Into the Thicket – Trailer from Sitka on Vimeo.

Here are the last shots from New Zealand.  Traharn and I took Ruby the stead fast steed on one last lap of the Island.  Beaches, Glaciers, a close encounter with a “Spitting Cave”, Subterranean Adventures, waterfall laden gorges, Jurassic vegitation, and what would a trip to NZ be without a Sky-dive… No big deal, ha.  This place has shown me nothing but ridiculously good times.   Looking forward to more of the same come January.  Love this place!  Back to North America season.

Nine Knights is, well pretty damn insane.  Have a watch and you’ll see the boys putting this jibbable castle in the books.

After spending the summer surrounded by bikes, we figured we were due for a little surf trip to the South.  Kelly and his leading lady Sam headed for Riverton to meet up with our buddy Ryan and two lovely Germans.  In classic fashion, “Ruby” (my van) hosting Traharn and I, chugged well off the pace.  We arrived to a session in full effect.  In the classic “Hopkins Hustle” fashion I arrived with a wetsuit still draped on the clothesline back home.  Squeezing into a borrowed (womens) wet-suit, I hit the water.  45 minutes and countless washing machine rides later I found myself exhausted on the favorable side of the break.  As Ryan and Kelly greeted me with grins, clearly entertained by my battle.  But in a fluke filled turn of events (that made me feel like a champ) I managed to catch my first wave and ride it all the way in… which then lead to another William Wallace effort to regain favored waters.  As the day wore on, I had one of my funniest days in the Ocean.  Beachside BBQ’s, a “mean feed”, and much needed sleep later, we hit the paved maze looking for our next dose.  The morning brought light to a fizzling swell but when in the Catlins time is never wasted.  Waterfall hunts, swimming with dolphins, mingling with Sea Lions, getting skunked by Pengiuns, lighthouses, beach camping… just all around awesome.  Somehow even when plans fall through, New Zealand finds a way to make up for it.