Eternite - The river of eternal happiness

So with there being so much water in Quebec and the snow pack still holding strong all the normal creek runs like the Valine too high or to low, BUT it has made some of the cool continuous classy runs perfect and with the local knowledge of Pat Levesque we set out to do the rivere eternite. With the continuous Nature of this river I didnt manage to get any pictures, the river is class four, with some cool moves and some wicked eddie hopping, this definitely tests the team, but with a solid crew we got down with no trouble at all. At the end whilst we were enjoying the beautiful scenery we were stopped by a park warden shouting things at us, good thing that tyler and I were ahead of group because we didn't understand a word he was saying.  Pat eventually came to the rescue and talked to the warden who actually spoke perfect english, and he said that he was the Park Warden and we were participating in unauthorised activity in the park and told us to vacate the river and meet him at the car. With that we got out, and walked to our cars where we were greeted by a few more rangers with warm smiles and polite hellos which definitely settled the nerves. We eventually found out that kayaking was not allowed on the river as it was too dangerous, originally thinking that we just needed to pay for access, the ranger did the rounds asking for ID, lucky I "left" mine at home and that I was a traveller. Any who, here are some pictures of the take out.

Beautiful

Tyler dwarfing the 1000 metre high cliffs

Money shot!! tyler getting his details taken down

The Crew

Tyler drinking the nectar of the hills

Keep the Flow!

Detonator and Upper Cyriac

So Quebec has started of with a BANG, with the huge flooding that has been going on the dams are realeasing a TONE of water, which means that most of the big waves have come in, which is where the title detonator comes from . Being from NZ I have never experienced a big wave, and this was unreal, the pure, raw power of these things is incredible. Its super fast and out of control. So before my ferry glide out I asked Nick Troutman for some advice, all I got back was, Don't wait to get in control, cause you won't get it. With that I set of for an epic big water ferry glide to catch the biggest wave I have ever surfed, and after a few goes I managed to hold quite a long surf. Here are some pictures. (P. Tyler Fox)

 Sunsets are beautiful, add a massive rapid...Stunning

Bouncing out of control!! YEAOOHH!!

 Rapid above detonator, feeling pretty dwarfed

The day after this epic surf session we heading into the upper cyriac, very late and freaking out about the fact that the only beta we had was that it was going to be solid, continuous class 5, but shortly after we arrived we realised that it was going to be a goo chill day :)

 My boat, ready for some action

 Tyler and Frankee

 Tyler routing the first rapid

LP getting that nose up

Blake on the Entrance

 Frankee demonstrating the boof!

Lining her up!!

The Steep section.. next time?

So the Cyriac was a good warm up, as it is getting warming and the steeper creeks should be coming in sometime this week or next week. Keep the Flow!!!

Arrived in Quebec

So lucky for me, my very very good friend tyler managed to organise a lift from montreal airport to Dolbeau, which saved me 6 hours of driving plus probably another 3 hours of being lost in montreal with absolutly no way of asking for directions cause I speak no french at all! After that a pretty epic 6 hour haul I arrived to what was already a raging "day off" Grand Prix party where a live Skunk had been thrown into one of the rooms. This was not only my first experience in Quebec bu also my first experience of smelling a skunk! (if I see one, im running away, FAST!) Anyways, I managed to tag along with lou and Tyler for the last two days of grand prix, paddle the race section on the Bras Louis (after the race) and also run safety for the slalom event. After this I watched Lou Dominate and collect her prize for the first Women Title in the Grand Prix!! YEAOOOHH!!! After this, partying on an epic scale with some of the rowdiest, coolest bunch of people ever!! Check the pics out! (P. Louis Urwin)

Bra Louis... SICK!!

 Scouting the Funky Slide

 Tyler Styling the last BIG drop

 Lining her up!

 Oh yeah!!! Sick, made it to the bottom

So after the partying and shenanigans of Saturday night we slowly came in to fruition and headed out for some Poutine (chips, cheese and Gravey, EPIC hangover feed) and too watch some of the biggest names of kayaking shred one of the BIGGEST and BURLIEST waves I have ever seen. Epic.

 Dam in Full release!

Casual Walk..

 Looks Small from here....

But from the River Side... BURL!!!

Keep the Flow!!!

Catarac Creek

So its my second day in Canada and I have been paddling twice, and I am pumped. Today Mitch, Dean and I set out to Catarac creek at a low flow, but apparently all good! I have found the awesome thing about being in Canada is that I have know Idea what I am getting myself into so every drop, rapid or slide is new and exciting. Mitch and Dean are awesome to paddle with and have good memories so it makes the trips run a bit smoother. The most memorable rapids are titan, zig zag, notch and Leviathan (the names are even epic here) Here are a few pictures from our day mission.

At the put in, snow every where!

Catarac Creek

Firing the first drop of the day

YEAOOO!!!

Dean railing the S**T of of the nomad

Casual Frozen water fall

Dean checking out Zig Zag

Mitch showing the line

Dean following suit

Dean on the "knotch"

Mitch doing what he does best.. styling it

Leviathan....

Me getting that last stroke in before the hole

STOKED!

Mitch nailing the entrance

And continues his good form 

Caronas at the take out. Nice

Everyone fired everything during the day which was wicked and the weather was perfect. So hot that Mitch and Dean saw big chunk of ice at Leviathan break of and fall in, just before I ran it! Would like to quickly thank blair for letting me use his boat, your a legend! So off to Quebec tomorrow...pumped! Keep the flow!

Canada...first 24 hours!

The first 24 hours of my time in Canada has been amazing to say the least, firstly the rockys are beautiful from a plane.. and theres lots of snow.. good signs for a sick season. The people in Canada are super nice too, I saw a huge difference between canadian customs and US customs. I had a bit of a bad experience with Air Canada and my kayak, and it is now a refugee in LAX but I have been told that it will get here, eventually.... lucky I have already met lots of cool kayakers. So the jet lag has definitely taken a bit of a toll as I woke up at 5 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep but the best way to cure that is go for a massive walk around calgary getting used to the scene and then of course.. kayaking :) Mitch, Dean, Leela and myself headed to the elbow and I couldn't stop smiling, pretty awesome to go kayaking within the first 24 hours of being in Canada. The scenery is amazing and the kayaking was awesome. The elbow creek is apparently the after work run, which I am now jealous of as it is sick. here are some pictures of my first canadian adventure.

The team getting ready... yes that is snow

The Badger..

I had to take a picture of it....

Mitch!!

The gang in all their gear.. yes that is a new helmet... 

At the put in... this is around 8 oclock.

Elbow Falls

First drop in Canada! (P. Dean Woodgate)

STOKED!! (P. Dean Woodgate)

Leela styling (P. Dean Woodgate)

Mitch on his "after work run" (P. Dean Woodgate)

First part of the slide

Dean and Mitch blue angel styles

Second part of the slide!

Awesome whitewater with the most amazing scenery

Going for it! (P. Mitch Suliak)

We were having so much fun we walked up and did it again... (P. Mitch Suliak)

Leela Playing in the snow

End of the first 24 Hours

This road must be gnarly!

and this is around 9.30.. the sun doesn't go down until 10.30

Im already in love with canada, the people, the scenery and the kayaking... and there is plenty more to come! Stay tuned and keep the flow :)