Bullerfest '08

On the first weekend of march every year the small town of Murchison goes off! This is the weekend of Bullerfest. This is when kayakers and beer converge to celebrate the Buller river by participating in a range of kayaking events and supporting the local community by spending a load of time at the pub and having a massive party that is a guaranteed excellent night out!

The weekend started out with a crew of us from level seven heading over on Thursday to lend a hand setting up the slalom course on O'Sullie's Rapid. On the way to this however we stopped in at Maruia Falls and hucked our sorry ass's of of the 9m(?) drop. Turns out it's actually a lot of fun!
Chee droppin it like it's hot

This was then followed by an afternoon slaving away followed by a much deserved beer at The Comercial.

Friday came around and it was the day of the extreme race. This is held on the lower section of the Matakitaki River. CPIT ended up doing pretty well with Leela coming third in the womans and I got into the semi finals in the mens.. this was then followed by a massive night at The Commercial...
Sanga leading the pack

Saturday came around a little fast for most with the heavy rain. It rained soo much that day that the Buller came up at least a good foot while we were racing. This was Buttas event and he tore up the course in his response! Believe it or not Saturday is also the night of the infamous party, and boy can kayakers party! We will just leave those stories for the individuals to tell though.

Sunday was another wet one which meant for a slow day. This alowed for the hangovers to clear and forced the cancellation of the big air. So everyone just lazed around 'til prize giving where we collected our booty before going for one last paddle before every one went home.