Today we had the quals for the Danube Cup.
I did not perform well at all. I picked up a 50 in my first run and had a few recircs in tricky places. I played a few of the moves safe though and this payed off as I have made it through to the top 40 Semifinals tommorrow in 25th place. A lot of people struggled on the course here as it is rather tricky.
Mark Youngnickel is also through in 13th place. Mike and Ciaran are racing in about 1hour...they should be sweet though, yesterday Mike finished in 7th and Ciaran was in the 20's.
sweet
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Race no.1
Today we had the 1st race here in Bratislava.
The course was very tricky, meaning you needed to be working hard and be very focused the whole way down.
Unfortunately for me I picked up a fifty sec penalty in both runs at diff places. My 2nd run was going really well until I had a wee recirc that lost me a lot of time and it went bad from there. i finished up in 32nd out of 48. Mark ended up in 17th out of 58 and mike and ciaran have not raced yet.
We are heading out to the movies tonight to see Batman with some of the Slovaks.
More racing tommorrow
The course was very tricky, meaning you needed to be working hard and be very focused the whole way down.
Unfortunately for me I picked up a fifty sec penalty in both runs at diff places. My 2nd run was going really well until I had a wee recirc that lost me a lot of time and it went bad from there. i finished up in 32nd out of 48. Mark ended up in 17th out of 58 and mike and ciaran have not raced yet.
We are heading out to the movies tonight to see Batman with some of the Slovaks.
More racing tommorrow
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Bratislava
After spending a good fun week in Augsberg with Kathrin we began our long 6 hour drive in the Skoda to Bratislava. Here in Bratislava we have an apartment in the centre of town which is pretty sweet. We have been joined by Ciaran from Ireland too.Unfortunately these last few days me and the Kiwi boys have been a bit sick with some kind of cold but hopefully it will get better soon.
The course here in Bratislava is big white water and fast flowing. It is really fun to paddle.
Yesterday Mark, Ciaran and I went and checked out Bratislava old town, heres some pics...
Friday, August 22, 2008
Augsberg!!!
I was yet again lucky and managed to get my boat and overweight luggage on for free!!Stoked.
I arrived in Augsberg and went to Kathrins place!! I have now met up with Mike and Mark and our Kiwi training has begun. Today Kathrin left us to go on a surfing holiday in France!!!I would love to go with her but am wanting to do the upcoming World Seiries races so decided to stay here and train. She will no doubt have a wicked week!!
At the moment the Freestyle Kayaking World Cup is on so we have been able to check out some of the action. We caught up with two of NZ's junior paddlers that are here competeing (Callum and William from Levin). This morning they whipped out some sweet moves in the Junior Mens comp. This afternoon Mike will be giving it a go.
Ill put some pics of the action up later...
I arrived in Augsberg and went to Kathrins place!! I have now met up with Mike and Mark and our Kiwi training has begun. Today Kathrin left us to go on a surfing holiday in France!!!I would love to go with her but am wanting to do the upcoming World Seiries races so decided to stay here and train. She will no doubt have a wicked week!!
At the moment the Freestyle Kayaking World Cup is on so we have been able to check out some of the action. We caught up with two of NZ's junior paddlers that are here competeing (Callum and William from Levin). This morning they whipped out some sweet moves in the Junior Mens comp. This afternoon Mike will be giving it a go.
Ill put some pics of the action up later...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sant Celoni- last week
On Tuesday I took a bus to La Seu D'Urgel(Place Pre Worlds was) to pick up my kayak. My kayak is fixed now and is so much better to paddle without water leaking into it!Well I was there I was lucky enough to jump on the whitewater and go for a kayak and they even kindly let me for free. I then caught a bus and train back to Sant Celoni, I was fortunate enough to get my boat onto both.
This week has been pretty chilled with a few trips walking into the nearby hills and to the beach. Last night I went into Barcelona town with Rueben and Andreu and a few others. There was a massive street party going on and it was packed! There were decorations everywhere and different streets had different stages for different music. We danced into the morning and then headed back to Sant Celoni feeling exhausted.
Tommorrow I am flying to Augsberg in Germany and meeting up with another kiwi Mike Dawson. I will be training in Augsberg for the week. Am amped as to get back in my kayak!!
I better cruize...
Adios
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Update
I had another pretty good week here in Sant Celoni.
The kids are picking up quite a bit of English now which is good and I am starting to get a fair bit of Spanish or Catalan lingo down!
On Wednesday night I went out to a live concert in the square where there was a guy singing in Catalan. He was an excellent entertainer and really got everybody going. It went on into the early hours of the morning.
Then on Thursday night I was invited out for a BBQ dinner in a field. A fire was lit and veges and potatoes from the vege garden were cooked!! We then had dinner by candle light. One of the guys plays the guitar really well so he jammed on that into the early hours of the morning. I am still trying to get used to the Spanish time here. They eat dinner at about 9-11pm and don’t go to bed until at least 12 usually!!
On the wkd I went into Barcelona with my friend Rueben. We checked out a few magnificent buildings in the morning such as the Temple de la Sagrada Familia and the Olympic stadiums. In the arvo we went shopping and took in the sights and scenes around La Ramblers and the main streets. Our plan was to hire bikes and cruise around the city on them but after our massive all you can eat Buffet lunch(Was delicious, including loads of Gelato/Ice Cream!!) we were so stuffed we just headed out to the Barcelona Harbour. Was a wicked day!!
On the Saturday night the town was celebrating as it is the beginning of there holidays. So I was picked up by some of the locals and we cruised down for some Moheto’s and some party action. The party went on till 6am, we then went and lay on the beach as the sun rose, was so much fun!!
Then later in the day I packed my things and jumped on a train to France's 2nd biggest city, Lyon. On my train I got talking to some Spanish people who helped tell me the quickest root to Lyon which helped a lot. And I also met a girl from Sweden called Fredrica. I was a little unprepared and had only taken 1 banana for the 8hour train ride but luckily Fredrica was really nice and shared her bread with me and we enjoyed a nice quiet wine on the train. We arrived in Lyon at about 11pm and me and Fredrica were heading for a youth hostel when we ran into a French chick Emily. Emily offered us to stay in her appartment!!!She makes hats and we got to stay in her hat room which was very cool!!She also showed us around Lyon which was wicked, its a very cool city with a river running through it.
The next day I tried to find a bus to Sault-Brenaz(Kayaking course about 50km from Lyon) but there were none!!So I caught a train to the nearest town. I was planning on hitching from there to Sault-Brenaz but this lady came up and asked where I wanted to go and when I told her she just took me there!!!I couldn't quite believe my luck!!I also met a French girl Marie on the train who was from Lyon and she offered for me to come and stay also!!I think French people are super friendly and nice!!Was cool.
So anyway I spent the week camping in the beautiful surroundings of Sault-Brenaz with a club from the Netherlands. We camped right by the river which was perfect! Every morning we had Fresh French Crossants and we ended the days with wine, beer or Sangria. It was really good to be back in a boat on white water again and it was really good having new people to train with. They were a really cool bunch of paddlers and were fun to paddle and chill out with. Cheers to the team for having me and helping coach me and keeping me entertained!!It was an awesome week!!
I finally made it back to Sant Celoni and found that the house was locked and my family had gone on holiday...so I slept under the stars!! Luckily today the neighbours were home and they have lent me there spare key!!
Tommorrow my friend Andreu is heading to La Seu and I will cruise along with him and hopefully go for a paddle and take my boat back with me as I have plans for some kayaking in the next few weeks. Plans will be revealed in time...
Adios
The kids are picking up quite a bit of English now which is good and I am starting to get a fair bit of Spanish or Catalan lingo down!
On Wednesday night I went out to a live concert in the square where there was a guy singing in Catalan. He was an excellent entertainer and really got everybody going. It went on into the early hours of the morning.
Then on Thursday night I was invited out for a BBQ dinner in a field. A fire was lit and veges and potatoes from the vege garden were cooked!! We then had dinner by candle light. One of the guys plays the guitar really well so he jammed on that into the early hours of the morning. I am still trying to get used to the Spanish time here. They eat dinner at about 9-11pm and don’t go to bed until at least 12 usually!!
On the wkd I went into Barcelona with my friend Rueben. We checked out a few magnificent buildings in the morning such as the Temple de la Sagrada Familia and the Olympic stadiums. In the arvo we went shopping and took in the sights and scenes around La Ramblers and the main streets. Our plan was to hire bikes and cruise around the city on them but after our massive all you can eat Buffet lunch(Was delicious, including loads of Gelato/Ice Cream!!) we were so stuffed we just headed out to the Barcelona Harbour. Was a wicked day!!
On the Saturday night the town was celebrating as it is the beginning of there holidays. So I was picked up by some of the locals and we cruised down for some Moheto’s and some party action. The party went on till 6am, we then went and lay on the beach as the sun rose, was so much fun!!
Then later in the day I packed my things and jumped on a train to France's 2nd biggest city, Lyon. On my train I got talking to some Spanish people who helped tell me the quickest root to Lyon which helped a lot. And I also met a girl from Sweden called Fredrica. I was a little unprepared and had only taken 1 banana for the 8hour train ride but luckily Fredrica was really nice and shared her bread with me and we enjoyed a nice quiet wine on the train. We arrived in Lyon at about 11pm and me and Fredrica were heading for a youth hostel when we ran into a French chick Emily. Emily offered us to stay in her appartment!!!She makes hats and we got to stay in her hat room which was very cool!!She also showed us around Lyon which was wicked, its a very cool city with a river running through it.
The next day I tried to find a bus to Sault-Brenaz(Kayaking course about 50km from Lyon) but there were none!!So I caught a train to the nearest town. I was planning on hitching from there to Sault-Brenaz but this lady came up and asked where I wanted to go and when I told her she just took me there!!!I couldn't quite believe my luck!!I also met a French girl Marie on the train who was from Lyon and she offered for me to come and stay also!!I think French people are super friendly and nice!!Was cool.
So anyway I spent the week camping in the beautiful surroundings of Sault-Brenaz with a club from the Netherlands. We camped right by the river which was perfect! Every morning we had Fresh French Crossants and we ended the days with wine, beer or Sangria. It was really good to be back in a boat on white water again and it was really good having new people to train with. They were a really cool bunch of paddlers and were fun to paddle and chill out with. Cheers to the team for having me and helping coach me and keeping me entertained!!It was an awesome week!!
I finally made it back to Sant Celoni and found that the house was locked and my family had gone on holiday...so I slept under the stars!! Luckily today the neighbours were home and they have lent me there spare key!!
Tommorrow my friend Andreu is heading to La Seu and I will cruise along with him and hopefully go for a paddle and take my boat back with me as I have plans for some kayaking in the next few weeks. Plans will be revealed in time...
Adios
Sant Celoni-Barcelona-France...
Ah these last 2weeks have been insane!!!!I don´t know where to start. I arrived home from France last night to find my family has gone on holiday till next Friday and im locked out so I can´t add any of the sweet photos I have of my adventures and havn´t got much time to write in detail....but ill write some and fill in the gaps later...
France was amazing!!!It was great to get back in a kayak after a few weeks of rest and the weather was perfect mfor it. The people there are soo nice! I got 3 offers from people to stay with them in France and was given a ride from some randoms at the train station to the kayak course! Without the ride I don´t know what I would have done?? I got very lucky!!
I went back to Barcelona with my friend Ruben and we had an awesome day!!!It was soo good to have a guided tour. And I partied it up in Sant Celoni a few nights which was awesome!!The Spanish sure do know how to party!
Tommorrow I am going to La Seu(The place Pre Worlds was for kayaking) with my friend Andreu so I will finally get my boat back all fixed!!!!Yesss!
Better go...
Will be in touch!
Oh yea and Olympics have begun...Luuka will be paddling on Wednesday and Thursday!!!Very exciting. Best of luck to her...Go NEW ZEALAND!!!
Adios
France was amazing!!!It was great to get back in a kayak after a few weeks of rest and the weather was perfect mfor it. The people there are soo nice! I got 3 offers from people to stay with them in France and was given a ride from some randoms at the train station to the kayak course! Without the ride I don´t know what I would have done?? I got very lucky!!
I went back to Barcelona with my friend Ruben and we had an awesome day!!!It was soo good to have a guided tour. And I partied it up in Sant Celoni a few nights which was awesome!!The Spanish sure do know how to party!
Tommorrow I am going to La Seu(The place Pre Worlds was for kayaking) with my friend Andreu so I will finally get my boat back all fixed!!!!Yesss!
Better go...
Will be in touch!
Oh yea and Olympics have begun...Luuka will be paddling on Wednesday and Thursday!!!Very exciting. Best of luck to her...Go NEW ZEALAND!!!
Adios
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