Some members of Wraysbury Dragons & Waka Ama had an awesome time touring New Zealand early in 2025, visiting the amazing sights and meeting the wonderful people there. Whilst there, these Wraysbury paddlers took part in two waka ama events.
The first event was the highly prestigious annual NZ Waka Ama National Sprints Championships which took place at Lake Karapiro, near Cambridge in the North Island. Seven days of intense competition, which demonstrated the very high standard of waka ama racing in NZ. The event is televised on Maori TV. This was the first time that a club crew from the UK had taken part at this event, and we were allowed to race as a guest crew. We managed to make it through to the finals in the W6 Golden Masters age category which we were very pleased with. In the W12 category, we had the good fortune to be twinned with six top class Kiwi waka ama paddlers and we went on to win the W12 final in the Golden Masters age category. As a guest crew, we were not eligible for medals but that did not matter as we had the great honour and pleasure of racing with these awesome, modest Kiwi paddlers.
The second event we raced at was on the South island at theTuna E Hoi Ana event, Lake Rotoiti, near St Arnaud. This event was held in the most stunning location. Racing W1, W2 and W6, over 500m 5kms, 7.5kmsand 10 kms, we had a great two days of racing. Being cheered on by the locals as we raced was special.
The Wraysbury paddlers returned home with so many wonderful memories of an amazing trip to NZ.
