Hi there everyone. I am sure that a lot of you have been wondering where I have been, what i have been up to and why I have not blogged in such a long time?

Besides for my quick trip to Portugal and doing the Fish Canoe Marathon I have been in Joburg enjoying some time off from training and spending as much time as possible with my girlfriend, family and friends. I recently got a car upgrade from Williams Hunt and I have also been doing doing some part time work as a motivational speaker for my one sponsor, Kaelo.

I went to Portugal on a fully sponsored trip by my boat sponsor Nelo. Nelo flew the top paddlers who paddle Nelo’s, from around the world, to enjoy a week of partying and getting to know the Nelo team and the other international athletes a whole lot better. It really was a great week so a huge thanks to Nelo for everything in Portugal and of course over the last few years, making sure that i get to paddle the fastest boat in the world. The new Vanquish looks great and I look forward to racing in it next year. I cant wait to go back to the Meeting of Champions in four years time.

The Fish marathon was also really great. I did it with one of my best mates Justin Bark and I had such an awesome time, shooting the rapids and enjoying the race without any pressure of the eventual outcome. We ended up 14th overall which I was really happy with. Thanks to Justin, who did a great job in helping me down the big rapids. It was my first time paddling down a river in 7 years so I was a bit rusty.

My new car is totally awesome. Its the new Chevrolet Captiva which is a Sports Utility Vehicle. Its very spacious and extremely comfortable to drive. I am very happy with it and I can’t thank Williams Hunt enough for their loyal support over the last few years. If anyone is looking for a new car, I suggest giving the Captiva a test drive at one of the Williams Hunt dealerships. I am pretty sure you will be impressed with it.

I have really enjoyed working with Kaelo and puting together my motivational speech. I have done quite a few school talks which are always fun but only did my first corporate speech last week. The speech was for Nashua and eventhough I was a bit nervous before hand, it went very well. I enjoy sharing my experiences with others so I am really happy to be in a position whereby I am able to get out and share my story.

I am slowly getting back in training which is always quite hard after a long time off the water. I will be doing the Vaal marathon with Ant Stott next weekend and I am really looking forward to be in the boat with him again. There should be some good competition at the race so I am getting excited because I have not raced a river marathon in a while and I always enjoy getting onto the river and racing hard.

The pictures above are of my new car, the Nelo party in Portugal and Kieths Flyover during the Fish Marathon.