Sea Kayaking
Bruce’s Lake Challenge
by Bev Robitaille surface at every attempt. Luckily, the only time he fell out of the boat was during training when he was close to the beach at Mission Baynot far from the place that on one occasion he spotted a two metre shark. (This stuff really isn’t for the faint-hearted.) So he wasn’t a kayaking expert, but surely there must have been some complex preparation for his physical fitness? No, Bruce made up his training routine himself, working as hard as he could when his strength returned. At first he could hardly get to the letter-box, then he managed short walks, gym sessions or paddles, and eventually built up to hour-long paddles - despite raising a few blisters.
Bruce on calm waters. Photo by Warwick Rule
When a bloke’s recovering from a particularly nasty bout of cancer, the last thing you’d expect him to do is to set off on a vigorous
what it feels like every day.” So in the middle of dealing with all that, how did he come up with the concept of a kayaking trip?
kayaking session across five North Island lakes. While recuperating, Bruce Rule, 48 and father of two, decided to paddle five lakes in seven days to raise money for CanTeen. He chose this charity because he has a nineteen year old daughter Nina and sixteen year old
“I found myself thinking of places I’d rather be.” He’d enjoyed the serenity and loneliness of paddling solo on a calm lake the previous
son Kelly and he hoped they’d never have to experience cancer treatment. So what makes a man who’s undergone intense radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment, drag himself several months later into a strenuous fund-raising venture that would daunt the rest of us? Wasn’t he feeling rotten? “Only people who have had cancer and the treatment can know what it is like, feeling absolutely weak, sick and drained. Imagine your worst ever hangover, double it and that’s
summer, and the tranquil image inspired him to get through the treatment. When I asked him if he was an experienced kayaker, he grinned, “Not really, no. I’d only had that one go at it before.” Planning, training and fund-raising for the adventure started around September, and helped to rehabilitate both his body and his spirit. His training had plenty of dramatic moments - even learning to handle the kayak was tricky. Despite several lessons from Dave at Barracuda who supplied the craft, Bruce only mastered rolling out of the boat, not rolling it right around. Two weeks before the challenge began he was still spluttering to the
The family support crew. Photo by Milan Bacica
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ISSUE FORTYnine • 2009
At times Bruce wondered whether his body would be able to handle paddling the four smaller lakes, Rotoiti, Tarawera, Rotoma and Rotorua both ways and Lake Taupo one way, a combined total of almost one hundred and forty two kilometres. The mental stress was huge too. ‘But then you couldn’t call it a challenge if it was easy, could you?’ his brother Warwick pointed out. What about his nutrition plan? Again there was no expert guidance – he simply chose wholesome food. He says that after the cancer treatment, he no longer enjoys alcohol, chocolate or steak, so healthy eating is actually quite easy. The route chosen for the event was flexible to allow for weather changes. He and his support team based themselves on the shores of Lake Rotorua to minimise travelling, which turned out to be a good idea as work commitments meant that he did the challenge in five days instead of seven. (Have I mentioned how determined this guy is?)
Bruce with his mother, Christine. Photo by Bev Robitaille