Butcher is having a little down time at his French base after competing in the fifth and final round of the canoe slalom world cup in Spain at the weekend.
He flies back to New Zealand early next week and will head straight to Shannon to attend the New Zealand whitewater kayaking championships, where no doubt his kayak cross gold medal will cause plenty of buzz.
"That will be cool. I’m looking forward to getting there," Butcher told the Otago Daily Times from Paris.
"Then it will be time for a rest for a while before I start winding into things.
"We’re already starting to plan the next four years and how we can go to LA and defend my cross title and try to get a medal in slalom."
Butcher is also relishing the prospect of coming home to Alexandra at Labour Weekend.
There is a welcome being planned for the town’s golden boy, and he will be the guest of honour at a fundraising dinner for Central Otago Whitewater.
Butcher ended his international campaign with back-to-back world cup rounds in Europe.
Races in Italy a couple of weeks ago were his first as an Olympic champion — but this is not a sport where competitors sit back and let a golden boy sail to the front.
"It was interesting to get back into paddling because I basically hadn’t been in a boat since the Olympics. It was a bit of a shock to the system, and my body was pretty confused after flying home and with a bit of jet lag.
"I didn’t really perform like I would have wanted to but then I didn’t really have a top-quality preparation, and I still really enjoyed getting back into the swing of things with racing."
After copping time penalties and dropping to 38th in the slalom, Butcher was preparing for the kayak cross when he got some concerning news.
His partner, fellow Kiwi paddler Courtney Williams, had hurt her shoulder in her kayak cross time trial.
"It was a bit of an emotional drain. She was at hospital getting checked out, and I was trying to race, so I probably wasn’t really mentally in it."
Then it was on to La Seu, in Spain, for the final world cup round.
Butcher said he was not focusing on results but was keen to just put down some good paddles.
He was pleased to reach the final of the slalom.
"I couldn’t produce a really good run in final but it was cool to be there and exceed my expectations."
Butcher finished eighth overall in world cup slalom — his best result over the years — with rounds of second, 10th, two missed finals and eighth.
He was too physically drained to contend in the kayak cross in Spain.
"One of my strengths in Paris was that power off the start, and I just don’t have that right now after a bit of time out of the boat."
He also finished eighth overall for the year in world cup kayak cross.
Alexandra awaits — then the long haul to Los Angeles.
