Simon Davidson - Love ya bro!

-Simon up in Quebec this Spring - Always smiling, always thinking..

Friendship is a BIG thing, and its also a Million little things too! Simon Davidson was a big guy with a big smile and a big heart and his friendship to me was a BIG thing! This friendship was made up of a Million little things some we both physically knew about like our shared passion for kayaking, our general love of water, the odd dress up party etc and then there were the things underneath that are not talked about much like the huge amount of respect I had for him, how genuine he was when he asked how things were with my injury or life in general, how much I loved his smile, energy, passion, humor and these things needed not to be spoken to Simon as this is just what made him who he was but it was a Big thing for me to know! Then there are the things I am still learning about Simon that I cherish in our friendship! How he played the guitar and while I'm just starting he will motivate me to keep trying, and how much of a hole he has left within our community of friends that will never be filled! Simon you were taken from us too early and those millions of little things you brought to make my life and our friendship better should really have gone into the Billions. I will miss the kayaking with you, hanging out with you, chatting on Facebook about how epic both our missions were going and how great the reunion would be back in the falls. So now we must make that reunion some other day. Ill keep remembering you down here and you keep looking over me out there and someday when we have that reunion we can share stories and add to those Million things that made our friendship so amazing! Bro you will be missed so much! Thanks so much for everything that you gave me and the inspiration you have left me! You have made the world a better place and for that I know you have succeeded! See ya on the other side someday bro! ~Aroha Nui~

Josh

- A guy that made things good

"One of the steepest slides I have ever seen and paddled... and the most fun I have ever had in a kayak.. what a day....Round four...best day ever!" - Simon davidson - www.flowadventures.blogspot.com

- Huka falls - Simon and his best mate Matt Burton's local drop! These 2 were a joy to be round!

- How we like to live, with our best buddies hanging out every day!

Simon Davidson - Love ya Bro

Natinoal Geo extreme photo of the week!

Over the weekend I was contacted by National Geo online to provide a quote that they could use for the shot above so they could publish it as their 'Extreme Photo of the Week' . I was in the Bahamas at the time so I slowly downloaded the shot to see what one it was and fired them an email back. It was online on Monday so that was cool to see. Amazing how much more exposure and response photos get when they bridge the gap from kayaking media and make it into main stream media. Cheers to Tim Ripper for shooting this sweet shot and thanks to all to boys out there that day! It was a sick mission! Check out the page here..

Cheers

Josh

- Arches NP in Utah - One of the hottest places I've been in my life!!!

With a lot of time on my hands at the moment rendering video files and things I have been looking at a bunch of the highlight moments of 2010! Although there were not many for me on the water there were a lot off the water! Moments when your stoked to know the people you do and stoked on the places you get to see! In 2.5 weeks I am off on a new trip to document a film on Extreme sports psychology! Its going to be epic and hopefully by July the shoulder will be back in action and Ill have some kayaking shots to share once again! In the mean time ill be posting stuff on filming free diving, Skiing, Kayaking and Base Jumping.

Here are a few moments from the 2010 mission which stood out! Cheers everyone for a meen time and lets make 2011 even better!

Chur

Josh

- Sam Roil at Mal's lake house behind her boat! Cant wait for 2011 lake visit!!

-Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?? Yosimite NP Hold up!

-Team Kiwi celebrating Sam's Win at the steep creek race!

-'MUM' cruising through Arches NP in Utah in 45ºC on the way to Cali from Vail!

- Moro Rock in Sequoia NP after a day chasing Bears in the park!

NZ Extreme Kayak Championships is on!!!

Hi everyone.

A quick note to say that this year's Citroen Extreme Race is the New Zealand extreme kayak championships.

The date is March 12th on the Citroen rapid, Kawarau River, Queenstown.

It is a fantastic event to be a part of whether racing or just spectating and partying.

Pre-registration is now open and only available until March 6th. Event t-shirts are only available with pre-registration.

Keep an eye on www.citroenextremerace.blogspot.com for up to date information.

Spread the word.

See you there.

Dylan

Haew Suwat Waterfall - the one that got away!

- The Park and waterfall in question - Photo Louise Urwin

I'm not really sure where to go with this post as it is one that I'm stoked about but on the other hand super gutted about. Basically my year has been plagued with various injuries which have kept me off the water a lot and just when things were going good it turned upside down again!

- Things not aloud in the park... kayaking is not on there? Yet - Photo Lou Urwin

Since my last trip to Thailand I have been on the search for new stuff to explore there and that resulted in a big list of potential runs and drops but one National Park stood out above the rest. Khao Yai National Park is located 120km North East of Bangkok City and is Thailand's oldest National Park. Khao Yai is home to wild Elephants, Tigers, Monkeys and even the extremely rare Siamese Crocodile! With high expectations early in the trip we headed there only to be shut down minutes from taking our kayaks off the roof in the car park. This was a huge disappointment but we knew we could get around it someway. One option was to paddle from higher up and sneak past the Rangers and hit the drop but this would mean paddling through the home of the Siamese Crocodile and 2km of dense jungle.

- Looking at a map figuring out our options for the mission - Photo Lou Urwin

Option 2 was to try get permission from headquarters in Bangkok which in the excitement of other trips got forgotten about till the last day.
Then due to another injury to my arm I was forced to stay off the water in case of making things worse. I was hoping to be ready again for the last trip back into Khao Yai but it was not to be...
In the park again we found the waterfall in question running with even more water and looking sweeter than ever! I made the very hard call to drive shuttle and act as a distraction as the others got their kayaks to the water. About 5km up the road everyone geared up and re-tied the kayaks so they were ready to pull straight off and go. As we drove toward the car park it seemed reminiscent of driving the crew into Royal Gorge earlier in the year but this time we knew the authorities were just over the other side of the car park. We stopped and the crew unloaded and split into the bush. I kept moving into the open and could see the Rangers moving towards the others. I got out of the car with all the cameras and the car they knew well by now. This caused enough confusion for them to get close enough to the water before the Rangers turned back to them in pursuit. Tyler and Toni made it safe and Lou was within striking distance of a junior Ranger. "Stop you can not swim here" stuttered the mostly Thai speaking man. "Its OK we don't want to swim" replied Lou as she dragged her kayak to the edge and pushed off to join the others on the other side of the river safe from anyone. While this was going on i snuck around and set up my cameras on a platform 100m from the lip. A few minutes was taken for them to get their kayaks to the lip and scout from there before I heard the whistle of Tyler as he set up to go. It was at this moment that i realised injuries suck the most. A clean waterfall I had found months before and I was behind the lens and not rolling off this beauty and nor would i probably ever get too. As Tyler rolled off the drop it all went smooth, the camera was rolling and i was snapping shots on the still camera as fast as i could.

- Tyler Fox - First descent of Haew Suwat Nam Tok - Photo Josh Neilson

Tyler had been in the pool for less than a second before i heard the whistles and loud speaker... I turned to my right and saw the Senior Ranger running toward me telling me the police were on their way and we were going to jail. I assured him everything was OK and that after watching Blood Diamond the night before could only say "I am the camera man". I turned the camera back to the falls and lined it up for Lou's run.

- Louise Urwin - First Descent of Haew Suwat Nam Tok - Photo Josh Neilson

She came in with wicked angle and half way down tucked for impact and straightened up perfectly to go deep and pop out the bottom.
Toni was next and i was hoping she would be fast as i could see people gathering in the car park and a lot of commotion. Less than a minute later Toni appeared from the trees and styled the drop breaking her paddle on impact but able to roll up and away from the falls with ease.

- Toni George - First Descent of Haew Suwat Nam Tok - Photo Josh Neilson

But this was just the start... I quickly packed up and met the crew at the bottom to plan our escape. I then went and go the car and they headed through the bush to avoid the people waiting at the top. Before we could do this they jumped in a truck and headed for the park entrance to lock us in. At the gate they told us to wait then escorted us to the Park HQ for questioning and mug shots to be taken and to wait for police. This was then to turn into a pretty relaxed situation with no one really knowing what to do with us. In the end they told us we needed permission to paddle it but we were not able to do it ever again. From here we headed back to Bangkok to drop off Tyler and rest after the big day behind us.
It was cool that this drop got paddled but spending so much time doing the research on these areas and having to sit and watch it happen without you is a huge downer for me! Hopefully one day I can find the right people in power to let us go back there and paddle it again without the stress of this descent.
Enjoy these photos and if anyone wants to go back there one day let me know and I have contact to one of the rangers in the park who may be able to help.
Cheers
Josh

- Another drop in the park that at closer inspection does not go but the george below might hold some goods. One for the next trip maybe - Photo Tyler Fox

Mae Panning for gold

Back to Mae Pan Waterfall... This drop alone was the selling point for my trip to Thailand in 2007 With Sam And Will so the idea of a return visit was pretty cool! We got turned away a week ago due to low water but on this day it had come up a bit and although a bit low, it was going to be our only chance to get in on this trip. Once we had hiked the boats in and hauled them up the canyon wall to the top of the drop it was go time. Due to the fact park rangers were not happy with us being there I suggested Tyler and Toni go first so as I had done it before. They came down looking a bit flustered at the bottom saying its a hard hit... I knew this but i wasnt prepared for what happened next.

- Mae Pan round 2 - Photo Toni George

-Tyler dropping in for his first time - Photo Josh Neilson

- Lou preparing for the big hit - Photo Tyler Fox

- Me getting my tuck on - Photo Tyelr Fox

Lou and I were at the top with our boats and I got in with my line in my head. I turned on my waterproof camera mounted behind me on my kayak and rolled off the lip. Half way down I ramped out a bit and hit the bottom with some angle and on impact put my mouth into my arm. I have had a dead arm for 2 days now. The camera was ripped from the boat (even though tied on and stuck on too!!) and sunk to the bottom. Next up was Lou and she hit very hard also but was ok.

I decided to walk out drop there as i was not in the mood and my arm was dead and the others ran 3 more drops and hiked out with me.

-Lou ramping into the triple drop below Mae Pan - Photo Toni George

- Toni slightly left of good - Result.. Broken boat - Photo Lou Urwin

- Tyler getting air on number 2 - Photo Lou Urwin

- Lou on entry - Photo Tyler Fox

- Lou on the last drop - Photo Tyler Fox

-Toni boofing into the last pool - Photo Josh Neilson

All in all it was a good day but much harder landing than I ever remember. Next time I will only do it with brown flooded water to make the landing soft! On our way out we were met by park rangers and when asked if we were kayaking the girls shook their heads and said no we were just taking photos. Thailand has got to be one of the only places ive ever been where kayaking is such a bad thing to do. They have no idea what we are even doing. They just say no and thats that.

We are heading out east now to Chae Son and Tard Luang Waterfalls and then heading south toward Bangkok to drop off Tyler next week! Wish us luck!

Chur

Josh