Long summer nights, paddling with good people, drinking cold beers and relaxing. Well that is what my summer had been in Queenstown. I had the craving to keep summer going as long as I could afford. So I booked some plane tickets to from NZ to Costa Rica.

Having already lived in Costa Rica I knew what to expect, cheap beer, cheap buses, beautiful scenery and all the usual foreign country distractions. This time I was planning on kayaking, nothing else really mattered too much.

After 5 days in Costa Rica catching up with friends I made may way to Turrialba, Costa Rica's White water capital, found a boat and convinced some locals to take me boating. 1st up the el Rio Pejibaye, short class 3-4 run and great introduction to warm water boating!

No need for my full dry top here. Water levels were low around town so I decided to head for the surf & then Panama. A crazy series of bus rides one can only describe as dodgy & bumpy and I was on the pacific coast beach of Playa Pavones.

Pavones is one of those Costa Rican towns that has become swamped by Gringos (Americans or anyone white). A real surf town, laid back & casual. Taking my green kayak out in the surf provided less issues than I had anticipated and the surfers treated me well. I was possibly one of the 1st kayakers to venture down that far, so the unusual sight of a kayak carving along the wave drew a fair bit of attention. The night was spent drinking cold beers & spinning some yarns with some of the local French, American, Australian and Costa Rican surfers.

Next morning I headed to the border - destination Panama. Here I met an American paddler Stacy Heer and organised a trip down the Rio Chiriqui Viejo. Even though we encountered a few transport hiccups we still managed to locate the put-in and make our way down the river.

Another low-water grade 4 and my thumb ended up bearing the brunt of rock in the final rapid. I made the decision to head back up Costa Rica pacific coast for the Rio Naranjo. I had no rush, so a couple of days lounging in the sun and catching up with friends gave my thumb a chance to heal.

The Rio Naranjo was next to full victim to my 1 man Kiwi invasion. I joint with Aventuras H20 who hooked me up with free transportation and food for the short grade 4 run.

With low money and low rivers I made the decision to change my tickets and head to Coloma, California for a few weeks. With tickets changed and now less than a week & a half in Costa Rica I headed for the Rio Pacuare.

The Pacuare being Costa Rica’s most famous river due to high numbers of raft companies running the river daily.

I joined a two day trip with Rainforest World which meant food & lodging was covered. The river itself was 28km with about 26 grade 3-4 rapids. Running through the middle of an untouched rainforest valley the river was beautiful with large waterfalls cascading into the river around every bend.

The rapids were pretty awesome too, a brief explanation from a raft guide and then I’d be running the rapid semi-blind dodging holes & occasional strainers. Two days later I returned to the Pacuare and completed the trip 1 in one day with another raft company.