Jeremy Norbury and his friend Zack Mutton. Photo / Supplied
Jeremy Norbury and his friend Zack Mutton. Photo / Supplied
There were no flowers at kayaker Jeremy Norbury’s funeral yesterday – instead, the young man’s favourite snacks and drinks surrounded his hand-painted coffin.
Norbury died while kayaking with a group in the Turnbull River near Haast on the February 25. His childhood friend Zack Mutton told the NZ Herald his funeral was, as far as they go, “pretty sick”.
“There’s a really close-knit group of people down here, so it was held at a family friend’s house. There was cheesecake, which he absolutely loved, and chicken wings and raspberry Coke – his coffin was just a cheap plywood box, but everyone had painted it with this amazing art.
“We tried to do it in his style – he wouldn’t have wanted one of those really clean funerals. This suited him.”
A police spokesperson told the Herald they received a call stating a personal locator beacon had been activated in the Turnbull River around 2pm on the February 25, where five people were kayaking.
“A helicopter responded from Queenstown, when they arrived Jeremy was located deceased. Wanaka SAR and National Police Dive Squad responded and recovered his body from the river.”
Mutton said the 24-year-old was a talented athlete – not just a kayaker, but a skier, biker and cliff jumper.
“He probably wouldn’t tell you that himself though. He was a really humble guy, just in it for the good times.”
Mutton first met Norbury as a 10-year-old, and the pair began a fast friendship bonded over a love of kayaking.
Jeremy Norbury (centre) surrounded left to right by his friends Hamish MacKay, Jack Pailin and Zack Mutton. Photo / Supplied
“He was a pretty exceptional person. I know everyone says that when people die but he was my favourite person. He was genuine, caring – really fun.”
Norbury had a thirst for adventure that Mutton shares. He told the Herald of a trip the pair made in 2021 road tripping around the South Island and kayaking wherever they could.
“Everything was fun to do with him – we did some pretty silly stuff too that I think only me and him would have done.”
One of these missions saw the duo walking their kayaks through the bush to reach Toaroha Canyon – a four to five-hour hike the pair started at 5pm, without even a headtorch to guide them.
“He was so passionate about kayaking...it gave him a pretty cool life, he met a lot of people and went all over the world.”
Jeremy Norbury and Zack Mutton kayaking down a drainage ditch in Hokitika. Photo / Supplied
Mutton said the weeks since Norbury’s death have been challenging and the grief “comes in waves”.
“It’s a rough time for the community – I really feel for his family and for his girlfriend. Eventually, I’m sure I’ll be able to look back on our times a little bit more positively and be happy for the times we had. I’m grateful for the influence he’s had on my life.”
Another friend of Norbury’s, Knox Hammack, said the young man was a “legend”.
He had met Norbury during his senior year of high school in the US state of Washington but had not kept in touch much over the years - much to his regret.
“I will forever regret not reaching out more in the past year. I was lucky enough to go on kayaking trips with Jeremy that I will never forget.
“The times we spent together are cemented in my memory as the best months of my life. The bonds you make in a sport like whitewater kayaking are unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced. I am but one of the many friends that Jeremy made through kayaking.”
Hammack spent time with Norbury in America, roadtripping from California to Colorado with another friend of theirs and kayaking whenever they could.
“To me, he represented all the good in the sport,” Hammack told the Herald.
“A sheer desire to kayak and explore as much as possible. Any new river we could kayak on, he wanted to. If we were scouting a big rapid, he would always help with safety, and make an informed decision about whether he was going to run it or not. He never talked down to anyone on the river and in a sport where who you paddle with can make or break the experience, you always wanted Jeremy to be there.”
Jeremy Norbury floating down the Cheakamus river with his friend Knox Hammack in British Columbia. Photo / Supplied
Hammack said he has thought of Norbury every day since learning of his death.
“Unfortunately, being a part of the kayak community involves danger and I’ve known a handful of people who have passed away on the river. I am writing this a week after I heard about what happened and I don’t have a handle on the impact of his loss. I think about him everyday and the simpler times we spent together in high school.”
Mutton said it was hard to describe the kind of person Norbury was.
“If you had the pleasure of meeting him, you would feel like his friend right away. He was a really good friend, someone who was always there. Any conversation with him would just blow up – he always brought the energy.”
