Te Awamutu kayaker Cullum Parker lives to run rapids

Cullum Parker kayaking down the Wairua Falls located on the Wairua River, a 30 minutes' drive from Whangarei. Photo / Supplied

Te Awamutu College old boy Cullum Parker spends every spare opportunity in the great outdoors of New Zealand.

The 22 year old craves adventures, loves the outdoors and literally lives on the edge.
He has been busy filming many of these adventures, posting them on a Facebook/Instagram page called Steezy Kiwi.

His latest video involves himself and friends Brayden Simmons (20) from Te Awamutu and Oliver English (18) from Rotorua kayaking a 17m waterfall called Wairua Falls up north.

Parker said when white water kayaking, the risks he takes have all been weighed out.

"There is no point risking my life when in my (2.7m) boat.

Cullum Parker with his kayak ready for another adrenaline rush adventure.

"We always have the correct safety set up so that if stuff hits the fan, my bro will always have my back just like I will have theirs.

"I love living way too much to risk my life kayaking a rapid or waterfall.

"When kayaking larger waterfalls and rapids, it is often scary but I just try to calm myself down so I can think clearly and focus on what I need to do without panicking. This is an awesome skill to have and can be transferred to any situation I am scared."

Parker said the Wairua waterfall normally has no water flowing over it as the whole river is diverted up stream for power. But due to recent flooding, there was plenty water overflowing the small dam above it enabling enough water for the trio to kayak it.

He and his mates drove for five hours up north to kayak that big waterfall and two other waterfalls upstream of it as seen in the video. Due to it being so far away, it is rarely paddled.

"We were stoked to be one of only a handful of paddlers to make the long trek up there and get such epic footage of it," Parker said.

"We had GoPros, SLR cameras and a drone filming the best parts of our adventure."

Parker spent the next day editing the video that can be seen on his Facebook page www.facebook.com/steezykiwi

The kayakers met up with local iwi.

"It was awesome to see that they had the same passion towards protecting rivers as us," Parker said.

"I am privileged to be able to be brought up travelling and visiting some of the best parts of our beautiful New Zealand.

"Unfortunately not many people take the time and/or are completely unaware of the awesome things there is to do in our backyard."

The main driver of his videos is to show people these places.

"If these videos encourage people to try a new sport or get out into nature, then I'm stoked with that," he said.

Parker is particularly proud of being part of the first team to paddle the Mapara stream.

He discovered this river several years ago but was only able to get the right flows and right team this year. This river included a 13m waterfall and some amazing world-class rapids.

"I can't wait for other people to paddle it as well," he said.
Parker started white-water kayaking at Te Awamutu College.
He recalls Brendan Bayly teaching him how to roll a kayak one day when there were no other students in his class because there was meant to be a teacher strike.
"The strike got cancelled but mum still made me go to school and I was one of the only students in attendance that day."
Parker learned how to roll, slowly eased into harder rivers then technical waterfalls and rapids.
"I fell in love with the amazing people within the kayaking community and the amazing places it took me to. The adrenaline rush is amazing and is way better than any drugs or anything out there and it makes me appreciate life so much."
The Te Awamutu College outdoor education department helped feed his passion for the outdoors.
"The opportunities they gave me with tramping, mountain biking, caving and being independent is amazing and also encouraged me to explore. They taught me so much about life that you can never learn by reading a book or adding a few equations together in class."
His videos are currently mostly white-water kayaking but there are also snowboarding and fishing. They include kayaking over Huka Falls and snowboarding at Ruapehu and plenty of other videos are on the way.
Parker does not have a sponsor but thinks there is definitely a place for benefits for them and himself.
"Currently I am trying to focus on getting the love for the outdoors into social media and investing as much time into the filming and editing as I can. The ultimate dream would be fully sponsored by KFC and Waikato Draught so I can do more of what I love and eat and drink some of what I love."
Parker completed a degree in Environmental Science at Waikato University a fortnight ago, Simmons is a full-time farmer at Korakonui and Oliver is a part-time kayak instructor.
Give 'Steezy Kiwi' a like on Facebook and check out the videos.