Alex Asher, running and swimming the length of NZ

Catching up with ALex Asher the Cape to Straight runner. from Wandering Wolf Productions on Vimeo.

Reminiscing

Since arriving Back in NZ, I have been mostly still on the computer sorting out sponsors, writing up media releases for sponsors, trying to track down extra equipment I need at good prices (everything in NZ is about 2 and a half times the price of stuff in the States). And the big one is Trying to get my video camera over from the states, as I never managed to pick up before I left the USA and without it I have very little to record the beginnings of the adventure with.

However I have managed to get out and paddle most days, doing about 3-4 hours in the afternoons. It is quite pleasant to be back upon child hood waters, to see, smell and hear the familiar things of the northern New Zealand seas. The images I keep staring at as if in a dream, are often large sandy cliffs with Pohutukawa trees growing all over them, their roots and limbs haphazardly spreading out all over, while there matt Smokey olive green leaves provide a subtle background, which allows their Scarlett red flowers jump out at you visually from a 100 meters away.

Pohutukawa are called the New Zealand Christmas tree, and it is a real feel of Christmas they give any northern New Zealander when you walk about and there scarlet blooms are all over trees everywhere, Tree’s poking out from between buildings in the city, huge ones in the front yard of some houses, streets lined with them along their entirety and there sprawling dominance along any coastal area. Kids play in t them as there twisted limbs, often of huge proportions, make excellent Jungle Gyms to climb on, and where the stretch out over the ocean at high tide, they make awesome diving platforms to leap off. Pohutukawa are beautifully, uniquely NZ

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All around me I hear the birds, the birds of New Zealand, Tui, Wood Pigeon Warbler, Fantail, Bell Bird, Wax eye, are the predominant native ones, while pied magpie, starling, and black bird are the introduced yet still very NZ birds. People often ask me over the years when I am away from NZ, If I miss it? I normally reply that I miss the sound of the birds, the clamorous ensemble of gentle and harsh sounds that make the unforgettably gorgeous talk of the Tui, the beating whoosh, whoosh, whoosh from the wings of the large white breasted emerald green wood pigeons as they fly through the tree’s, the shrilling, trilling ongoing overture of the Gray Warbler, the haunting tones of the bell bird as it feeds on flax flowers, the peeps and cheeps of a flock of tiny green wax eyes as they pass from tree to tree looking for flowers and bugs, and the high pitched peeping as singing of the Fantail as it fly’s acrobatics through the air catching the bugs one may disturb on a stroll through the tree’s, it’s over sized, literal, fan tail spreading and straitening to help steer. these are but some of the more common sounds from a land once only populated by birds, lizards, frogs, giant insects and three species of bats, the sound of the New Zealand forest (Bush).

The water I have been paddling is warm and a hazy aqua most of the time due to the tidal estuary nature of the area I paddle in most, though as soon as you get out of the Hauraki gulf, you get into the clear deep blue waters of the south pacific, with its rolling swell and white sand beaches. If you cross to the west you come to the deep green Tasman Sea, its cooler water and thunderous surf that pound’s upon predominantly black sand beaches. I have had little time to play in the surf so far unfortunately, but it will come, I need to make sure everything I need is well on its way of being fulfilled.

 

The expedition boats are being built and will be finished later next week; I will pick them up in Hawke Bay, when I head down to my family for Christmas. The video camera and dive housing will be coming over to NZ from Hawaii, with the cousin of a girl called Cori, from Alaska, who has been staying with me at my great friends ; Bruce and Louise’s, who thankfully have two spare rooms. Cori has been kayaking with me in hopes of joining part of the trip later with me, though either way she was planning on being in NZ, so we will see how it goes.

 

My transport problems have been solved thanks to my mate Yuji who has lent me His Subaru legacy, while he is in Japan for 2 months, and being a kayaker himself, it is kitted out with the needed roof racks. The deal worked perfectly I dropped Yuji at the airport the same morning Cori flew in from Australia. Yuji flew to Japan at 7am Cori got through customs at 8am.

 

The paddles from Lendal have been sent and will arrive hopefully in the next week or two, though we still need a good four season tent, flares, EPIRB, digital charts for my GPS, Spray skirts for the kayaks and FOOD ( this is a biggy, as over 4 months food will be the largest cost). Money is running low now for buying the extra gear and I am holding my breath for more sponsors to come through. We are still in discussion with a couple of companies, who in the next couple of weeks, will hopefully come through with something tangible.

I am also working on a fundraising project for our film project, as even after not quite having all the gear we need to get started, we still are short money to fully film and produce the story of this adventure. So for those of you who may be looking for away to be involved in this adventure and would like support us in helping share the experience, stay tuned for how in the coming week.

Again as always I am super thankful for friends and supporters, as with any thing in life, especially projects of this scale, nothing would happen if not for help from people who believe in what you are doing.

Cheers

Jaime

Down to the wire take off too NZ

The transmission on my car in Canada jammed up on me, back in may, 2 days before I flew out to Norway. Now 3 months after, a new transmission being placed in the car, the transmission is playing up again. Due to the fact that I will be in NZ for the next 6 months and the warranty on the tranny will expire before then, I needed to get the car to the mechanic so they could fix the problem. However I had 24 hours till I flew out and needed to get the car back over to Vancouver from Vancouver Island. The good thing is, I needed to get over there for my flight. The bad thing is the car needs to get back to Vancouver Island for storage and I will be gone.
Thanks Karin, Kerry and Joslyn in Cumberland for offering to pick it up from the mechanics when the tranny is done and letting me store the car at their place, and of course they are free to use it!
Yesterday, Saturday, I went to the Nanaimo paddlers Christmas party (www.nanaimopaddlers.org), and meet a bunch of new people, and some old friends. We exchanged gifts, ate and sang some songs. I meet a great guy randy, who makes Greenland paddles). After talking to him for awhile about the NZ trip and his paddles, Randy ended up gifting me a paddle. I was gob smacked by the gift. I would love to be able to take to NZ with me to paddle, however it won’t be possible, so I look forward to getting back to BC and using it next June. Thanks Loads Randy! www.vipaddles.com
After storing my personal stuff, in the basement at my dear friend Lyn Hancock’s, I loaded up my car. Lyn is a friend and mother figure for me in Canada, she is an amazing woman who has travelled the world and lived with and raised many amazing wild creatures, and has written 22 books as well as thousands of travel articles. Thanks Lyn for storing my gear, kayaks and for the support and inspiration, over the years! www.lynhancock.com

With the Trak Kayak, my big bag, my paddle bag (loaded with laptop, Lendal Paddle, extra camera gear, clothes and snacks) and my wheelie Storm case with all my electronics in it all piled in the back of my station wagon I zoomed to the ferry terminal (tranny playing up a bit as I went). I got to the 7pm sailing and was to meet my mate Jason on the other side and stay with him in Vancouver. When I arrived at the other side I parked my car in the village and started reading the new wave length kayak magazine I got (www.wavelength.com), next minute there is a knock on the window.
A Police man stood at my window, my heart sank, my insurance had expired and I hadn’t had time to renew it and was planning on doing it the next day on the way to the mechanic, but no. I ended up with my car towed to North Vancouver and impounded until I got my insurance. Shit!

It could have been worse I could have had my car impounded for 7days and given a $600 fine. I got away with an $80 fine and a tow fee. Thanks Mr. nice police man. Jason picked me up and we went out and drank and talked to the early hours of the morning. The conversation consisted of life philosophy, woman, outdoor passions, relationships and how it all mixes. Very deep and endless!
Tired and groggy we awoke this morning after 3 and a half hours sleep, and casually (slowly) got to sorting out my car. First step was to find a broker that was open on a Sunday, then pay for new insurance for three months, then go back to the car yard, post bail on the car, drive back across Vancouver city, drop the car at the mechanics, put the key in an envelope through the mail slot. After a load of driving, Jason helping by driving me around and then picking me up at the mechanics, We went for a great Falafel Kebab, then he took me to the airport and said goodbye till next summer.
 
Thanks Jason for all your help. Jason is an Alternative Energy engineer who does house installments for better heating and cooling systems. www.stage3renewables.com

The next adventure today was my baggage. I had two check-in pieces with me, but needed to get more gear in LA when I stopped over there for 4 hours on the way back to Auckland. So I would have to pay $225 for the third bag, and it could be overweight and oversized, which worked great as on Air Canada and Air New Zealand (whom I was both flying with) the Trak kayak was both of those. So I hoped I could declare the bags now, pay for the Trak Kayak as the third check in and avoid the other $100 oversize fee, then put the new check bag with gear from sponsors, in at LA.
Ahhh, of course! The way my 24hours where going, that wasn’t to be. They couldn’t check and invisible bag and they couldn’t turn a blind eye to my oversized Trak bag, despite trying to discuss several alternatives and explaining what I was trying to do. UGH! So $100 bucks more down.
The flight to LA was painless and I walked out into rain in southern California, and the big grins of my friend Kelly Schaefer and her mum Laurie. I meet these two as clients of mine down in Belize at the start of the year, and they allowed me to post stuff to their place in LA, so I could pick it up on the last day on the way to NZ and avoid import and extra shipping costs to Canada (however these savings may have been countered by the extra $225 third bag fee?). So I jumped into the car with the girls and headed out for dinner. The back of the SUV was full of boxes!! Christmas early for me!


There was a big Box of Kokatat Gear (www.kokatat.com), Joby Gorrillapods (www.joby.com),Solar panels from Power Film www.powerfilmsolar.com Go Pro Head cams and attachments, all of whom had offered great support for the upcoming trip and sent out appropriate gear. There were also, extra hard drives for storing footage and photos, as well as a solar energy storage system. So after a great Mexican dinner, there was a great box unwrapping and gear unpackaging, inside the SUV while it rained all around us. It was fun to pull all the new gear out and see it briefly, before shoving it in the big folding pack I had brought with me carry on.

Suddenly I realized; as all the boxes emptied their contents, that unfortunately, what wasn’t there, was the HD video camera and underwater dive housing plus extra tripod mount systems I had ordered. Ahhh crap! I am now not sure what to do. It will arrive eventually, and either I will ask the girls to send it to NZ after taking all the packaging of it all, so it appears used, and hopefully avoid customs. Or get it posted to Arizona where Dave can pick it up and bring it with him to NZ in two months, and I find a replacement in NZ till then. HMMMM. Thanks Again Laurie and Kelly for the postal drop, Dinner and the friendship!
Back to the airport, I went and checked in my new bag, and to my amazement got billed $50 for the bag, yes finally a break! Oh what, not to be. A nosey head of department, noted I had already paid for another bag and so this bag, must be charged at $175!! Oh come on piss off. I tried to be polite and get out of it, but he was having none of it!! My boyish charm and accent doesn’t work on middle aged fat American men. Grrrr!
Ok so the bank book took a major hit today.
$60 ferry ticket for the car I didn’t need to bring over if not for the tranny.
$80 police fine
$180 tow and storage fee
$250 insurance I don’t get to use
$100 oversize luggage fee
$175 extra bag fee
$885 Canadian down and out!!
SHIIIEEETTT!!
Let’s hope I can get through NZ customs without paying any fees!
I boarded the plane from LA at 10pm and now sit, cozy in my exit row set with tones of leg room, and prepare to watch a couple of movies then sleep as much as I can before my 8am arrival in Auckland city on Tuesday the 7^th Dec. Man, I even lose Monday on this trip!
I am very thankful for friends and Help. A project like this would get nowhere without all the great people I know that have helped me get it together, and have believed in my ambitions and have helped counter all the hardships that other people throw at me (though not maliciously).
THANKS EVERYONE!!

Paddling Perfection Sponsoring Expedition Boats

We are stoked that the great NZ company Paddling Perfection, who makes some of the best boats in the country, is sponsoring us two Kevlar “Sea Bear Waitoa's”. Thanks Karel and the crew who are making our boats right now.

 

A highly stable craft, the SEA BEAR is a great all-rounder when it comes to expedition sea kayaking. It begins with remarkable workmanship that produces a very sea-worthy craft that provides an ideal platform in rough or challenging conditions. The SEA BEAR will reassure you that you will be able to complete your plans for the day and reach your destination in safety. Ideal for camping trips or expeditions on lakes or sea alike. the SEA BEAR is the pedigree blue-water tourer's choice. Some other sea kayaks might be faster, although the SEA BEAR is no slouch, however, the conditions sea kayakers face are many and varied so they appreciate a versatile kayak that performs well with a generous payload (145kg). The SEA BEAR fills the bill in this regard and quickly becomes 'a comfortable home' to the expedition sea kayaker.

Can’t wait to get them out on the high sea’s!

Pan North America trip

The Trak atop the Taurus in Seattle

I sleep tonight in the back of my Station wagon, outside the ferry terminal to Vancouver island and it is near freezing, as the recent snow fall, still has remnants on the ground. With my folding Trak kayak atop the car, and I, a ferry boat ride away from a comfortable sleep in a house, am jammed amongst the boxes of my stuff I retrieved from my ex's place in California.
  The last couple of weeks have been spent journeying south along the length of the USA, to clear up and finalize some unfinished business with my best friend and ex fiancé, who now lives in Merced California. It was an emotional time, raising issues of me leaving her for my “crazy dreams of adventure”, I feel I can’t do while staying with her, and my desires to be with her and live our love.

My journey started with me shooting straight to Eugene Oregon, to catch up with Ian Westmoreland, his Toyota Tacoma and dog buddy, who I all last saw in Costa Rica, earlier in the year, after we drove from Belize to panama. It was a fun contrast to now catch up with them in Oregon and go camp up in the woods in winter, after last adventuring in the tropics. More of that story here

We put the Trak in an almost empty lake for a paddle, before heading into the trees to camp beneath a water fall, under an overhanging cliff. We had a fire, cooked pasta, drank beer and talked shit about Sasquatch. In the morning we awoke to find 6 inches on fresh snow had fallen, which answered the question of why we suddenly got so cold in the night.

I then moved on south to catch up with Nina and spend a week with her sorting out life. It ended with bitter sweet love knowing that we both need to follow very different paths at the moment to for full our ambitions. There is lots of love and respect between us and that is great.Doesn't mean the hearts aren't aching over this, we are great together.

Pic of Nina and I, a couple of years ago at Rainbow Bridge Utah.

In the mean time I did a lot of sponsorship soliciting, and logistics for the NZ expedition. Man this stuff takes a lot of time. Some friends from Phoenix where coming out to the coast to paddle for thanks giving, so I headed to southern LA, to surf kayak with them and camp out. Turned out to be one of the few weekends where there was no surf. I got some great distance paddling along the coast in the Trak. Cresting waves that rolled at me, side on, as I pushed along the coast in the lovely warm sun (a nice change after the winter paddling in BC). I started getting an idea again of what the NZ trip will be like. I can’t wait.Got out paddling with my mate Hut Wade of Journeys west in his Cedar Strip kayak. very nice boat!! his Non Profit Org, does guiding and also works with homeless kids and gets them into the outdoors. awesome. http://www.journeyswest.org/

I then headed north again, loading my gear, saying good bye to Nina, and sleeping in a rest stop in Oregon , the first sleep amongst my stuff in the back. The next day I stopped in at Charlie and Marianne's in Seattle. I meet this wonderful couple in Belize earlier this year, and Charlie and I had some great talks and found that we where similar people, and he having a few years on me became a bit of a mentor. Thus I was dying for the chance to sit and catch up with him as soon as I could. These two also helped me a lot by letting me post gear I needed to them, and being full supporters of my ambitions they donated some finances to the cause.

Thanks heaps for everything guys.
That led to me driving on the next night from Seattle, all the way up to horseshoe bay to catch the 9pm ferry, to find that on this day, Wednesday, there is no 9pm ferry. I will sleep here tonight and get the 6.30 am one.
I fly out in three days now, so much to do and so little time. All this prep is driving me nuts but I also really enjoy it. Sponsors are coming through and lots of money being spent of gear.

My sleeping bag jammed down the right side, even more jammed when I am sleeping in it!

Bring it on let’s make it work!

The View out of our cave in the morning!!