One Hundred Percent!

Today was the day of my math test.  In the morning, my parents went out boating while I completed the twenty problem exam.  I was going for one hundred percent.  I decided to stick my nose into it and focus.  I double checked each problem carefully and finished my test right before my parents came back.  My dad and I quickly graded it.  One hundred percent!  I had aced my test!  As a special treat, my mom said I could decide what we would do for the rest of the day.  I chose to sit in the van and play computer games.  My mom did not see that one coming, but could not take back what she said.  

Tonight, I will choose to go out for a pizza dinner.  I wonder why I haven’t thought of focusing before...  It’s good to be king!  

Tomorrow, I will start a five day kayaking kid’s camp.  This one will have a larger variety of kids at different skill levels.  The course was originally just for local kids from Murchison, but now has become open to other New Zealanders.  I am an exception.  I am excited to go kayaking again!

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Sparky Was His Name...

This morning, I was left alone in the lodge and had an enlightened experience.  While my parents boated, they left me to work in the lodge and gave me free access to the fridge.  I decided to make myself some toast.  I stuck the toast in the toaster and wondered what would happen if I touched a metal butter knife to the red, hot, glowing wires inside the toaster.

Zhkdjsdf!@)^#&$^*&^#!$*#&!! aaaaaaahhhhhhhh.  Electricity ran through my aching bones.  I had just experienced pure stupidity.  I had touched a knife inside a toaster.  After a quick personality check, (“Do I still like photography?  Do I still miss Alaska?  Do I still hate oatmeal? Good!”) I was ready to finish my math.  My parents returned to the lodge and have officially changed my name to Sparky (my leash comes soon!) 

For the rest of the afternoon, we relaxed and played cards.  Tonight we and everybody from the school will participate in a barbecue!  Wow what a shocking day!

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Nothing in the Rain Really is the Game...

Today, working and reading was the priority of the rainy day.  After lunch, we went to the public library to finish my math.   The math went fairly well and I enjoyed being around the healing and calming energy of books. 

After my work was finished, many hours of the rainy, dreary day had been fulfilled.  Thunder boomed while the endless patter of rain added to the growing puddles on the deserted streets.  Though the weather was bad, my parents still had the heart to go boating.  I humored them, like always, and went along.  Rain makes the rivers much higher in volume, but we still thought that the river would be within my kayaking limits.  We loaded gear into the van and started the short drive to the Mangles River.  I had boated the Mangles four previous times and knew the water quite well.   At the put-in, I knew something was fishy when I looked down on the river to find a rapid with fair sized waves.  Normally, this section is just a small ripple.  My mom said that she would not be able to rescue me in such fast moving waters if I swam. 

We decided that my parents would run the Mangles by themselves while I stayed at home and relaxed.    So they drove me back to the kayak school lodge where I read and played cards until my parents returned from the river.  Boy, I never get sick of nothing. 

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Nothing

The last couple of days I have thought to be relaxing, but today I was truly loving the pure relaxation of doing nothing.  In the morning, I did a lesson of math and in the afternoon, we planned to go out boating.  That’s when “nothing” took us in.

Why not stay home and read a book?  My parents could play guitar while I stuffed my nose into the Lord of the Rings.  It was pouring rain outside and we did not feel like going out on the river.  I knew my parents and I knew what they would choose.  I grabbed my book and got situated on a couch in the lodge.  Hooked in my book, the time flew by.  A few hours after starting, I finished the first book of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy!  Frodo and Sam have escaped from the company of the ring and are headed for the dark land of Mordor.  Soon, I was in front of a delicious hunk of steak.  “Nothing” had its hand on us again, and we fell for it.

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!  

Having Fun on the Water

Today was relaxing and nice.  In the morning, my day started with a lesson of math and a word of the day.  This was annoying but slightly relaxing.  It took until just past noon.  After my work and after lunch, the best part of the day followed.  My parents took me out for an afternoon kayak run on the Middle Matakitaki. 

We headed for a section of the same river I had boated previously and prepared for an afternoon on the water.  I knew the river quite well and was excited to show my parents what I had learned.  I boated through the first rapid easily and paddled into an eddy where my parents were waiting.  They wanted to practice ferrying across the river through the last few waves of the rapid.  I paddled across effortlessly, but my second try did not go so well.  I flipped over and got into my roll position.  I was scared and my body was telling me to get out of the boat and back on the surface.  Rolling requires the boater to counteract this fear, calm down, and perform a few simple motions.  I was stressed and gave up my frantic roll attempts.  I popped out of my boat and my mom pulled me ashore on the back of her kayak.  I was angry and sad to have swum on the first rapid of my run with my parents.

Every swim tells a lesson.  I was excited to show them my kayak skills, but what this swim told me was that boating is about fun not showing off.  If I am out there having fun, it does not matter how and what I am kayaking.  After getting back in my boat, we paddled on to a surf wave where I hoped to get my first big surf.  Before today, I have been surfing small, friendly, ripples but this wave was big and menacing.  After a few tries, I was thrilled to feel the white surf rush under my boat as I gilded smoothly across the roaring wave.  I was having fun and was able to turn a scary experience into something fun and exciting.  I loved the feeling and was sorry to leave the wave.  I was even more sad when I left the river. 

Later in the evening, we ate a good dinner of pizza.  This delicious, Western meal still produces a captivating effect on our taste buds after the long month of dull, vapid Indian curry.  Soon it was time to take rest before hitting the river tomorrow.

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!                    

Back From a Two Day Adventure

I have just returned from a two day kayak trip with two other kids.  Last week I did the same trip and had a blast!  This week I did not connect with the kids as much.  I still had an amazing time on my camping trip, my paddling skills improved, and I had a great time camping. 

During the trip, I had several experiences that made my paddling confidence and paddling skills skyrocket.  After a swim in which I capsized, pulled my spray deck and swam the rest of the rapid, I was determined to have a combat roll.   This involves flipping over on accident and rolling back up on purpose.  After hopping back in my boat, I paddled down a wee bit where the group had stopped for a surfing opportunity.  This was my chance!  If I surfed until I flipped, I could try for a combat roll!  Sure enough after a couple of tries on the surf wave, my boat turned sideways right before I hit the wave and my boat capsized.  My hands got in position, I started to roll, and suddenly my boat was back on the surface.  Matt, my instructor, held out a hand for a hi-five.  I had my first combat roll, and I was so excited. 

Also on this trip, I started taking the hardest lines and aiming for the biggest holes.  It felt so good punching through the water and arriving safe on the other side.  I especially liked the time I went over a huge wave then flushed out of the massive rapid between two rocks that banged on opposite sides of me.  I liked the excitement of not knowing what was happening and just paddling hard.  The boating was amazing, but the trip would not have been the same without the night we spent camping on the river. 

We pulled our boats up the rocky and sandy shore that made up our camp spot.  At the end of the shore, a big forest cast shadows upon our camp.  During the evening, we roasted sausages and marshmallows around a fire and drank hot chocolate.  We also invented a game much like "Dungeons and Dragons" except with rocks.  We divided the beach into three territories and built castles and attacked with our armies of stones.  Late at night, the three of us (David, Josh, and I) played cards under a shelter made out of two tarps, one rope, and two paddles.  In the morning, we paddled to the take out to finish the trip.

The camp was over and I was excited at the improvement in my kayaking skills and loved staying the night on the sandy shores of the Matakitaki River.  I feel like I am a much better kayaker today then when I started the course.  I like camping a lot and hope to do some more!  This kayak trip was fun, but not as good as the amazing time I had with Lilly and James.



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Off to Kayak Camp

Hello all fans and readers!  I am going on another camping trip with Dave, Josh and Matt!  You will hear from me tomorrow.  If I am awake that is...

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!