Fishing off the Hoki Trench

I caught a fish THIS BIG! No honestly I did!!!!

Dave Kwant organised a boat for the day to head out for some deep sea fishing off the Hoki trench. We were fishing at about a depth of 200m, and the first catch of the day was this monster from the deep, a Ling Cod. It tastes better than it looks!!!!




I was really proud of myself for hooking such a catch, but the Hamish had to put me to shame by pulling out a shark a couple of minutes later!






All in all it was a pretty successful day. Between 8 of us we pulled in 21 Grupper, 11 Trumpeter, 3 sharks and about 40 perch. We came hope with more than 70kg of fillets, and the freezers around Hokitka are still overflowing with fish.

Small but tasty! Lisa with a perch.

It was an epic job getting all the fish filleted and skined on the 2 hours cruise back in to Greymouth harbour......luckily the crew took care of all the hard work.

December In Hokitika

I´ve been a bit lazy about getting the camera out recently! After a smooth move to the Southern Hemisphere I set up base at Pete´s place in Hoki for December. Located on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, the mountainous weather beaten coastline make for a perfect location for all kinds of play.

Hoki church seen from the beach.

Hoki beach

Pile of drift wood washed up on the beach

One of the highlights of the coast is the abudance of rivers, and the afordability of helicopters to access these relatively remote drainages. We been spending a good amount of times flying around in Dando´s lawnmower sized chopper!

Bruce Dando, the best lawnmower pilot on the coast

The exit drop to the Upper Toaroha Gorge

Brendan Bayly on the exit to Billiards, Aruhura River.

Being put to shame by a shredder!

Brendan Bayly, on the exit drop to the Toaroha River.

Toaroha Gorge.

Meltdown in Norway

Ric Moxon, Nose Breaker

With this years huge snow pack, and record temperatures it has been a stunning summer in Norway.

Here are a couple of shots from the past month on the road.

Matt Tidy, Nose Breaker

Nærøyfjord

Matt Tidy and Ric Moxon inspecting the double drop
on Teigdalelva at low water.

Matt Tidy, Money Drop

Ric Moxon, Money Drop





The fantastic view over Nærøyfjord at the take out
of Undredalselva.

Telemark: Stairway from heaven

Sam Sutton on Husevollelva

It´s the time of year that I get back home to find paddlers sat on my doorstep! This week it was the 2 young kiwis Sam Sutton and Josh Neilson, sat in their car waiting at midnight.

I took them in for the night and then sent them on their way to Telemark, which is working like a dream this year due to a record snow pack.

I caught up with them later that weekend to find them in their element. With limited fear and a great deal of talent they had been knocking off some of the biggest runs in the area at pretty chunky levels.

On Sunday we headed over to Husevollevla, (aka Project 2000), which Sam showed us his skills on, and aptly named "the stairway from heaven". Possibly the steepest creeks in Norway, it offers continues waterfalls one after another.

Walking into the Mår

Tim Star, Husevollelva

Tim Star, Husevollelva

Walking to the river though a classic Telemark meadow.

Sam Sutton, Husevollelva.

PROJECT OSLO: Source to sea first descent

Lars-Georg Paulsen at the weir in Nydalen

We finally managed to complete Akerselva, from its source in Maridalsvannet (Oslo´s drinking water supply), down to Oslo Fjord. In the process we created a media frenzy, with a local TV crew and journalists showing incredible interest in what was a dumb stunt!

Ironically after traveling the world to the most obscure places, the most interest we have ever got from serious media, is by paddling a ditch 5 minutes from my flat!

We are now major TV stars in our own minds. The short clip from Oslo TV can be viewed at here.

The river is about 7km long, and between numerous dirty weirs, and the odd junkies needles, there is some surprisingly good paddling at high water. The best section is in the Gruneløkka, a trendy young district, with a couple of opportunities for a beer on the way down.

Mexican Mich (the only person I have met who can use the word
´gringo´in a serious conversation!). Outside Gruneløkka Student house.

Classic Corsica

The classic bedrock  Amphitheatre, Travo River

With fingers crossed we headed out to Corsica, and were lucky to hit the notoriously fickle water levels at perfect flows. 

I was joined by Matt Tidy, ´The Boy´Jake Holland, and the Italian paddler X, Daniele Tira.

It proved to be a chilled mission on a stunning Island, cruising down several of the numerous bedrock classics, that have made Corsica famous as the birthplace of steep creeking.

Letting the Italians do the cooking as we wait for the ferry.

Jake Holland exiting the Amphitheatre on the Travo River.

Matt Tidy drops the 10m fall on the Rizzanese River.

We need a probe! Send in ´The Boy´!

Jake Holland, Rizzanese River.

The ancient town of  Corte.

Daniele Tira picks his way through a bolder garden on the Vecchio River.

Matt Tidy, Vecchio River.

Jake Holland, Travo River.

The classic bedrock valley of the Travo River.

PROJECT OSLO: A taste of city life

After getting a taste for the city life last weekend, we couldn´t resist exploring more of what Oslo has to offer.

I made a few calls last week, and found out Lars-Georg had also been scouting out other falls within the city centre. We went down to a forgotten part of the city, at the back of several old factory buildings, where the river is completely hidden.