world reviewer
Simon Coward
Areas of expertise
Member statistics
- Member since
- 2nd May 2007
Simon Coward's love of water sports comes from his childhood growing up on the coast. Since then he has been lucky enough to spend many of his days on the water in one way or another. Simon began Kayaking in New Zealand in 1997, and now has qualifications in both Raft Guiding and Kayak Instruction from Britain, New Zealand and Canada. He's travelled widely through Africa, South America, Europe and South East Asia, sometimes working as an outdoor guide, sometimes submitting his writing and photos to magazines.
Inspired by his own travelling experiences to build up an adventure travel company offering specialist local knowledge and contacts, Simon founded Adventure Trippin', which takes adventure minded people to off the beaten track destinations the world over.
One of Simon's most exciting kayaking moments was his first descent of the Rio Quita Calzon in Bolivia. "It was a total misadventure on a very hair raising wilderness Class V+ run. In a nutshell we thought we could hike in and paddle out in a day. Turns out after eight hours of hiking, two rappels and one rapid later we were wrong as we dropped into another Class V rapid in the dark. We'd remembered cooking stuff but no food, so after a night of no sleep we proceeded to paddle and portage about eight kilometres of very steep, committing waterfalls and rapids. We finally made it to the takeout just before dark so we'd paddled some of the most difficult water we had seen with no food for over 24 hours."
Simon also skis, snowboards and climbs and has some serious adventures planned for the future, including a return trip to Bolivia, a skiing trip to Antarctica and some first descents in Kenya and Tanzania.
Simon Coward's activity
- 20 Jun 2007
- 02 May 2007
Simon Coward reviewed Paddling Murchison's whitewater in South Island, New Zealand
The south island is an amazing place 3000+ metre peaks rising up from the west coast, this snow + gradient obviously equates to some outstanding paddling. The main focus areas are Murchison (beginner + intermediate paddling), the west coast (home of th…"
Simon Coward reviewed Kayaking New Zealand's North Island in North Island, New Zealand
New Zealand is the Canada of the south, just in a smaller package. The kayaking in New Zealand can be split into North Island and South Island paddling. The north island is where most people start there kayaking trips, hitting up the warm water runs of…"
Simon Coward reviewed Canadian Rockies Whitewater in Kelowna, Canada
After many years wandering the globe in search of whitewater, waves and snow I find myself living in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, a place I will likely call home for the foreseeable future. One of the main reasons for this is the kayaking, the…"
Simon Coward reviewed Paddling Kenya's Rivers in Rift Valley, Kenya
Over the past few years myself and a group of other whitewater paddlers have been exploring the un-run river of central and western Kenya. We have discovered approximately 20 runs from Class II up to Class V+. The seasons are for the most part April to…"
