out with a Palm Torrent drysuit, some airbags and a set of Robson split paddles later, all for £600, the owner of the shop, Andi Uhl offered to join us for a quick blitz run to show us the lines.

A little over an hour later, with total saucer eyes and massive grins plastered on our faces, we blasted back up to the van on the back of Andi's truck, holding on to the boats, the van and eachother for dear life. Andi's run the Kaituna over 1800 times, and his help was invaluable! I will publicly confess that I managed to swim in an eddy on one of the easiest rapids at the end of the river after crunching my shoulder, an old injury exacerbated by terror paddling and not warming up. This called for a few days off, which we have spent resting, eating as much protein as possible and surfing in Whakatane and Mt Managanui, cool seaside towns on the pacific ocean.

Tomorrow we head back up to Rotorua, and with a shoulder which is now feeling fine, we will get back on the Kaituna to brush up a little more on the steep creeking! What fun.

Catch you all soon, and happy birthday nan!

Sam and Doug.