Bradley Pako is swiftly climbing to the top of the tree in the sport of woodchopping.
The Cromwell man continues his rise with a trip with the South Island team next week to the country town of Nowra in New South Wales for the Nowra Show.
The 19-year-old makes the sojourn across the Tasman Sea in the best possible form after a record-breaking effort at the Otago Taieri A&P Show in Mosgiel last week.
Pako won the South Island under-21 300mm block standing and underhand titles for the fifth time - a record run in the junior grades.
But he exceeded his own expectations in the senior men's category, winning the standing and underhand categories by powering his way through 350mm blocks, becoming the youngest axeman to claim the South Island titles.
"My goals were to take out the under-21 championships and to at least make the final of both the men's and place in both of them,'' Pako said.
"To win one, let alone both, I was pretty speechless.''
Pako's results are all the more remarkable considering he gave the sport away for three years before returning to the axe about a year ago.
"To come back after so long and go so well in my first year back, and to see where I am now, I wouldn't have picked it so soon,'' Pako said.
"It's like riding a bike - you can go away from riding a bike for 10 years and come back and still know how to do it. It does become second nature after a while.''
Pako was very much the junior in the men's category last weekend, taking on rivals aged from their late 20s through to their early 40s.
"I'm up against very skilled athletes and to come away on top against those guys was a pretty awesome feeling, as I looked up to them when I was growing up.''
Pako feels a few extra years of growing up after he gave the sport away almost five years ago has helped him with his mental approach to his craft.
"I'm pretty adaptable in the way of getting power and speed at the same time, but I think it's just that I've matured in the sport more now,'' he said.
"I can focus better and I'm lot quicker at thinking than I used to be. So if I muck something up, I know how to correct it straight away rather than going around and doing something completely stupid.''
What can go wrong in woodchopping?
Plenty, actually, which Pako works on with his coach, Denis McLaughlin.
"You can put too much slope on and scoop your hit, you can mis-hit - don't hit the right spot - you can cut less than you need to. There's a lot of differentials in it. Once you get a good head on you and you get the experience under your belt, you know what to do to correct yourself.''
The next big event for Pako after the trip to Nowra is the Royal Adelaide Show in September, where he will be part of the national under-21 team for a test series against Australia.
From there, he is aiming high.
"I would like to start winning world championships as soon as possible - that's the goal. I know I'm starting to get into a higher league now and I want to start really showing myself.
"After the weekend, to set so many records ... that gives me more motivation to get better and better.''
Pako goes to the gym "five or six times a week'' but said most of his training is done with the wood.
"The only real training you can do for chopping is chopping - staying at home cutting blocks and just keep on focusing on getting it right.''
Just a word of warning - do not ask Pako to chop your firewood before this winter.
"If I had a dollar for every time I've been asked that, I'd be a rich man - I wouldn't be working, put it that way.''
Bradley Pako
Woodchopper
Age: 19Height: 1.93m
Weight: 119kg
Occupation: Kerber for Fulton Hogan
Instagram: @maorihulk
Sponsors: Scott Contracting Ranfurly, Challenge Ranfurly.
