What a year! Well, for the Christmas holiday period here in Australia I’ve done the time-honoured ritual of packing the wife, kids and kayak into and onto the car for a 3 week road trip holiday. That means no updates to the site for the next few weeks as I immerse myself in some Queensland sunshine!

May you all have a wonderful break over this period and I look forward to seeing you all in 2010.  Cheers – FP

To help me reinforce the success of day 2, I decided to head straight back out the following day for another rolling session.  I have to admit I struggled a bit with the physical exhaustion of the previous day’s rolls, and never really felt quite as balanced as I had finished up the day before. That being said, I nailed the first 4-5 rolls before failing one, and continued that sort of hit-rate for the remainder of the session. Importantly though, after each roll I knew what I’d messed up – not enough hip snap in this one, too short a sweep on that one, and so on.

Needless to say it’s a heap of fun and I can’t wait to practice some more!

Cheers – FP

An incredibly journey around Australia (Image Credit: qajaqunderground.com)

In what has to be recognised as one of the great kayak feats of modern times, the incredible Freya Hoffmeister is any second now about to complete her circumnavigation of Australia by kayak, a truly mammoth task that has consumed her life for the past 11 months. I can’t even imagine how hard this must have been, not just because of the tough conditions, the loneliness, the sharks & crocs (!!) and the sheer exhaustion of such a task, but also being away from her family and friends for such an enormous time. The magnitude of her paddle is just staggering.

For those of you lucky enough to be in Sydney or her surrounds this week, those crazy kayak-surfing boys from Expedition Kayaks have organised for Freya to lob in for one night only (this sat 19 Dec) to tell stories and answer questions on her incredible journey! This is a one chance only to meet this incredible woman and be a part of her Australian odyssey. The venue is the beautiful Nielsen Park Pavilion on Sydney Harbour (Vaucluse). Chris James & his team from the Neilsen Park Venues will cater for the evening with food & drinks available for purchase.

Paddling history in the making! (Image credit: qajaqunderground.com)

As notice for this event is short & Freya realises that many people will have things booked, the evening will begin early at 6pm, and wind up at about 7.30pm so you can still make your prior engagements. The work Xmas party is no excuse to miss this substantial chapter of kayaking folklore from Freya herself!

Tickets for the event are $20 per person (although feel free to donate more!), with all proceeds going towards Freya’s final expenses and to help fund her very expensive repatriation back to her family in Germany. It’s a great way to thank this amazing lady after a such a long & expensive expedition, whilst at the same time being there first hand to hear about one of history’s great adventures. Plus it’s a great excuse for a final Christmas drink with your paddling mates – haha!

You can order tickets online through Expedition Kayaks but hurry as due to the venue size spaces are strictly limited. If you have any queries contact Mark Sundin on 0417 924 478, or mark@expeditionkayaks.com.

Congrats Freya on a magnificent adventure, it’s been incredible following you online this past year, and looking forward to your NEXT adventure! Cheers – FP

Fat Paddler ready to get wet

An early but gorgeous paddle on Middle Harbour with paddling mate JF Englert kicked off just after 6am as the sun was coming up.  At the end of it, we decided to have a little rolling practice session so I could try to reinforce what I’d learnt the previous week with Rob Mercer.

For the first dozen or so attempts, I just couldn’t it right, with JF pointing out some issues I had with my action. Then JF had a go and after trying to remember his long-forgotten rolling skills, instead learnt some wet-exit and re-entry skills! Eventually though his persistence paid off and he started to string a few rolls together.

After seeing his success I got back in the boat and started to slowly try some new rolls… hitting it and getting one right. Then the next attempt worked too. And the next. Then finally we started to video my attempts, the montage of which is here for your viewing pleasure.

Needless to say very happy with this next step, although a quick look at the video shows I have a lot to brush up on. But hey, at least I know I can haul my fat self out if I need to – haha! Enjoy – FP

Sydney shoreline - where I'd like to paddle eventually...

A lot of my online paddling mates from the northern hemisphere have been whining recently about Winter’s intrusion on their paddling, the freezing over of lakes, and generally bloody cold conditions making kayaking difficult and uncomfortable. I wanted to prove to them that Summer in Sydney is just as tough, what with all the horrible sunshine, the balmy weather, the calm Harbour waters and the tough sandy beaches.

So I’ve made a short little video for you northerners. Nothing spectacular, just a little taste of gentle cruising on arguably the best harbour in the world. A few waves, a bit of sun, a little splash amongst the rocks, and frolicking Sydney-siders playing water polo in harbour pools. I’m telling you northerns, it’s bloody tough down here! Cheers – FP