Date: 9/01/14 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 28 cumecs and falling at Ashley Gorge, water discoloured, swift and cool. Grade 3. Weather Conditions: Cool, occasional cloud with sunny spells. Number on Trip: 4 people. Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: Kerry organised this impromptu trip and originally advertised it on Facebook with a meeting time of 4:30pm, at which point I calculated that getting on the river around 6pm would make for a late get out and an unhappy wife and decided not to go. Fortunately shortly before I sent through my decision, Kerry called to let me know the group would be meeting at the more civilised time of 2:30pm, so I quickly sorted out my gear, loaded the car and headed for the Pegasus Tavern. Kerry arrived with Suzi and then André turned up and we loaded Kerry’s car with gear. We picked up Dave, the camp manager at the Ashley Gorge Domain, as he was to drive the vehicle back for a small fee, thus saving on running a shuttle.
André playing on one of the rapids.
The river was brown and swift but not too pushy. It was quite different from many of my recent low flow trips on the Ashley, with many of the rocks covered or at lest partial obscured by the brown water, making for the odd surprise as you picked your way through the various holes only to end up hitting a rock. Still once I got over my initial nerves (i.e. after the last grade 3 rapid), I felt much more relaxed. It was Suzi’s first time down the Ashley gorge and only her second grade 3 trip and she did really well and managed to pull off a number of combat rolls. We were off the river around 5pm, passed John H & Bruce L heading to the river on the way home and I was home in time to cook dinner at around 7pm and Lauri scarcely noticed I was gone. Kerry did get a few texts/calls from people who hadn’t got the updated trip information and had been waiting at the Pegasus Tavern for some time. So it is worthwhile making sure that you let the trip leader know that you plan to be on a trip so they can let you know if any of the details change.
Date: 24/11/13 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 50 cumecs at Marble Point. Water discoloured, cool & swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Sunny & warm, light NW winds. Number on Trip: 22 people. Time on River: 5 Hours. Comments: This was an unexpected bonus of a trip as I hadn’t thought that I’d be able to fit in any kayaking between getting back from the Sunshine Coast, going to Auckland for a Movie Marathon and then flying back to Australia. There were lots of new faces and plenty of beginners, but the day was warm and so we took our time getting down the river. A number of people decided to swim after failed rolls and so there was the odd rescue but no dramas. Hugh was out in his kayak for the first time in over a year, leaving the cataraft at home this time. The river was running fairly swiftly and so there were plenty of spots for a little play, which meant I was pretty tired by the end of the trip. Nice to be out on the river again after a long time stuck in Australia. Thanks Graeme for organising a superb trip on such a glorious day.
Getting ready at the put in
Playing at one of the larger rapids on the river
Playing at one of the larger rapids on the river
Hugh shows the line at Shark’s Tooth rapid
Running Shark’s Tooth rapid
The now wonky bridge at the get out
Date: 27/10/13 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 370 cumecs at Mandamus. Water discoloured, cold and swift. Grade 3 to 4. Weather Conditions: Cold and rainy, strong nor-westerly winds . Number on Trip: 2 people. Time on River: 0 Comments: Lauri was keen to go camping up at Lake Taylor, however gale force nor-westerly winds and heavy rain about the main divide put a bit of a dampener on that. She was still keen to have a bit of a paddle and Sunday looked liked the weather would have subsided somewhat by then, so on a beautiful sunny day we loaded up the car and headed out of town. Over the Waimakariri River, looking very brown and swirly and running at over 1000 cumecs, and then over the Ashley River, running at almost 100 cumecs. Past perfect picturesque rural scenes with bright green grass and beautiful clean animals, that reminded Lauri of the too good to be real, picture postcards from childhood. Tasty toasted bagels for lunch at the Rocking Frog in Waikari and a look at the Weka Pass steam train and then off into the hills.
The view looking up Maori Gully
Looking down the Seaward River towards the entrance to Maori Gully
Dozy Stream put in
Where Devil’s Fang Falls should be
Looking down into the gully above the South Branch confluence
As we crossed the Waitohi River (which was flowing at a good rate and may have provided a fun paddle provided the weren’t any willows blocking the river), the weather deteriorated. By the time we reached the Maori Gully take out, a cold rain was falling and this grew heavier as we moved up the valley. The river was pumping (having dropped from 419 cumecs earlier in the day) and a lot of familiar features were washed out, though many of the bluffs looked quite ferocious. The was a was out in the road just after the South Branch bridge and a temporary repair had been made, but when we got to the next ford, we turned back rather than attempt a crossing in our low slung, city car. We never reached Lake Taylor and neither of us felt like spending a lot of time out of the car, especially with the freezing cold, driving rain that was now falling, so it was back to the Rocking Frog, sunshine and a good cup of hot coffee.
Date: 22/9/13 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 14 cumecs at Ashley Gorge, water clear, swift and cold. Grade 3. Weather Conditions: Cold, low cloud with intermittent rain. Number on Trip: 10 people. Time on River: 3.5 hours. Comments: This was a nice, low volume Ashley River trip down the grade 3 section of the Ashley Gorge. The weather wasn’t too flash and the idea of being wet and cold wasn’t all that promising. Still the opportunity to have a cruisy trip down the lower gorge and hopefully get some photos was appealing so Sunday morning found us standing around the Belfast Tavern car park in a light rain. Vehicles were loading and it was off to the Ashley Gorge Domain, where we were thankfully able to change in the shelter of the modern, public toilets instead of the old, dark changing room, with its wet floor. Back in the vehicle and up to the put in, with a slight halt to reattach Kerry’s roof rack after it failed under load, spilling boats on to the road side.
Alex breaks into the eddy at the bottom of one of the early rapids
On the water, things felt better, the rain and cold largely forgotten, though I still had some early season nerves. We had a good strong team and Kerry encouraged people to try new things and try and catch as many eddies as possible, and much fun was had with little or no drama. The rain made the rocks shine and highlighted their beauty, contrasted against the greens of the bush and moss and the flowing water. The low cloud, gave the scene a magical, misty feel and it was a real pleasure to be on the water.
You never know what flotsam & jetsam will wash up in the forever eddy before the main gorge
At the main drop, we stopped so that people could run it multiple times and I was able to get some photos from the shore (usually I never get out of my boat, so pictures are restricted to the view from the cockpit). Kerry showed his skills by surfing his playboat above the drop before doing cart wheel over the edge. All I managed was to tip at the bottom of my first run, but managed to do a roll on my first go, which improved my confidence. I tipped further down the river on one of the random grade 2 rapids further downstream, striking my helmet against a rock in the shallow water, no damage to me or my helmet and I was soon upright, with another solid roll. Kerry was amused, being one of the few people to notice as I was at the back of the group.
Kerry showing his skills on the main drop
Really enjoyed the trip, the natural beauty was truly stunning and at this flow made the rapids fun and exciting, without the more daunting debris and swirling brown water that tends to be present at higher flows. Kerry paddle in a short sleeved top but by the end of the trip, I was pretty cold even with my poogees, half gloves, hot head, long sleeved, dry top, fuzzy rubber top and 2 layers of poly pro, Queensland has made me soft. It was nice to get changed in the dry again and even better to be enjoying a long black and chocolate brownie in Seagers Café in Oxford, whilst still being home in time to cook dinner before going out for the evening. Thanks Matt and everyone who came along for a great trip.
Date: 24/8/13 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 14 cumecs at Ashley Gorge, water clear, swift and cold. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Sunny and clear, cool. Number on Trip: 7 people. Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: Colin R put out the call for anyone interested in a pre-season refresher trip and with a number of us keen for a nice easy trip down the upper part of the Ashley River with the added benefit of being able to get home early, a plan was soon put in place.
We put in at the Lees valley and had a fairly relaxed paddled down the first part and through the early rapids. The river flow was low but there was still plenty of water and only an occasional shallow spot. At one of the more difficult rapids, a bit of a long, grade 2 boulder garden, Graeme eddied out with the group to the river right above the large boulder at the start of the rapid, while I carried on down the more interesting left-hand channel and eddied out midway down the rapid. The first paddler down had no problems and carried on downstream. He was followed by Colin, who eddied out opposite me. As I looked down the river, I noticed the first paddlers boat was upside-down with him floating along with it. I alerted the others and raced down stream to help him ashore and pick up the resulting garage sale. Everyone else made it down without any additional drama and we were soon under way again.
A few more rapids followed without drama followed by a shore break for some food and a stretch of the legs. The water was clear and it was a real pleasure to be out on the river, especially when the sun managed to make it’s way into the gorge.
Colin R leads the way
Hermione & Robin show what you can do with twice the boat & half the paddles
I was starting to feel a little tired as we neared the middle bridge and the end of the trip, a result of the lack of pre-season Brass Monkey training and catching plenty of eddies and waves on the way down. Colin decided to do a practice roll just below the bridge, which resulted in a swim. Fortunately everyone managed to get him and his gear to shore before it could be carried into the lower gorge.
It was a lovely day out and it was a pleasure to be out on the river with such a great group of people, with a special thanks to Colin for organising the trip and getting the season off to a good start.
Date: 12/5/13 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 13 cumecs at Ashley Gorge, water clear, swift and cold. Grade 3. Weather Conditions: Sunny and clear, cool. Number on Trip: 6 people. Time on River: 3.5 hours. Comments: Earlier in the week I’d watched the gauge on the Ashley River rise as a cold, wet south-westerly front rolled through and much as I like paddling the Ashley, I was having a hard time getting enthusiastic about spending too much time in the freezing rain. On my last break, I’d passed on a similar opportunity to paddle the Ashley after the proposed Rangitata trip was diverted due to another cold front bringing a heavy downpour. I guess that too much time in Queensland has made me a bit soft.
Things were looking up when the sun came out on Saturday but the Ashley was continuing to fall, when John H suggested either doing a run down the Ashley or the Hurunui on Sunday. I sorted out some gear in the evening but didn’t fully commit myself to the trip as with plans for Sunday evening I would be able to make a trip to the Hurunui. I woke early on Sunday morning and the day looked perfect and the Ashley was still running at 13 cumecs so there would be just enough water but I texted John just to be sure. Everything was looking good for a fun day on the Ashley.
The Belfast Tavern car park was relatively crowded but not a kayak in sight. The over 60’s tramping club had chosen this as their meeting place for a day trip. I spotted Hugh with his cataraft, all ready to go, mounted on one of the smaller trailers you could possibly get. Bob, Kerry and John H soon turned up and we headed off to meet Carston at the Ashley Gorge Domain.
The water was very cold, running swift and clear, but when the sun made it down to the bottom of the gorge it almost like summer. It isn’t often you can paddle the Ashley with weather like this, usually it is cold and rainy and the river brown and turbulent. We made our way down the river and at one rapid Kerry suggested playing a game to see who could catch the most eddies, with the winner scoring at least in the high twenties. Later at the forever eddy before main set of rapid, John found a tennis ball and a game of eddy polo ensued. This resulted in some amusement as paddlers attempted to recover the ball from whichever tricky eddy it had been thrown into. Eventually the ball split in half and sunk out of sight.
When the sun made it into the gorge, it almost looked warm
The main rapids were fairly cruisy given the lower flow, but still fun with plenty of rocks to dodge and eddy’s to catch. John decided he was interested in trying out Kerry’s Bliss Stick Super Rad (a very short play boat) and so after managing to finally squeeze his legs in, he had a short but exciting run down the next rapid before swapping back to his more forgiving creek boat.
John H squeezes into Kerry’s playboat
Shortly after returning to his own boat, John took a swim on one of the later rapids, after his paddle disappeared from his hands at the top of the rapid (naughty rock!). After staying up right briefly, he was over and out of his boat and then the garage sale was on. Kerry managed to push his boat to shore, while John self rescued. Unfortunately there was no sign of his paddle so I followed him up stream with my boat to help him look for it. After some extra swimming about, a call went up from down stream as the paddle had turned at the bottom of the rapid and John got an extra swim to get back to the other side again. I paddled down the rapid again with a roll at the bottom due to a slightly messy manoeuvre, soon upright again but the water sure was cold though!
Hugh negotiates the final major rapid in his cataraft
A few more rapids but no more drama. It was good to pass the water level monitoring point as it indicated we were almost out and I was pretty cold by this stage. We got out and changed into our dry clothes and then stood around, enjoying the sunshine, while the shuttle got run. A quick drive back to town and then home in a timely fashion so as not to incur the wrath of Lauri for being late.
Date: 7/4/13 Location: Lyttelton Harbour, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, New Zealand. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cool. Number on Trip: 8 people. Time on Water: 4.5 Hours. Comments: I was back home again and the scheduled WWCC trip for the weekend was listed as a sea kayaking trip organised by Peter D. I asked Lauri if she was interested and as she was, I put our names down to hire a double kayak for the trip. The basic plan was to paddle from Cass Bay to Ripapa Island and then back to Quail Island for lunch and an explore before returning to Cass Bay. As the day drew closer we were a little worried by the distances involved and the possibility of bad weather, though Sunday dawned cool and overcast, the rain held back and Lyttelton Harbour was smooth and still without the hint of a wind to stir its’ surface. Once on the water, our group was soon under way with many of the paddlers powering ahead. The rudder of our kayak got stuck and wouldn’t lower into the water and we had to get another kayaker to fix it on the water. After this I realised I didn’t know how to adjust the foot pedals and with the spray deck on and most of our group disappearing into the distance, I decided just to stretch my legs out and wait until we stopped to fix it.
Heading for Ripapa Island. Photo by Lauri
It was a fair way to Ripapa Island and it was hard to keep up with the group, but we soldiered on, with Lauri putting in a very good effort especially considering how little she has paddled recently, I felt hard pressed to keep up with her. We went ashore at Ripapa Island after landing on its’ rock shore and scaling its’ ramparts using a driftwood tree that had been leaned against the wall. Once inside, we explored the buildings, tunnels and gun emplacements, all of which seemed little damaged by the many quakes that had struck the region. The island has had an interesting history, from its’ occupation by Maori, its’ fortification against the 19th century Russian menace, the imprisonment of World War 1 German raider Felix Von Lucknow to today as a slightly earthquake damaged tourist attraction. Technically it is closed to the public at the moment but as we didn’t come through the front gate, we didn’t see any signs that may have been there.
Me posing by one of the guns on Ripapa Island. Photo by Lauri
From Ripapa Island we paddled back to Quail Island at a slightly more leisurely pace. Landing in a sandy bay was easy, though pulling the 5.5m long, 40+kg sea kayak up to above the high tide mark was a little demanding. We ate lunch in the picnic area and then set out to walk around the island and visit the old leper colony and information centre. Some nice views, especially looking down at the ships graveyard and trying to make out the various wrecks.
Exploring “inside” the barque “Darra”. Photo by Lauri
Back to the kayaks and off around the island. We explored the ships graveyard up close, paddling between the ribs of the barque “Darra” (built in 1885 and laid to rest here in 1951), before heading for home. We all had an enjoyable day out but it was nice to get back to shore before the rain started. Thanks Peter for organising the trip and well done Lauri for paddling so far (around 15km I guess).
Date: 16/3/13 Location: Lake Cootharaba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on Water: 3 Hours. Comments: This was meant to be my rest day before leaving Cooroy and heading back to Blackwater but the Sunshine Coast is too beautiful not to explore. Due to a series of events, I ended up climbing Mount Ninderry (309m) and enjoying the peace and solitude at the top, while gazing down on the surrounding lands. Next stop was Mount Tinbeerwah (265m) with beautiful views over the Noosa Region, Mount Cooroy, the Noosa River and lakes, a nice easy walk with the car park almost at the top. From here I had lunch in Noosaville before heading to Boreen and then Elanda Point on the shores of Lake Cootharaba.
Malucca trees on the shore of Lake Cootharaba
The launch site was a sandy beach, surrounded with tall, papery barked Malucca trees, growing out of a tea coloured wet land. The lake is apparently the largest in Queensland and I planned to paddle as far North as I could towards the upper Noosa River and the Noosa “Everglades”. The sign at the put in said the trip to Fig Tree Point would take about 1.5 hours, but I guess that was for someone paddling a 5m long sea kayak not a 2.2m white water play boat. Half an hour later I was at Mill Point, watching two large sea eagles as they flew from tree to tree to avoid the strange man in his little red and black kayak. The end of the lake still distant but I decided to keep going as there was still around 2.5 hours before sunset. The day was beautiful and clear, the lake’s surface was a little choppy as I paddled into the wind, the water was tea coloured and in places even reddish where the light shone on the sand in the shallows, in the distance the giant sand hills of the Great Sandy National Park towered over the forest covered shores I was heading for.
Looking across Lake Cootharaba to where I planned to paddle to in the far distance
As I neared to the far end, a couple of boats appeared and I guessed that was the point I was to make for so I kept going, I wasn’t exactly sure up until then. At Kinaba, there was a information centre built on piles over the lake with a landing so I got out to stretch my legs and get my bearings. Once on the water again, I was able follow the signs up Kin Kin Creek, past Fig Tree Point, across the Fig Tree Lake, covered with lily pads and beautiful purple blooms and then up the upper Noosa River. The river flows through a low, forested wet land called by the tourist brochures the “Noosa Everglades” and described on a number of sites as one of Australia’s most beautiful rivers. Its mirrored surface and lushly vegetated banks were certainly quite beautiful and definitely worth the approximately 8-9km paddle to get there.
A yacht motored past me from upstream and I briefly pondered asking for a lift back, before watching them disappear down the river. After a short distance up the river I decided to head for home, this time paddling around the far side of the island, this turned out to be a fair distance and once I cleared the top of the island, my starting point was a distant blur on the horizon. It was pretty gruelling paddling straight across the lake, the surface was choppy at an angle to my boat, with it’s nose burying at times and surfing along at others. Occasionally reasonable sized fish would leap from the lake, landing with a splash, presumably fleeing some larger, unseen fish beneath the surface. Since the fish weren’t particularly small, it did have me wondering exactly what there might have been fleeing, apparently bull sharks can swim up the river so that was a possibility but I didn’t see any sign of that.
Eventually I made it back to Mill Point and was on the home stretch, the swell lessened as I watched the sun disappear behind the trees and it was almost twilight by the time I was back at the put in. The mosquitoes swarmed around me as I carried my kayak back to the car, at times covering my exposed arms. I only had a short sleeved top and shorts on, so it was a relief to put my long sleeved paddle jacket on while I got changed and packed up my gear. I stopped off for another take away curry and a beer before heading home to do the washing and pack my bags for the trip to Blackwater the next day.
Date: 10/3/13 Location: Lake MacDonald, Cooroy, Queensland, Australia. Weather Conditions: Windy and occasional drizzle. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on Water: 1.5 Hours. Comments: I’d picked up my Australian based Blitz from where it had been languishing under Nick’s house in Brisbane for nearly two years, and transported up to the company house in Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast. This was the first time I’d seen it since leaving the Hunter Valley and it was good to have the opportunity to use it again. Before setting out, I checked the kayak for any creepy crawlies that may have taken up residence in it during its long hibernation, last thing you want to discover is a snake or spider after you’ve popped your deck on. Fortunately there were none and I was soon on the water.
Lake MacDonald viewed from the top of Mt Tinbeerwah
It was quite a relief to be off the computer and to get out of the house. The was a wind blowing down the lake, making the surface a little choppy and it was fun to power along with the spray breaking across the nose of play boat, while not exactly suited to flat water paddling, it is definitely better than the alternative of not kayaking. I paddled as far as I could down one of the arms of the lake, it was quite beautiful, surrounded by forest, the surface of the lake dotted with lily pads. The paddle back into the sunset was a bit strenuous and it was almost dark by the time I reached the boat ramp, but whenever I needed a rest, I just stopped paddling and enjoyed the gentle wash of the lakes surface, the call of the water birds, the light rain drizzling down and the beauty of the fading light reflected in the water. Then it was back to the house for a shower and a tasty vindaloo from the local Indian Restaurant.
Date: 25/2/13 River: Pororari River, Punakaiki, Westland, New Zealand. River Conditions: Low flow. Water crystal clear, cool and still. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Sunny. Number on Trip: 2 people. Time on River: 1.5 Hours. Comments: On our final day, while we waited for the dew on our tent to dry off, we decided to have a short paddle downstream to explore the estuary at the end of the river. We paddle out the where the water flowed in to the sea and then explored along the massive cliffs at the far end of the bay and admired enviously, the superbly located houses overlooking the estuary. We then paddled up stream as far as we could go without leaving our boats before returning to the camp ground for a final shower and a pancake, second breakfast in a cafe in Punakaiki before packing up and heading for home. The pancakes were good, but no where near as good as the buttermilk blueberry pancakes that Lauri cooked on the BBQ for breakfast on the previous days.
Date: 23/2/13 River: Pororari River, Punakaiki, Westland, New Zealand. River Conditions: Low flow. Water crystal clear, cool and still. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Slightly overcast/misty but sunny. Number on Trip: 2 people. Time on River: 3 Hours. Comments: When we decided to have a camping holiday in Punakaiki, near the famous Pancake Rocks, we thought it would be nice to take our kayaks along to paddle the Pororari River near the camp site. As we sorted out the required gear for the holiday, the tent, the new BBQ, chairs, table, bedding etc, I noticed we had a lot of gear to pack and only a smallish car. I briefly flirted with the idea of just hiring kayaks at the river but the cost was relatively high and after some discussion we decided against it. Fortunately everything fitted in and the day after our arrival in Punakaiki, found us sorting out gear for our trip up the river, “it isn’t an expedition” said Lauri, as I fluffed about putting in throw ropes, rescue gear, torches etc in to my boat (“Be Prepared”, is my motto too). So a short walk later and we were on the river. Lauri hadn’t paddled since her last canoe polo game at QEII before the earthquake wrecked that facility, but after a short reorientation, was happily racing off upstream.
Lauri on the Pororari River near Punakaiki
The scenery was superb, great towering cliffs of limestone clad in lush green rain forest, nikau palms and pungas pushed up through the bush, giving an almost tropical look. The water was crystal clear, with a greenish hue and was almost still. Sculptured rocks rutted from the water, making for a very beautiful and photogenic landscape.
More beautiful scenery
We paddled upstream, chatting to the occasional other paddlers we met in their rented Minnows (we were very glad we brought our own), enjoying the scenery and taking lots of photos. Lauri ended up with an excellent collection of some quite stunning photos, while I just had my normal collection of random snaps. As we moved further upstream, the current grew slightly and there were occasional small rapids or riffles which needed to be portaged, or for me to get out of my boat and tow Lauri up them. Eventually we came to a shallow section that would have required a slightly longer walk and as we were both rather hungry, having only muesli bars and oranges, we decided to head back to Punakaiki for a well deserved shower, pie and beer battered chips.
Date: 17/2/13 River: Boyle River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 45 cumecs at Marble Point on Waiau. 0.608m at Hope Glynn Wye. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Sunny. Number on Trip: 10 people. Time on River: 1.5 Hours. Comments: After some discussion we decided that rather than run some variation on the Hope/Waiau River, which was deemed a little flat and unexciting after the Boyle, we would run the Boyle again. With two paddlers sitting out the second run, the shuttle was relatively easy and we were soon back on the water again. This was a much faster run with no scouting and play was generally restricted to the larger rapids and features. Highlights included Claudia successfully breaking out of a particular eddy that had caused the odd problem on the previous run, and making her way across the face of the bluff to the other side of the river. I took a roll (well the second one worked) after getting pushed against a bluff whilst playing, fortunately no swim on this trip! This time both Tiaan and Stefan jumped from the bluff near the swing bridge while we all looked on.
Time to cool off
Time to cool off
Time to cool off
Everyone was pleased with the trip and seemed to enjoy themselves. We stopped for a drink and nibbles at the Hurunui Pub and consumed a mountain of potato products before heading back to Christchurch through a grey murk that descended around Culverden.
Date: 17/2/13 River: Boyle River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 45 cumecs at Marble Point on Waiau. 0.608m at Hope Glynn Wye. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Overcast, clearing later in the trip. Number on Trip: 12 people. Time on River: 2.5 Hours. Comments: After finding breakfast, fueling up and paying for accommodation we manage to be away from Reefton by 9am. The morning was bright and sunny and the mountain scenery was spectacular, just like something out of Lord of the Rings. I was a little worried that there may not have been enough water to run the Boyle and we might end up doing the less exciting Hope – Waiau run. We pulled into the rest area near the put in, walked across the road, over the barb wire fence, long grass, thistles and swampy patches to the river. There looked to be enough water to get down the river even though some of the early, wide stretches looked like they might be a little bony. Back to the cars and a short drive back the way we had come, to a parking spot with easy access to the river that I hadn’t noticed as I drove past. In to our paddling gear (more thermals required than for the Arnold the previous day, a quick shuttle and we were under way. The first short section was a little bony but as the river narrowed, we had more than enough for an excellent trip, though many spots would have been a little hard on the helmet of anyone tipping over and trying to roll.
The hard rapids and gorges were scouted so that the beginners could find the best lines, swims were rare and many people were keen to try things out and push their boundaries, which was good. The water was crystal clear and you could see the pebbled river bed slide beneath your boat even in the deeper sections. The gorges were superb, with interesting rapids, beautiful water sculpted rock walls and deep, clear water that sparkled when the suns rays made it through the clouds, the Boyle is quite a magical run and it was a real pleasure to be on the river.
Playing on various rapids on the Boyle
Playing on various rapids on the Boyle
As we leaving the third and final gorge, I did a quick head count and came up with only 11 paddlers, including myself. I recounted again to check but there were still only 11, then I remember noting some one (it turned out to be Tiaan) pulled up of to the side near the swing bridge, soon a figure dressed in kayaking gear appeared at the top of a tall (about 7-8m high) rock next to the bridge. While I watched, they leapt into the river with a mighty splash and bobbed to the surface, an exciting and cooling way to end a successful trip.
Date: 16/2/13 River: Arnold River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: 40 cumecs at Moana, water clear. Grade 2, water clear. Weather Conditions: Partly cloudy but warm. Number on Trip: 12 Time on River: 3.5 hours. Comments: Approximately 10 minutes before leaving the house, I had suddenly become the trip leader. Fortunately due to Graeme’s (who was feeling very unwell) excellent organisation, I didn’t actually have to do much other than ensure we managed to find the river. After the odd break for coffee and supplies, we found ourselves at the Power Station on the Arnold.
We put in below the bridge and while the scenery was good, there probably wasn’t enough water in the section above the power station outflow to make it worthwhile. There were a number of bony rapids and only two of us managed to staying our boats as we hand walked, pushed off rocks and bounced our way down.
There’s not much water but I’m not getting out of my boat
Boulders abounded but there still was scope for play moves too
Once we reached to power station out flow, the river was more pleasant to paddle and we spend some time here, practicing breaking out, ferry gliding and other skills. From here we made our way down stream, trying to maximise playing and learning experiences.
Playing on one of the smaller rapids
Most of the rapids were fairly small but there were plenty of boulders to practice eddy hopping on and towards the end there were some more challenging grade 2 rapids. This is a beautiful river with some great scenery and is a good learning environment for beginners, it is also under threat from being dammed and just below where we take out is the out flow from the Kokiri meat works oxidation ponds (100% pure, yeah right), kind of sad really. I was pretty tired by the end of the run and there wasn’t too much enthusiasm for a second run so the shuttle was run and we all packed up and headed for Reefton.
Date: 9/02/13 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 22.59 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Light nor-westerly winds . Number on Trip: 11 people. Time on River: 4 hours Comments: With heavy rains in Queensland postponing my return to Queensland I was able to fit in an additional kayaking trip in. This was planned to be and overnight trip, camping up at Jollie Brook but I was a little less than enthusiastic about camping out and especially about putting on wet gear in the more. So after a lot of humming and harring and general procrastination, I decided just to paddle on Saturday and given how sore I felt on Sunday, this was probably the right decision.
Crossing Sisters Stream to get to the put in above the Top Gorge
I drove up with Dan to the Sisters Stream walkway car park, got changed and then ran the shuttle down to Seawards. It was a hot day and evening without putting on my gear, the walk in to the river was hot and tiring and I was feeling particularly unfit but the river looked cool and clear and very refreshing when we got there. We put in at the swing bridge above the top gorge. There was a short stretch before we entered the gorge.
Looking back up the Valley towards Harpers Pass
The Top Gorge
The Top Gorge
From the gorge, we cruised down through Jollie Brook, past South Branch but as we approached Devil’s Fang Falls above the Dozy Stream put in there was a little apprehension and when everyone pulled over to the side and got out above the rapid, I thought they planned just to have a look at it before running it, however we soon noticed that everyone was carrying their boats, a sure sign of a portage. That left just two of us at the top, prepared to run it. At 22 cumecs the rapid would be a little bony but we had both run it at less and were happy to do it. We both made for the eddy above the rapid and I let the other guy run it first (probe), he went down clean, arriving upright at the bottom. Then it was my turn, I avoided the holes above the drop and slid down the tongue, avoiding the “fang” at the bottom, but with a little too much lean and tipped over, rolled up on my second go and then had a play in the boiling mass at the base of the drop.
We carried on down to Seawards without drama and then sorted out vehicles as some of the group weren’t feeling up to running the gully. I took a bit longer getting the shuttle driver for my car sorted out and had to rush to catch up with the others. The Magic Round-About was in good form, though didn’t seem quite the same as usual and some of my moves didn’t quite work, with the result that my kayak ended up being pushed nose first in to the second rock in the middle of the round-about. I soon ended up the wrong way up and after two failed roll attempts found myself pushed up against the bluff. Another fail roll and I bailed, I flushed out clutching my paddle while my boat continued going round the round-about. Politely declining offers of tows, I swam to shore while Bill rescued my boat and clipped it to his tow line. The towed the water filled kayak to the side where I was waiting, unfortunately it snagged on some rocks and he found himself upside-down attached to a taut town line. He released the tow line and disappeared around the corner where he also bailed out and swam. Hardly an impressive spectacle for the newer paddlers and gully virgins as two of the more experienced kayaker swam before even properly entering Maori Gully.
The rest of the trip went smoothly, with little or no dramas, though I certainly played it safe on the remaining rapids (as my left arm was pretty sore after slipping on the rocks while emptying my boat out). We briefly paused to demonstrate the pop up to Dan, who was paddling the gully for the first time, before getting to the take out and completing the wearying trudge, exhausted, up to the cars and then off home while the others headed back to Jollie Brook to camp.
Date: 6/01/13 River: Clarence River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 16 cumecs (NIWA), water cold, slightly discoloured and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Gusty nor-westerly winds . Number on Trip: 8 people. Time on River: 3.5 hours Comments: With heavy rains around the main divide pushing river volumes up earlier in the week (the Rakaia topped 5000 cumecs and the Rangitata topped 2000 cumecs, with most other rivers hitting high, though not quite so impressive volumes), Graeme had a hard time figuring out a suitable river for a beginner friendly trip. It was decide that the section of the Clarence behind Hanmer would have enough water to provide an interesting trip. Unfortunately Graeme fell ill and was unable to run the trip so I took over.
None of us had paddled the run before so weren’t exactly sure what to expect. The drive from Hanmer over Jacks Pass wasn’t too bad, a little steep and winding with a gravel surface but in good condition, and we were soon at the put in near the Jollies Pass turn off. While we ran the shuttle, we had a good look at the river as the road ran along side it the whole way. The run looked good from the road, with plenty of small rapids to keep us entertained. We left the vehicles near the bridge above the Acheron confluence and headed back to the put it.
Starting off down the Clarence River
We were soon under way and were rewarded with a very fun day out. Whilst no overly challenging, there was plenty to keep us busy and to challenge but not threaten the newer paddlers with us. There were numerous small rapids, plenty of boulders to practice eddy hopping on, small holes to play in and some nice gorges too. Items of interest were regularly spaced without long stretches of flat water to paddle in between. The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed themselves and I was certainly worn out by the end of the trip, having not paddled for a wee while.
Running a man-made weir on the Clarence
Running a man-made weir on the Clarence
Busting some moves on the Clarence
While the shuttle was being run, we took the opportunity to explore the nearby Acheron Accommodation House, an old cob (mud and straw mixed together) house built in 1863 and maintained by the Historic Places Trust and the Department of Conservation. The house is open to the public and definitely worth a look if you are up this way.
Date: 11/11/12 River: Rangitata River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 104 cumecs at Klondyke, water cold, slightly discoloured and swift. Grade 2+. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cool, followed by heavy rain, hail and lightning. Number on Trip: 7 on grade 2 section, 7 on the grade 4 section. Time on River: 3.25 hours Comments: It was decided that the Orari River flow was too low and so the trip was to the lower Rangitata combined with another group doing the grade 4 gorge section. I had been such a long time since I’d paddled the section (and even longer for Matt), I had to look up the details from an earlier trip in 2006 to find out where the take out was. 100 cumecs was a good flow, with plenty of holes of various sizes forming behind boulders, eddies to catch and some nice wave trains. Our group had a good range of skills and it was good to have Stu along (after he decided not to run the gorge), as he was able to provide some coaching to the newer paddlers, as well as the odd rescue.
The group makes its way down a nice rapid.
No real dramas, just a few swims with the kayaker hanging on to their gear for an easy tow to the shore. This section is quite nice for beginners as there are nice flat stretches below each rapids for the recovery of swimmers. The other newer paddler managed to keep herself out of trouble with some nice rolls.
Where’s the paddler gone?
The river was pretty cold and I paddled reasonably hard and was pretty cold and tired by the time we reached the take out at the Rat House (what the building I thought was the OPC is apparently called). Our vehicles and dry gear were waiting, courtesy of the other group. As we got changed the sky darkened and by the time we were fastening down the last boat to Matt’s car, the skies opened up and it bucketed down. Lightning and hail accompanied us to the Peel Forest Store, where we hid from the rain, enjoying some hot food and cold drinks, before heading back to town.
Date: 7/10/12 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 94 to 84 cumecs (falling) at Marble Point. Water discoloured, cold & swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Sunny, NE light winds. Number on Trip: 5 people. Time on River: 4.5 Hours. Comments: Earlier in the week an email was sent round saying that some interest had been expressed about a grade 2 trip down the lower Waiau to coincide with the club’s grade 3 to 4 overnight trip down the upper Waiau, all the trip needed was a leader to organise it. I tentatively volunteered as the alternative was no trip and no kayaking for that weekend. The trip was arranged but the river levels were looking a bit high on Saturday with the flow peaking at almost 250 cumecs, a trifle high for a grade 2 focused trip. Fortunately the flow seemed to be dropping and with fine weather forecast for Sunday, it was all systems go. By Sunday morning the flow had dropped to 98 cumecs so it was off to the Belfast Tavern to see who would turn up. I didn’t recognise anyone but we had a reasonable range of skill levels so after some basic introductions, boats were loaded up and it was off to the take out point.
At the take out point, the river looked swift and brown but manageable. We picked a suitable get out point to avoid any drama around the irrigation intake, got changed while Rory loaded our boats on to his vehicle for the drive up to the put in (it was nice to have a big set of roof racks and only 5 paddlers to make the shuttle nice and easy). Leaving James’s car with the dry gear at the take out, we drove up to the picnic area on the Hanmer River. There was sufficient water in the Hanmer River to allow us to float down to the Waiau and avoid carrying our boats too far.
The Waiau was flowing fairly swiftly and was quite boily in places, especially around the bluffs. We managed to get past the first bluff (an old nemesis from my beginner days) and under the Hanmer bridge but shortly after Madi tipped up on a particularly boily corner and was out of her boat. She held on to her gear and James soon had her in tow and back to the shore. Once back in her boat, she paired up with James (a CPIT Outdoor Education student) so he could provide on the river coaching, which worked out great with no further swims.
The larger rapid on the way down to Marble Point was partially washed out and had a nice chicken route down the right hand side but was still fairly exciting. Matt, James and I had a bit of fun ferry gliding across the rapid but it was a bit swift to get any surfing in. A jet boat roared past when we were out of the way and didn’t even look in our direction, though on their way back up the river, one of the passengers did manage to return a wave.
Jet boat heads back up stream through rapids.
Matt rounds Marble Point.
We stopped at Marble Point for some lunch and some slightly water logged and a trifle slimy, gummy snakes thanks to Matt, then back on the river again. It was nice to be out on the river on such a sunny day and the raised flow kept us moving along nicely even through the flat sections. The flow also created some new features while washing out others. Shark’s Tooth approached and the group scouted the rapid and watched while I ran it. No dramas here and everyone got through safely and in an upright position. Madi tipped when we rejoined the main flow but stayed in her boat for a T rescue, which was very well done.
Madi & James on a wave train.
Matt runs the Shark’s Tooth rapid.
The rest of the paddle was fairly relaxing but we were all a bit tired by the time the bridge by the take out appeared. We paddled/walked down the get out channel, which had less water in it than it appeared from the bank, but still it avoided trying to get out near the irrigation intake so that was good. It was nice to get changed and enjoy the sunshine while Matt and James ran the shuttle. A very pleasant day out and a big thank you to everyone involved.
Date: 29/9/12 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 40 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Nor-wester, warm and sunny. Number on Trip: 5 people. Time on River: 2 Hours. Comments: My first trip of the season and fitness and confidence wasn’t too high. We put in at Dozy Stream, with everyone except me paddling Devil’s Fang Falls, my lack of confidence meant I didn’t want to start the season with any chance of a little rock/face interaction. Kept things pretty low key as I eased back in to paddling, took a roll as I flushed out of the magic round-about, made it though the main rapids in Maori Gully but while playing around below the corner rapid, the last major rapid in the gully, I ended up upside-down. After several roll attempts I was too tired and out of breath so bailed out and had a swim down a flat section until, with Bob and Murray’s help I was able to get my boat to shore. Once I got my breath back, it was down to the get out with a couple of pop ups at the pop up spot on the way down. The climb up was gruelling but I was certainly glad I only had my 15kg Blitz and not Murray’s 30+kg creek boat. Had a nice sit in the sun while the shuttle was run, then back to town early via coffee at the Nor-wester. A nice ease in to the new season.
Date: 19/7/12 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 152 cumecs at the Waimakariri Old Highway Bridge. Water slightly discoloured, cool and swift. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Overcast but warmish. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 1 Hour. Comments: Another training run down the Brass Monkey course after the 1333 cumec flow on the weekend. Was expecting a better time but in the end it took pretty much bang on 60 minutes to do the course. Stay close to the right bank for most of the course, some channels seem to have changed and some of the “sneaks” were working due to the higher flow. Was a nice paddle and didn’t feel too worn out afterward.
Date: 13/7/12 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 57 cumecs at the Waimakariri Old Highway Bridge. Water slightly discoloured, cool and swift. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Overcast, cool but with occasional warm NW winds. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 1 Hour. Comments: Back out on the Waimak for a bit more training. This time a run down the Brass Monkey course with an eye out for shortcuts and to try out the channel I missed in the last race. This work out well, had a nice paddle and will definitely be taking the channel I missed in the next race, hopefully for a better time.
Date: 12/7/12 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 59 cumecs at the Waimakariri Old Highway Bridge. Water slightly discoloured, cool and swift. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Sunny but cool, NE light winds. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 1 Hour. Comments: Lauri had me out doing laps from the State Highway 1 bridge to get me trained up for the next Brass Monkey race as she didn’t feel that my time was quite good enough, sub 60 minutes here we come.
Date: 22/4/12 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 28 cumecs at Marble Point. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Sunny but cool, NE light winds. Number on Trip: 7 people. Time on River: 4 Hours. Comments: I’d been looking forward to paddling the Waiau for a while but my being in NZ generally coincided with Hurunui River trips so I was definitely looking forward to a little variety. It was a beautiful sunny autumn day and although the river level was a low 28 cumecs, it promised to be a very pleasant day on the river. We had seven people on the trip, with John and Andre choosing the retro boat option.
The put in.
We put in at the Hanmer River confluence and had a play about while the first half of the shuttle was run, and then it was off down the river. The river was low and this exposed a few more rocks and features that would have normally been washed out, the current was unexpectedly swift and pushy, causing a few surprises in places. The scenery was beautiful, the sun on the water, the worn surfaces of the rock, the blue sky and surrounding mountains. We caught eddies and surfed where ever the opportunity presented, getting some nice rides. Andre show some very nice slalom paddling moves in the club’s Reflex, it was nice to see an older boat, well paddled.
Andre in the club’s Reflex, oops.
The cry of “jet boat” went up almost as soon as we reached the “crux” rapid, which is almost one of the best play spots on the river. We all got out the way and Graeme waved the jet boat down, then we all back to surfing. Everyone except Graeme and Sally Jane had a go and generally enjoyed themselves and got some good rides. Andre apparently banged his head a couple of times and was keen to name the rapid “Headbanger” on account of this, fortunately his helmet absorbed the impact and no damage was done. From here down to Marble Point, the flow slowed and rapids become smaller and less frequent. At Marble Point, we stop for a “lunch” break before carrying on down stream.
Andre showing how to surf a retro boat.
From Marble Point, rapids became scarce and there was a lot of flat water to paddle. However the sun was out and it was nice just being on the river. Eventually we arrived at Shark’s Tooth. Graeme and Sally Jane had scouted the rapid while John had run it. I carried on down, bouncing off a few rocks in the rapid and then pulled in to a eddy to photograph the other paddlers as they ran the rapid. No drama here and then it was into the largely flat paddle out.
Checking out Shark’s Tooth rapid.
Running Shark’s Tooth rapid.
In one particularly wide spot, I ended up picking a braid that got too shallow to paddle, the others with me aborted sooner and made it back to deeper water but I persisted until I was well and truly stuck and had to get out and walk. I towed the boat back to the main channel but as the water was mainly flat and the take out was near, I just sat in the cockpit with my legs dangling over the front and paddled on like this.
Ahead I could see a number of kayakers standing on the bank, thinking this was the get out, I was a little confused as I got closer and noticed that people were standing on both sides of the channel. It turned out there was a number of trees in the river with the current flowing through them and although there was a 3m wide passage between them, most of the paddlers had decided to portage past it. After everyone was safely on the correct side to portage the hazard, I got into my boat and paddled safely between the trees, glad that I didn’t have my legs dangling. Then a sort run down to the take out, a clamber over a flood debris containing a dead cow and a leisurely change, warmed by the sun, while the shuttle was run.
We stopped in at the Hurunui Tavern for Graeme’s promised game pies, only to find that they were sourced from Christchurch and supply had dried up since the earthquakes, still the beer and wedges were good. Then back to Christchurch for a shower, pizza and a rest.
Date: 1/4/12 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 21 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, light winds. Number on Trip: 7 people. Time on River: 3 Hours. Comments: This was a run from Dozy Stream, with a few paddlers running Devil’s Fang Falls (which was a little rocky due to the low flow), down through Maori Gully. A nice cruisy run with plenty of playing.
Debbie does Devil’s Fang Falls…
…and avoids the fang.
Above: Debbie does Devil’s Fang Falls.
Lining up on Devil’s Fang Falls…
… and avoiding the rocks at low flow.
Above: Avoiding the rocks in Devil’s Fang Falls at low flow.
Running Maori Gully.
Me breaking out of eddy in Maori Gully. Taken by Bob.
Date: 11/3/12 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 23 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Nor-wester tending to light southerly winds, warmish, cloudy with sunny spells. Number on Trip: 14 people. Time on River: 4 Hours. Comments: A fairly large group with plenty of newer paddlers. Paddled from Jollie Brook down to Seawards with the more confident paddlers running Maori Gully.
Some paddlers choose to portage Devil’s Fang Falls.
Showing the moves in Maori Gully.
Date: 12/2/12 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 17 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Sunny, occasional clouds, warmish. Number on Trip: 20 people. Time on River: 3 Hours. Comments: This was the introduction to Maori Gully trip for advance beginners and gully virgins. We put in at Dozy Stream, with the keen or foolhardy (at 17 cumecs it looked pretty boney) running Devil’s Fang Falls. I opted to stand on the bank and get some better photographs than I normally get sitting in my boat below the rapid. I did get my feet wet towing one kayaker in to a position that didn’t result in him running the drop backwards, after he got stuck in the eddy at the top of the drop. Most navigated the drop without much drama and I was rewarded with some nice pictures. The rest of the trip was fairly cruisy and there was too much drama in the gully.
Running Devil’s Fang Falls at a low flow.
Rescue time.
Playing on the weir at the bottom of the corner rapid in Maori Gully.
Surfing deep in the hole.
Above: Playing on the weir at the bottom of the corner rapid in Maori Gully.
Murray showing how it is done.
Smile for the camera.
Above: More playing on the weir at the bottom of the corner rapid in Maori Gully.
… and yet more playing on the weir at the bottom of the corner rapid in Maori Gully.
Date: 9/2/12 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 19 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Cool, cloudy, strong nor-easterly winds. Number on Trip: 4 people. Time on River: 2 Hours. Comments: This was a small mid week set of gully runs for those not working Monday to Friday jobs. A little nervous heading straight into the gully but things went reasonably well, though I added some scratches to my helmet after a roll on the escalator. The second run was better than the first but we were all too tired for a third one.
Running Cheese Grater in Maori Gully.
Date: 6/2/12 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 21 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Cool, cloudy, nor-easterly winds. Number on Trip: 14 people. Time on River: 4 Hours. Comments: A trip from Jollie Brook though Maori Gully. Spotted a stand up paddle surfer in Maori Gully and watched him run the Cheese Grater, sinking in the hole at the bottom and having to swim, pretty game for trying.
The casual approach to paddling.
A stand up paddle surfer running the Cheese Grater in Maori Gully.
One stand up paddle board going down…
Date: 22/1/12 River: Boyle River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 63 cumecs at Marble Point on Waiau and rising. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Cool, cloudy with sunny periods, southerly winds. Number on Trip: 8 people. Time on River: 3.5 Hours. Comments: The weather forecast wasn’t looking so good the night before and on the drive up we encountered a certain amount of rain, with more expected thanks to a southerly front that was working its’ way up the country. The weather eased up as we headed inland, with a light drizzle falling as we arrived at the turn off to the Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre. As we got changed, the sky cleared and the sun came out, hooray for blue skies!
Heading down the Boyle to the Lewis confluence.
The first part of the paddle was a little bony but with swiftly moving and crystal clear water taking us past some beautiful scenery, there was nothing to complain about. When we got near the confluence of the Boyle with the Lewis River, we had a short walk across a gravel bar to get us into the main channel and from there, the water volume and level of white water fun increased with plenty of opportunities to catch eddies, surf holes and generally make the most of rapids.
More water and fun after the Lewis confluence. Note the blue skies.
A nice little hole to surf.
We had a brief stop for lunch/snacks somewhere not to far upstream from the usual put in, having been on the river for over an hour already. From the confluence with the Doubtful River, we picked up more water as it must have been raining in the Doubtful’s catchment and the river was running a bit cloudy. This extra water improved the later gorges and rapids, making for a slightly more technical grade 2+ paddle in places.
Looking upstream in the first gorge.
Looking upstream towards bridge that marks the exit from the first gorge.
The three gorges are all quite impressive with their sheer sides of water sculptured stone and have nice rapids in then, a sort of Ashley Gorge lite, which makes for an exciting trip for newer paddlers without too serious consequences.
Running the second gorge.
Impressive rock walls in the second gorge.
The third gorge wasn’t as hard as it used to be when I first did, the drop has leveled out making not quite as dramatic as it was in days of old. There are still a number of boulders to dodge and a choice of routes to take, and a poor choice for Matt the Younger led to a brief swim, the only one for the day. Finding the best place to get out led to a bit of confusion as Hugh led us into a wall of gorse and matagouri, fortunately Bruce appeared and showed us the way out. There was a bit of a walk to the car, but it was nice and flat with plenty of grass to drag the boat over. As we got changed and the shuttle was run, the sky began to darken as the promised southerly caught up with us. Lucky for us, the rain held off until we were all packed up and on our way home. A brief stop for coffee at the Red Rooster in Culverden and then off home after a fun and surprisingly sunny day in the hills.
Date: 8/1/12 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 23 cumecs at Mandamus and rising. Water clear, cool and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Cool, cloudy with rare sunny periods, easterly winds. Number on Trip: 11 people. Time on River: 3.25 Hours. Comments: This was my first kayaking trip of the year and I was really looking forward to getting out on the river. The flow was around 20 cumecs and I was expecting a cruisy trip down the river on a hot midsummer’s day. However when I exited the house, I felt the need to go back in and grab a jacket. The weather got increasingly grey and by the time we arrived at the Maori Gully take out to get changed, there was a light drizzle falling and it was fairly cold. We checked out the lines on Devil’s Fang Falls on the drive up to the Jollie Brook put in, it was looking pretty bony. The best line seemed to be to avoid the holes at the top of the drop, take the line down the right hand side and avoid the “fang” at the bottom.
Once on the water, it was a fairly sedate float down the river, catching the occasional eddy or surfing a small wave. The weather made me glad I was wear my poggees and I was pretty keen to stay right side up, though some of the other paddlers were keen to practice their rolls. It was nice being out on the river, surrounded by the mountains, I’ve missed be able to go kayaking regularly, what with my work schedules, earthquakes and all the other things that make up my life at the moment. Eventually we arrived at Devil’s Fang Falls and those who decided to walk it got out and the rest pulled into an eddy to take our turns. Debbie got caught on one of the holes above the drop and rolled but was able to get upright and in position to make the correct line. I got my turned, snuck between the holes, slid down the tongue and rode the buffer off the fang without any dramas and best of all, managed to keep my head dry!
Looking back up a very bony looking Devil’s Fang Falls.
Graeme took a little swim just down from Dozy Stream (in the same place that Murray and I have swam in the not too distant past) and bruised his legs quite badly getting out of his boat. He was soon back in his boat but was feeling pretty cold and sore and decided to get out at Seawards with one of the newer paddlers, who had also had a few swims. Robin joins us here for the Gully run and we all took the chance to stretch our legs or eat some food. Maori Gully was pretty cruisy too, had a nice play on the Magic Roundabout but largely just ran the rapids. No real drama but there was a certain amount of nervousness approaching Cheese Grater, which now has a strong kick to the left. There was the odd mystery move as people missed the line (right of centre and heading right with the certain amount of speed). I found a little bit of a tongue and followed it down to the right and avoided the worst of the churning white water at the bottom.
Debbie surfing the last big rapid in Maori Gully.
John R gives a smile.
Sun was starting to peak through the clouds by the time we reached the take out and climbed up to the cars and it was a lovely day by the time we reached Waikuku for a BBQ at Robins place. I had to head home as I’d promised Lauri dinner at Pommeroy’s, which rounded off the day nicely.
Date: 2/10/11 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 40 to 47 cumecs at Mandamus and rising. Water clear above South Branch, discoloured below, cold and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Cool, cloudy with occasional sunny periods, strong westerly winds. Number on Trip: 16 people. Time on River: 3 Hours. Comments: This was my first trip down the the Hurunui for over a year and I was a little nervous. I had completely missed the last WWCC kayaking season, what with working in Australia, the trip to Korea and the Christchurch earthquakes. There were a lot of new faces at the Belfast Tavern car park but Bob and Murray were there and I travelled up to the Jollie Brook put in with them. The river flow gauge was reading at a steady 25 cumecs the day before and the trip down to South Branch seem rather tame, which suited me as I was trying to get my kayaking fu back and the water was a bit colder than back in Australia.
Part of the group at Jollie Brook. Still plenty of snow on the mountains.
The water flowing down the South Branch was cloudy with sediment and cold, a result of the rain falling in the mountains. Based on the flow gauge, this boosted the total flow by approximately 20 cumecs and reducing the cruisiness of the trip somewhat. Devil’s Fang Falls was exciting but presented no problems, with those in our brunch, cleanly running the right of centre line. A little further down we had our first drama as Murray ended up swimming after being pushed into a bluff and being rotated a number of times at its’ base whilst being battered against the rocks. I took my first roll of the trip here after a bit of kayak on kayak interaction. Bob ended upside down on the “Eddy of Doom” bluff, but this was just a brief interlude and he was probably only doing it to cool down.
By Seawards I has a bit tired and sore, but after a bite to eat and a brief walk (to restore movement to my right leg), I crammed myself back in the boat and we all headed down stream into Maori Gully. The Magic Round-About was good though the water level on the rocks tended to indicate that there was more than 25 to 30 cumecs in the river now. The wind was pretty strong and blew me off the round-about circuit and off down the river. I took a roll on the first set of rapids after dropping into a hole at the end of the sequence. Dodged everything on the next rapids and then pulled in to the eddy above Cheese Grater to wait for the rest of the group. Murray went down first, pulling into Grand Stand Eddy on the left, one of the next paddlers tipped above the rapid (something not to do, I thought) but rolled up with plenty of time before going over the drop. I broke out, hit the current and promptly tipped over too, my first roll was rushed and didn’t work, the edge got nearer. Fortunately the next roll worked and I was upright as I positioned myself above the drop, the water kicked hard left towards a slightly undercut rock but I managed to avoid that and get into the eddy without much drama.
Exiting Cheese Grater.
Why it is called Cheese Grater.
One of our group had ended up looking a bit battered after some geological interaction but was still smiling and able to carry on. A few pop ups at the Pop Up Spot and then to the long climb up the the cars and dry clothes. A good day out and great to be back out on the Hurunui again with a good bunch of people.
Date: 8/9/11 Location: Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Water Conditions: Warm with a 2m swell.. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, moderate winds. Number on Trip: 11 people. Time on Water: 3 Hours. Comments: Tim at Planula Bed & Breakfast helpfully sorted out this trip for us with Cape Byron Kayaks. After sorting out our gear and wetsuits, we had a brief safety and “how to paddle” session and then dragged the kayaks down to the beach. The sand was clean and white and squeaked when you walked on it, the ocean warm (ish) and blue. Most of the kayaks managed to get out through the waves without much drama but when we came to do it, we had a series of large waves break over us, washing Lauri back down the kayak (a large plastic sit on top) until the third and largest wave swept both of us off. On our next try, things worked out a lot better. The swell was bigger than expected and this added an exciting dimension to the trip. On the way out towards Julian Rock we had a dolphin appear briefly but the best part was watching the hump back whales leap out of the water or slap their tails on the surface, a mother with calf even approached our group, getting within almost 20m of our kayaks which was pretty amazing.
Lauri and I on our kayak about a kilometre or two off shore.
A whale’s tail with us in the green kayak on the left.
Watching the whale, we are in the green kayak.
Surfing down the swell on our way back to shore was cool and we were both a little tired by the time surfed (and wiped out) through the breakers and land back on the beach again. Then it was time for a well earned cup of tea and a Tim Tam before a group photo.
Our intrepid whale watching group of kayakers.
Date: 19/3/11 Location: Penrith White Water Course, NSW, Australia. River Conditions: Swift and warm, very pushy. Weather Conditions: Cool with periodic heavy rain. Number on Trip: Lots. Time on Water: 3 hours. Comments: Another road trip to Penrith with a stop for lunch and a chat at Dave Thurston’s Roadhouse Stop. Arrive a bit later than intended due to a late start but was quickly changed and on the water. A bit of warm up and then off round the course. I’m getting a bit more used to the course but it still handed out plenty of spankings. Clean runs catching eddies alternated with swims, batterings and even one complete garage sale as I let go of my boat and paddle to avoid going over the last drop, having already swam most of the bottom third of the course. Rolling can get exciting as some of the rapids are closely spaced and you can get bashed around a lot while upside down and the sprayed on concrete can be pretty hard on skin and gear.
Highlights were meeting up with some members of Sydney’s River Canoe Club, a long surf in one of the larger holes (not entirely intended and followed by a swim whilst trying to get out of the hole and avoid being run down by a raft) and the occasional clean run catching eddies and not getting caned. The downsides were all the bruises and abrasions from the swims and rolls, though the loss of skin from my right hand wasn’t as upsetting as the loss of my wedding ring from my left hand. I had not removed my ring from my finger since Lauri placed it there at our wedding in Hawaii in May 2007. I noticed it missing towards the end of the day and I had no idea when it disappeared. I waited until they turned the water off and had a good luck around the course but didn’t find it and neither did the staff member who looked the next day so it may have dropped off in the bottom pool that doesn’t get drained. Hopefully it turns up as I don’t like being without it.
Date: 26/2/11 Location: Penrith White Water Course, NSW, Australia. River Conditions: Swift and warm, very pushy. Weather Conditions: Sunny and hot. Number on Trip: Lots. Time on Water: 2 hours. Comments: This was my second visit to the Olympic white water course at Penrith, I’ve been putting it off partial because it is almost 200km away but mostly because the previous visit resulted in repeated canings and a badly grazed knee. However Lauri was keen to see the course and encouraged me by assuring me that the previous results were probably due to not having my own boat. I also wanted to find out if this was true and so didn’t really require much in the way of convincing. The drive from Singleton to Penrith along Putty Road was quite enjoyable though a bit windy. Much of the road runs through thick forest, along narrow, sandstone lined gullies or atop ridge lines with spectacular views to be glimpsed occasionally through the trees. We stopped briefly at the Roadhouse Stop for a cold drink and a hot dog. Dave Thurston (www.thurstontables.com) runs the place and makes some amazing metal sculptures, emus, wombats, Ned Kelly and even a 5m tall stainless steel man/woman. A beautiful area and a real restful stop with a tasty hot dog and a good chat with Dave, definitely worth stopping if you are passing by.
Interesting sculptures and tasty hot dogs at Dave Thurston’s. Photo by Lauri.
When we arrived at Penrith and got out of the (nicely air conditioned) car, the heat hit us like a wall. We had lunch in the cafe, Lauri went for a vege burger and I had a ham & cheese croissant. When the meals arrived, they were huge, both came with salad, Lauri’s also had a mound of chips (which I had to help her eat). We both had knot’s in our stomachs, Lauri’s due to the windy road, mine due to apprehension at the possible caning to come.
Some kayakers are a little better…
…than others. Photos by Lauri.
I walked around the course to get a feel for the rapids and then got changed into my kayaking gear while Lauri finished her lunch. Properly dressed with my kayak on my shoulder I headed down to the bottom pool for a bit of a warm up. Practiced breaking out and crossing the rapid at the end of the course to get my confidence up. While I was chatting to a couple of young kayakers from Bondi, Lauri appear to find out where I was, she had been out in the blazing sun waiting for me to come down the conveyor belt into the top pool. She gave me a bit of a hurry on, so after a little more warm up I followed the Bondi kayakers up to the top pool.
Catching eddies, just rolled upright or about to swim? Photo by Lauri.
I was pretty nervous on my first run, took fairly conservative lines, catching eddies where I could to get a better look at the rapids. A lot of the drops looked pretty big and scary but no drama and I got round clean. Lauri complained that I hadn’t waited so she could take photos, so on the next run I made more of an effort to be photogenic. On one of the early rapids I tipped over (smiling and not paddling doesn’t help you stay upright), managed to roll but got swept backwards against a set of bollards and over again, not having enough breath, I bailed and swam, with my kayak, in to the eddy formed by the bollards (all captured by Lauri’s camera).
One of the larger drops. Photo by Lauri.
Another of the bigger drops. Photo by Lauri.
Cruising down some of the easier drops. Photo by Lauri.
After that, things went well and I began to enjoy myself, no more swims and just the odd roll, it was nice to have my own boat. The highlights of the course were probably the last drop, which is pretty big and a nice scary finish, and another of the larger drops that has a rooster tail at the bottom of the chute. I avoided the rooster tail on my first couple of runs but after Lauri mentioned that it looked good when others ran it, I gave it a go. It was pretty exciting racing down the chute towards the looming wall of water and then shooting up its’ face, through the spray at the top and then down through the trailing wave train.
Now that’s what I’m talking about! Photo by Lauri.
The course was pretty busy with numerous kayakers of various ages, skill levels and boat types (creek, play, slalom and even the odd inflatable), multiple rafts taking punters out for a white water thrill and even the SES running a swift water rescue course. Despite being busy there was still a lot of scope for doing what you wanted to do and everyone seemed to be having fun. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood, even if you don’t have a boat (hire boats available) or can’t kayak (spectators are welcome or you could do a raft trip).
A happy kayaker enjoying a day out at Penrith. Photo by Lauri.
Date: 13/1/11 River: Hunter River, Singleton, NSW, Australia. River Conditions: low flow, slow and brown. Weather Conditions: Sunny, hot and muggy. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 1 hours. Comments: It was a very hot and muggy and I had meant to explore the Hunter River for a while. I put in at the New England highway bridge and paddled upstream, the water was pretty shallow and dirty and the day was hot but it was still nice to be on a river. I managed to get within sight of the rail bridge but a small, shallow rapid prevented any further travel upstream. I paddled back down and spent about half an hour “playing” on a slight hole formed by a log or something. It was the kind of feature you wouldn’t notice normally but it was the best on offer that day so I enjoyed surfing it until it was time to go home. Not the most exciting trip but still pleasant.
Date: 5/12/10 River: Hunter River, New South Wales, Australia River Conditions: 10.4m at Singleton. Brown with lots of debris Grade 1+. Weather Conditions: Overcast, slight rain. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 0.5 hour. Comments: On the way home from the supermarket we noticed quite a bit of activity by the river, it was almost at the top of its channel and had spilled on to various low lying sports grounds and fields. It seemed to be an ideal opportunity for a paddle on the mighty Hunter River. I got changed and tossed my gear in the back of the 4×4 and headed down to the get in near the New Bridge but decided the were too many people there, especially as the SES (State Emergency Service) were launching their boats just where I had planned too. I felt there was a high likelihood of being told I couldn’t paddle the river if I put in there, so after some waiting and mild prodding from Lauri, I decided to head up to the railway bridge and try my luck there.
The SES head up stream as I prepare to launch. The river level is usually about 10m lower at this point. Photo by Lauri.
Not so many people at the car park and I grabbed my gear and headed slightly self consciously down to the river. The current didn’t look particularly strong but the was a lot of debris (logs and even some largish trees) floating down, which was definitely something to avoid. Just as I was getting the deck on, the SES boat went by so I gave them a friendly wave. Once on the river I headed upstream, eddy hopping from one group of partially submerged trees to another until I got as far as I could go. Had a brief chat to the SES guys, they didn’t seem to mind me being there (probably because I seemed competent and had the appropriate safety gear), though there was a comment in the Singleton Argus (local newspaper) that said the following…
“Mr Merrick said he was disappointed to find people in the floodwater. A couple of kayakers were out and another couple were seen in a fishing boat. None had life jackets. “Floodwater is dangerous, there are 44 gallon drums belting down the river, underneath the surface, you don’t know what is in the water, Mr Merrick said. We always carry spare props on our SES boats because floodwaters are strong enough to rip out props and then you are at the mercy of the current, it is not a wise place for people to be playing around”, Mr Merrick said.”
Of course I had a buoyancy aid and helmet on and was perfectly safe on a river that would be comparable to the Waimak during a Brass Monkey race, just with out any “rapids”. However, I was surprised that they weren’t using jet boats but I guess the probably have their reasons.
I paddled back down the the rail way bridge and did a couple of circuits round the bridge supports and then posed for a few photos from Lauri. Not exactly the most exciting paddle but it was nice to be on the river when it had a bit of flow.
A tree floats by the partially submerged poplars. Photo by Lauri.
I paddle up stream. Photo by Lauri.
Date: 30/10/10 River: Barrington River, New South Wales, Australia River Conditions: 0.7m at Forbesdale Causeway. Clear, easy flow. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Sunny and hot. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 1 hour. Comments: I decided to see if I could find some white water and so headed up to Gloucester, the closest centre to the Barrington Tops National Park, where I had been told white water kayaking actually happened. The info centre had some useful brochures and I headed out to the Barrington Outdoor Adventure Centre and had a chat to a couple of their guides, who provided plenty of useful information. They also had a copy of “Canoeing, A Guide to New South Wales”, a very useful book with plenty of colour photos of some nice looking rapids being run in an interesting range of long fibre glass and early plastic boats (a time when the Dancer was a state of the art, short play boat). I have since picked up a copy of my own from Paddle NSW, the states kayak association, and look forward to more exploring.
From Barrington, I headed up Barrington East Road and then across the Rocky Crossing flood-way. This marks the get out for the grade 2 section of the Barrington River, the water looked good and the flood-way formed a small wave below it but I carried on up the road that follows the river into the hills. I stopped and had a look at the river at The Cove, where a set of steps led down to a pool above a small grade 2 rapid which looked quite tempting. Further up the road I met a vehicle coming the other way with a couple of kayaks on, having probably paddled the grade 3 section between Cobark Junction and Bindera. I carried on up the road until I reached the gates at Bindera, where the put in for the grade 2 section is and the river can be accessed if permission is asked and a small fee paid. However being on my own and not fancying a long walking shuttle after a solo paddle down an unknown river, I headed back to The Cove.
The rapid below the put in at The Cove.
It was a hot day and it was nice get on the river, I had a bit of a warm up by paddling up the river to a small rapid about 500m upstream. I had a little play around there but wasn’t able to get any further up the river and so I headed back down stream. I ran the rapid pictured above and then spent about half an hour surfing the small holes at the bottom before paddling to a convenient get out about 50m downstream. It was really good to get back on a river and I look forward to running more of this river and exploring some of the others in the area when I get a chance.
Date: 13/9/10 Location: Penrith White Water Course, New South Wales, Australia River Conditions: Swift and very pushy. Grade 3. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on Water: 1 hour. Comments: I flew in to Sydney on my way to my new job in the Hunter Valley. After discovering that Sydney Airport is to the south of the CBD and the best way to avoid it was to head up to Singleton on the Putty Road (it goes through the township of Putty, hence the name) via Penrith . Of course as I was passing through Penrith, I really had to go and take a look at the white water course that was built for the Sydney Olympics. When I arrived the course was dry but I was told they would soon switch the pumps on for a rafting group. I was able to hire a boat and gear, which was lucky as my boat was heading down from Queensland on a truck at that stage. I ended up with a Bliss-Stick Smoothy play boat, but after a wobbly start and a swim whilst testing its performance on the bottom wave, I swapped it for a Mystic creek boat. I also tried to buy a nose clip to stop my head filling up with water when I tipped over, unfortunately none were available and this tended to really mess up my ability to roll.
This is the top end of the kayak conveyor belt.
After getting a feel for the boat (quite different from the Blitz but easier to handle than the Smoothy), I headed up the conveyor belt to the top of the run (we should get one of these fitted to the Maori Gully get out) and then headed on down catching the first couple of eddies, then things turned pear shaped and I ended up upside down. Without a nose plug, the quick succession of drops and the very pushy water meant I wasn’t likely to roll so I just bailed out and had a swim. I ended up with a grazed knee and a badly bruised thigh as I exited the boat. Getting the boat to shore was a little tricky as the concrete banks were kind of steep and emptying the water out was tricky given the volume of the boat, steepness of the banks and the fact that the bung was set up so it couldn’t be opened. I managed to do it but even getting the deck back on was tough. I probably provided a bit of amusement to a pair of kayaker practicing with their slalom boats, though they did seem to go over regularly, just they managed to roll back again.
This is the set of drops I swam down on my last run, though there was more water at the time.
I played it fairly carefully after that with limited success, only managing one clean run and that was basically bombing everything. I was quite surprised how pushy the water was, even trying to stay in one place in some of the eddies was quite difficult. My last run was a bit of a disaster and I was getting pretty tired from swimming and emptying the boat out (a full sized Mystic holds a lot of water). I tipped over on one of the early drops and managed to get the kayak to the side and emptied out. Once I got back in, I couldn’t get the deck on as it required both hands and if I didn’t hold on I got pushed out of the eddy and into the current again. After numerous attempts, I decided to run the next couple of drops without the deck and try getting it back on further down. This worked for a few drops but I was taking on water and soon ended up upside down and then swimming. The next set of drops came thick and fast with no chance of getting the kayak to the bank, I had some good dunkings as I bobbed down the centre of the rapids. Below the last drop in this set, one of the rafts full of punters on a “Boys Weekend” was surfing a hole in the middle of the channel. There was no opportunity to avoid them so I ducked under the raft and on surfacing swam to the bank, still holding on to the kayak and paddle. One of the raft instructors standing on the “beach” in this wider part of the channel and he pulled me in using the my outstretched paddle. Apparently on the course if you swim you are just supposed to abandon your kayak and swim for the shore (I’m not sure that quite works for me as my reflex is to hang on to my gear).
After emptying the boat out and a bit of a rest, I finished off the run and then had a little play around the bottom drop followed by yet another swim (my last). I decided to call it quits for the day as the water was going to be turned off soon and I was feeling particularly tired and beaten up. I did manage to preform a single practice roll before putting the gear away, but the feeling of my sinuses filling with water was pretty unpleasant and I’ll definitely make sure I have a nose clip next time. It was a fun way to spend part of a travel day and I certainly look forward to getting back down to Penrith with my own kayak and gear at some stage in the future.
This was a poem I wrote for a an ABC National Radio programme, just before we made what we thought would be a permanent move to the Hunter Valley in NSW. The photo below is of the Isaac River in flood and was submitted with the poem and was apparently displayed as part of a slide show of Australian rivers on the big screen overlooking Federation Square in Melbourne. The Isaac river is usually one long ribbon of sand, that snakes across the very flat landscape, hence the rivers of sand. The “rapid” pictured is best one I could find within 100km of Moranbah and only appeared after prolonged heavy rain, the waves are less than 30cm high. The poem itself wasn’t selected for broadcast, but it did sum up my feelings about the impending move, I hope it stirs something in you too.
Issac River in flood.
My River
My river is a young river in a young land, Carving its’ way through mountains, Still being formed, Dancing from rock to rock, Clear and fresh, Swift and cold.
I traded my land for a new land, A dry land, An old land. I traded my river for a river of gold, A river of coal, A river of sand.
The gold flows through my fingers, But never touches my hands. The coal flows to the sea, And off to foreign lands. The sand flows nowhere. You can’t paddle a river of sand.
The thirsty land, The dry river bed, The long thin water holes, A kayak in a shed, All wait, All wait for the rain.
I will move soon, A new town, A new river, Wide, slow and brown, But I will still wait for the rain, For the rain will bring the river to life.
Wherever I go, Wherever I travel, In my thoughts, In my dreams, I will still carry my river with me. It is the river that brings me to life.
Date: 21/8/10 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 30 cumecs at Ashley Gorge, water brown, swift and cold. Grade 3. Weather Conditions: Cold and overcast. Number on Trip: 3 people. Time on River: 3 hours. Comments:
Looking back up on of the rapids.
Catching a shower under a waterfall.
The people who consider that it is never too cold or too early to paddle the Ashley.
We had a good paddle down the lower gorge, going along at our own pace with some occasional play. 30 cumecs is quite a nice flow with water being swift enough and deep enough to keep things moving and the rocks covered but with out the scariness of higher flows but still retaining the technical aspects of the rapids. There was no dramas at all and I was the only one to experience any upside-down time (all quickly followed by a swift roll upright), tipping over after a couple of the major drops. The water was pretty cold so I definitely didn’t want to go for a swim. It was a good day out, followed by coffee at Seagars in Oxford. Thanks to Steel, Bruce and FaceBook for putting this trip together.
Date: 21/7/10 & 12/8/10 Location: Lake Elphinstone, Queensland, Australia. Conditions: Water brown, some wind chop. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, some wind. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on Water: Approximately 0.75 Hours each outing. Comments: A couple of trips to explore the lake and get some exercise. Very scenic and some interesting bird life on the shores.
Date: 3/4/10, 11/4/10, 25/4/10, 1/5/10 & 9/8/10 River: Grosvenor Creek, Near Moranbah, Queensland, Australia . River Conditions: Water clear & flat. Weather Conditions: Sunny & warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: Approximately 1 hour each outing. Comments: Back in Moranbah and more paddling on the placid waters of Grosvenor Creek, still it is better than not paddling.
Date: 30/3/10 River: Cattle Creek, Finch Hatton, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: 1.57m at Finch Hatton. Water clear and warm. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Overcast with sunny periods, warm with brief showers. Number on Trip: 2 people. Time on River: 2 Hours. Comments: After driving about 1200km up from Brisbane, I picked up my boat from Eton, where it had sat out the rainy season while I was back in New Zealand “enjoying” an extended period of unemployment and no pay. Noel was keen for a paddle and so was I and after sorting out my gear it was off to look for some white water. We looked at the Marian Falls section of the Pioneer River but Noel decided the flow was too high, so we headed off to do the Finch Hatton section of Cattle Creek. I was impressed with Noels paddling gear, Sweet helmet, fully featured BA, nice deck, all worn over the top of a pair of baggy, black budgie smugglers and a cotton button up shirt. I felt a little over dressed wearing poly pro and a paddle jacket with river shoes too. Still I did have my nastiest old yellow buoyancy vest and my $10 helmet on, which comprises my Australian paddling gear.
We were soon on the river and played around catching eddies and surfing waves. The water was warm and slow moving, and often very shallow (despite apparently having more water than when it was often run). Still there were some very nice play spots and I had some really good surfs and got plenty of rolling “practice” in as well. The best hole kept me surfing in it for a while as it was a bit difficult to get out of. Eventually after a certain amount of forward, backwards and some sideways surfing, I flipped and got flushed out. Great fun though. Noel had a brief swim for no particular reason (I thought he was just practicing a roll until I realised he wasn’t going to right himself), we go his boat to shore without too much drama but I did miss having a tow line on my BA. We also took a scenic route down a side channel complete with tropical vegetation, which was interesting and very nice but the lack of water meant it was more of a walk than a paddle. It was nice to be on a river again and my only disappointment has been that I haven’t been able to make white water kayaking a regular feature of my time in Queensland. There are some really friendly and helpful people there, and they have made me feel very welcome. Thanks Noel for a great day out.
Date: 7/3/10 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 16 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cold and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 5 people. Time on River: 3.5 Hours. Comments: Another trip up to the Hurunui organised by Bob for those not off to Buller Fest. There was a bit of waiting around at the Belfast Tavern for people who said they planned to come and then didn’t. We had a number of newer paddlers and the river was pretty low so we put on at Dozy Stream, below Devil’s Fang Falls. We worked our way slowly down the river, trying to catch as many eddies as possible, with Bob coaching the newer paddlers on correct technique and trying to encourage them to try things. I tried to work on pulling a “whoopie” but didn’t have much success. It is something I haven’t managed to really do since I sold the Super Sport and then it wasn’t deliberate. It was a great day out and everyone had a good time, even if there was the odd swim (not me).
Another perfect day on the Hurunui. Breaking out from an eddy to run one of the drops in Maori Gully.
Date: 21/2/10 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 27 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cold and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Sunny, warm with light nor-westers. Number on Trip: 6 people. Time on River: 4.5 Hours. Comments: Sometimes if you want to go paddling, you have to organise the trip yourself. By Saturday I had enough people going to make the trip worthwhile (safe) but then a couple of the beginners who had expressed interest dropped out, which technically simplified things (made it safer still). Of course with Steel and Bruce coming, any extras were just a bonus when it came to shuttling vehicles. However when it came to meeting at the car park on Sunday morning, there were more people who hadn’t told me they were coming than those that had. Now with Bob and Murray along as well, we had plenty of experience to share with Hannah, who had done the beginners course the previous season but hadn’t paddled much since. We piled in to Bob and Steel’s cars and headed for the Hurunui. A brief stop at the Maori Gully take out to say hi to some other paddlers, then up to look at Devil’s Fang Falls. Had a brief chat with Hugh and John H, who were taking their respective partners down the river, Hugh in his cataraft and John in tyre tubes. We decided to put in at South Branch and unloaded our gear there and got changed while Bob and Steel drove the cars to the take out.
Thing’s started to go wrong when Bob and Steel got back, having hitched a lift back to the put in, and Murray realised he had left his spray deck in the car. After some discussion he decided he’d probably be ok paddling down to Seawards without it, however when he discovered that he’d also left his buoyancy aid at home, he decide that he’d just walk back to the car. We paddled off, leaving Murray on the bank to try and catch a ride back.
The run down the South Branch to the Hurunui’s main stem, was a nice warm up and an opportunity for Bob and Bruce to pass on some tips to Hannah. We also to the spent a little bit of time surfing, practicing rolls and ferry gliding. Once on the main stem, there was more practice and playing as we made our way down to Dozy Stream. Most of the group decided to walk Devil’s Fang Falls, Bruce had to make sure Hannah was ok and Steel had to get into position to take the photos and did an excellent job (see below).
Running Devil’s Fang Falls. Steel had to walk this rapid to get into position to take this photo. He would have run it if he was in his RPM.
We had a little bit of a float about while the rest of the group got back in their boats and it was off down to Seawards where we hoped to be reunited with a correctly outfitted Murray. However when we arrived at the put in for Maori Gully, there was no sign of Murray so after a short break we decided to just carry on. Despite earlier reservations and with much encouragement from the rest of us, Hannah decided to run Maori Gully for the first time.
Bob (left) & Steel (right) play on the Magic Roundabout.
Hannah had no problems with the Elevator as she ran Maori Gully for the first time.
Steel drops down the Cheese Grater, which apparently provided John H a few bruises that day, when he ran using only a rubber car tube.
There was no drama, Hannah ran the Gully like a pro and I think I was the only one who even took a roll, after I rushed my exit from Grandstand Eddy and missed my line down Cheese Grater. It was a really good day out and we took our time getting down the river and really enjoyed every little bit of it. It was also good to see so many other people out on the river, either kayaking, rafting, tubing or swimming as it was such a perfect day.
A spot of cliff jumping and a swim at the Maori Gully get out. Steel said we had to do it. Photo by Steel.
We rounded off the day by repeatedly jumping off the cliff at the get out, though we all forgot to shout “Steel’s the Man” as leapt, apparently it is an important part of the tradition. Murray was waiting at the get out, having run in his wet suit bootees to Dozy Stream and then “shuttled” Hugh’s car to the Maori Gully take out. Hugh was quite surprised to see his car driving towards him as he went to pick it up with Chris & Helen. Caught up with a number of other kayakers at the take out, including some that I hadn’t seen for a while, then back to town before Lauri noticed we were running late.
Date: 11/2/10 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 15 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cold and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Overcast and a little cool, but still a nice day. Number on Trip: 3 people. Time on River: 2.45 Hours. Comments: After failing to pull together a trip for last Sunday, the Coast to Coast on Saturday and no prospect of paddling on Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d try for a week day paddle. Only Brian responded to my message so the two of us planned to run the Hurunui on Thursday. I tried to get a few extra people but there wasn’t much interest, fortunately Bob joined us at the last minute so we had a safer number and I had someone to rescue me if I screwed up. We took my car as my roof racks were a slightly better configuration for white water boats than Brian’s, this also meant I’d be riding the shuttle on my mountain bike instead of Brian.
We drove up to the Maori Gully get out, got changed and left the bike and dry clothes in the bushes. After that we had to decide where to put in, just doing Maori Gully seemed a little short and so we decided to put in at Dozy Stream, which still kept the shuttle afterwards fairly short. We had a look at Devil’s Fang Falls before putting in, but at 15 cumecs it was way too boney and would have been a bit messy to run. Still we did have a bit of a play around in the white water just below the rapid as a bit of a warm up before setting off down the river.
Looking down the Hurunui from the road above the Dozy Stream put in. I ended up swimming near the rocky bluff on the right, note the almost complete lack of rapids there, oops.
Just down from the get in, I messed up catching a small eddy, hit the bluff below it and tipped over. Pushed up against the bluff, I couldn’t get my paddle into position to roll up and ended up taking a swim and looking just a little bit silly. I was soon back in my boat and then took the opportunity to practice a couple of rolls without drama, though I will require some additional practice if I want to hand roll the Blitz.
We took our time making our way down the river to Seawards, surfing where we could and trying to get Brian to practice ferry gliding, catching eddies and to lean his boat whilst doing these things. The Eddy of Doom was particularly cruisy at 15 cumecs and it was really good to be able to surf across the river from one side to the other without difficulty.
Maori Gully was pretty cruisy too, we played on the Magic Roundabout, even Brian tried some daring moves, cutting in behind the rocks until he ended up inverted and took a swim. Simon’s Hole was a shadow of it’s usual self, with the rock that forms it sticking up above the water. I ran down the left side of it but still wasn’t keen to try surfing it. The first couple of rock gardens were fine but we had more drama at The Elevator and Brian ended up standing behind the rock in the middle of the river with his boat, just like Andy on the previous trip. No need to break out the throw ropes this time though, as Bob just told Brian to jump in and swim for it and that seem to work. Not to let the rapid beat him, Brian walked back up with his boat to run it again, but this time he was ready. Similar result on the second run but this time he rolled up and actually caught the eddy behind the rock and then managed to break out and head down stream. All was going well until he ran into a rock near Bob and came out of his boat again.
Brian successfully negotiates The Elevator, but remember to watch out for the rock at the bottom left of the photo Brian.
After breaking out of Grandstand Eddy, Bob runs the drop.
On the next drop, both Bob and I caught the Grandstand Eddy with some difficulty due to the low flown and then made the drop without any drama. Brian just ran it straight with no problems either. The last rapid was all good too, both Bob and I surfed the bottom hole and it rocked. I got my boat vertical before flipping it, rolled up no problem, all good.
Bob surfs the wave on the last major rapid in Maori Gully.
Then off to the get out with the lovely climb up the hill. Filled out the log book, got changed and then mounted my trusty bike for the ride back to the car. The ride was a little harder than expected due to a unexpected uphill section (I didn’t notice it in the car) and some tooth rattling corrugations on the fast down hill sections, still it was some extra exercise and I was soon back at the car. Drove back to the get out, loaded up and headed back to town with only a brief stop in Amberley for milk shakes and ice creams.
Date: 31/1/10 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 22 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cold and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Overcast and a little cool, but still a nice day. Number on Trip: 31 people. Time on River: 3.5 Hours. Comments: Arriving at the Belfast Tavern, you could tell this was going to be a big trip, there were cars, boats and people everywhere. Boats were stacked on cars and the people piled in and it was off to the put in at South Branch. I got a ride up with Ross, who I hadn’t seen for quite awhile and it was nice to catch up. There was the obligatory stop at Devil’s Fang Falls, to check lines and instil fear. I liked (if liked is the correct word) the right hand line except for the rock “fang” at the bottom, Murray preferred the far left drop into the seething cauldron of white water line and Bob M thought he’d adopt the more sensible “get out and walk so I don’t bash myself on a rock” line.
Kayakers inspecting Devil’s Fang Falls near Dozy Stream.
After some thought it was back in the cars and off to the put in at South Branch, we got changed and sorted ourselves into smaller groups and waited while the shuttle got run. We were soon on the river and trying to keep in our groups, however as different people had different paddling priorities the actual groupings didn’t seem to last long. A lot of people seem to paddle creek boats these days but there were still a reasonable number of people in play boats who were keen to make the most of the rapids, though nothing like it was a few years back. Still we had a good time making our way down to Dozy Stream, with my only memorable incident being bashed along one side by an under cut rock after missing a very tight eddy that formed part of a small rapid in a side channel and going down the rest of the rapid backwards.
Eventually the corner above Devil’s Fang Falls came into view and paddlers started to set up there lines according to their skills, confidence or pure recklessness. A number of paddlers opted for the far left hand channel and then got out and walked past the rapid or waited on the bank to see how the others fared. I followed Bob and Murray down and then duck into an eddy above the main rapid to check out their lines. Murray disappeared down the the left hand side and I watched the nose of his boat shoot in to the air at the bottom. Scratch that line, I thought. Bob stopped in the right hand eddy just above the rapid and then got out, as did a few others, but several paddlers did take the right hand channel without drama so I headed on down. No problems at the top and it was then straight down the chute with a brace off the rooster tail at the bottom and a quick turn in to the eddy, no worries! Once in position at the bottom I was able to take a few photos of the other paddlers on my new waterproof digital camera as they came over the drop.
This guy was upside down and backwards at the top of the rapids and then bounced all the way down the rapid in one of the most impressive runs of the day.
A flawless run.
The not so successful left hand line.
The group reconsolidated as people got back into there boats or just milled about in the big pool at the Dozy Stream get in. The trip down to Seawards was pretty cruisy, catching eddies and playing where possible. At Seawards, a few people got out to shuttle the remaining vehicles and the rest carried on down Maori Gully. We had a bit of a play at the Magic Roundabout.
Kayo and Barry play on the Magic Roundabout at the start of Maori Gully.
The first couple of rapids didn’t present much trouble but when I approached the first actual drop, The Elevator, something didn’t seem to be right. I moved up to the eddy above the drop to get a better look and to try to find out what was happening. Apparently someone had got stuck in the hole behind a rock in the centre of the river and had come out of his boat. When I got in there, the guy was already standing up behind the rock and Barry and Kayo were throwing lines to him. His boat was towed free first and then he got dragged back to shore. Incidentally it was the same guy who tried to run Devil’s Fang Falls upside down and backwards, some people really like to do things the hard way.
Kayo and Barry rescue a boat…
… and then the kayaker from The Elevator. Good work.
Possibly Ross running The Elevator, featured in the previous photos.
I ran the drop and got in position to take a few more photos as the other kayakers came down the river. There was another spill and the camera was quickly put away as the kayaker and boat parted company. The kayaker was swiftly rescued but we had problems getting the boat to shore and the next drop was rapidly approaching. After warning the other kayakers downstream of the approaching kayakerless boat, I attempted to pop into Grandstand Eddy but left it a little late and dropped down the nasty, narrow chute on the hard left. I managed to catch up with the kayak and a group of us managed to get it to the bank to be reunited with its careless owner.
Kayo runs the drop whilst Barry waits in Grandstand Eddy.
I was looking forward to the last major rapid of Maori Gully, as the last couple of times I’ve run it down the left hand side and thus missed out on getting into the eddy on the right that allows you to play on the river wide wave/hole at the bottom of the rapid. Today I got it right, punched through one of the early holes and got myself it to the right hand eddy at the bottom. I broke out and surfed across the river, it was sweet. Once I hit the far bank, I turned back and proceeded to surf the large hole there, it was going great until I got sideways and flipped. I couldn’t seem to get my roll to work and I seemed to be hitting rocks or something. Running out of breath, I pulled the deck, there was another kayaker near by, but as I was near the shore and at the bottom of the rapid, I just swam to the bank clutching my paddle and towing my kayak. As I stood on the bank emptying the water out of my kayak and catching my breath, the other kayaker came over and apologised for making me swim, apparently she came through the hole while I was upside down and her boat got caught up on mine. I’d never have know if she hadn’t told me, I just assumed it was my crappy roll that was to blame. I was pretty happy anyway as it was an awesome surf and well worth the swim.
The Pop Spot was probably too low to really work nicely and I kept hitting the bottom with my kayaks nose, so not quite as much fun as usual. I was the last off the river and up the hill but we managed to get home around 5pm so Lauri was happy and I was happy having had a great day out in my kayak.
Date: 16/1/10 River: Dam near Water Treatment Reservoir, Moranbah, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water clear & flat. Weather Conditions: Sunny & warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: Approximately 1 hour. Comments: I discovered this smallish lake whilst on a mountain bike ride. It is near the Moranbah water supply reservoir (from which it is fed) and it possibly provides a lot of the water in Grosvenor Creek. I’d been told about the dam by some kids a while back but hadn’t spotted it from either Google Earth or from near the road. This dam is quite picturesque, surrounded by tall reeds and overlooked by a bit of a rocky bluff (the wrecked cars that have been pushed off the bluff don’t add to the otherwise lovely scene). I had a nice little paddle about but it isn’t exactly the place to practice rolling, just a little too much algae/scum floating on the surface in a few places. Still it was nice to watch the sun set from the water and then head off to the Mac Camp for dinner.
Date: 11/1/10, 20/1/10, & 22/1/10 River: Grosvenor Creek, Near Moranbah, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water clear & flat. Weather Conditions: Sunny & warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: Approximately 1 hour each outing. Comments: More after work paddling around on Grosvenor Creek trying to imagine gnarly rapids or at least a current. On one trip I did get out of my boat and across the log that normally prevents me paddling further upstream. Not much of note as the river gets shallower before petering out about 500m past the log.
Date: 28/12/09 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 52 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cold and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, with occasional NE winds gusts. Number on Trip: 7 people (5 doing Maori Gully). Time on River: 2.5 Hours. Comment: I’d been looking forward to getting out in my kayak again, especially on some white water, as kayaking in my part of Queensland isn’t exactly thrilling with largely no water. After a bit of confusion at the meeting point over times, boats were loaded on cars and we were soon on our way. Once out of Christchurch, the sky cleared and it was a beautiful day. We put in at Jollie Brook and had a bit of a “refresher” paddle as a number of us hadn’t been doing as much paddling as we’d like. It was nice to see a family group with their collection of old school kayaks and an inflatable, out enjoying the river too.
Off down the river catching eddies and surfing holes, ducked behind one rock and flipped, no swimming this time as my “practice” roll worked perfectly on the second try but this boosted my confidence for the rest of the trip. It was good to be on the river again and the others felt the same way. There were a few nerves as we approached Devil’s Fang Falls (now regard as the hardest rapid on the river), we had looked at it from the road, discussed various lines but it was still a bit daunting once on the river. Graeme decided to walk the rapid, while the rest of us ran it without much drama, just a few rolls at the bottom. Susie was pleased to have run it for the first time despite feeling apprehensive at the top.
Colin and I ducked into the old Eddy of Doom whilst everyone else paddled past on the right hand side, even Chris M (we hassled him about that later). Not much drama getting out again, but at the 50 cumecs it meant coming quite close to the face of the bluff. Hugh and Graeme got out at Seawards and the rest of us continued on through Maori Gully. Had a brief play on the Magic Roundabout, checked in to the Grandstand Eddy and then down the drop, missed the bottom eddy on the last major rapid after taking a line down the left hand side so no surfing (or getting caned) on the hole at the bottom. Down to the Pop Up spot for a little bit of vertical action, then off to the get out and the big climb up the hill.
Stopped off at the Hawarden Tavern for a cider and then back to overcast, grey Christchurch. Another great day out on the Hurunui thanks to Graeme W, who organised the trip, and Colin H, Hugh C, who leaked the details on Facebook.
Date: 3/11/09, 5/11/09, 6/11/09, 7/12/09 & 8/12/09 River: Grosvenor Creek, Near Moranbah, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water clear & flat. Weather Conditions: Sunny & warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: Approximately 1 hour each outing. Comments: This spot is up stream from where I used to paddle and the water is deeper and clearer than the down stream section. There is about 500m of flat water paddle on the bottom section seems to be a popular swimming hole for the local kids. The first day I went down for a paddle, I noticed a few plastic bottles etc floating in the river and decided I should do a little clean up. So about 3 hours later I was off to the Moranbah landfill with 8 full rubbish bags. Two days later, I was back and had another nice paddle and picked up another load of rubbish, a lot of which was fresh. I also noticed a number of small (probably poisonous) snakes swimming around in the river and so decided to take extra, special care retrieving bottles from the grass at the rivers edge (where the snakes tended to be). The next day I repeated the process though there was only a little rubbish this time. The last couple of times I just paddled and ignored the limited amount of rubbish.
One of the more scenic spots in Moranbah, complete with year round water. Let’s all keep it tidy then!
Date: 25/10/09 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 50 cumecs at Mandamus. Water clear, cold and swift. Grade 2 (3). Weather Conditions: Sunny but cool, with NE winds gusts. Number on Trip: 5 people. Time on River: 4 Hours. Comments: This was my first white water trip in New Zealand in a while, I’d been trying to get a trip arranged for a while now but wasn’t having much luck getting one off the ground. The weekend I was home was a long weekend but I wasn’t able to spare a couple of days for an away trip, so I decided to organise my own trip up to the Hurunui. I put a general call out via Bob Spam but with bad weather looming and a lot of people planning to be out of town, the response was less than stellar. Still with a couple of days to go and an improving weather forecast, we had enough for a good day out.
We met up at the Belfast Tavern and admired the new fences and asphalt of the car park and hope this didn’t mean that they’d changed they policy on non-patrons leaving their cars there. We decided to run the Hurunui from Jollie Brook down to Seawards and then for anyone keen, a run through Maori Gully. It was a beautiful sunny day but I was feeling pretty nervous on the drive up, worried that I’d forgotten how to paddle. At Seawards we changed in to our paddling gear, stacked all 5 boats on the roof of Colin’s’ car and all squeezed in for the drive up to the put in.
Once on the water the initial worries dissipated as I practiced ferry glides, surfing and breaking in and out of eddies. it seemed like I still remembered how to paddle. After a bit of practice around Jollie Brook, we headed down stream, cutting in behind rocks and surfing waves as we made our way down. At the first rapid I caught the eddy above the big rock and then broke out to have a surf, caught the tail and flipped upside down, botched my roll and washed up against the bluff. Not feeling too happy to be underwater and unable to roll, I pulled my deck and swam. The water was cold but I was soon on the opposite bank emptying the water out of my kayak. I guess that’s what happens when haven’t done even a practice roll in a while (I prefer to keep my head above water in most of the places I paddle in Australia). Once I was back in my boat I felt a lot better, the worst had happened and it wasn’t that bad, I felt my confidence return. However as soon as we reached some flat water, it was time to practice a few rolls before they were needed again. It felt great to be on the river again and I was soon back into swing of things, feeling confidant again. Everything started to feel natural again and I revelled in the freedom of the river, visiting all the old, familiar spots. Devil’s Fang Falls was a bit daunting but I watched the others go down and followed their lead. I ran it just left of centre and almost tipped at the bottom but managed to brace and pulled a move that got me into the eddy below the drop with the others and regained some of my paddling cred and a good helping of self confidence. I had a hard time getting out off the Eddy of Doom but eventually made it out by skirting the bluff.
The run through Maori Gully was great, I was feeling pretty good by then and at 50 cumecs the flow just sweeps through, largely washing out the drops or turning them in to waves or holes and flushing you through any of the holes you may fall in. The gully went by pretty quick, then a brief stop at the Pop Up Spot for a little bit of fun, then down to the get out and the long climb up to the car. It was so nice to be back on the river, thanks guys for a great trip.
Date: 13/5/09 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, New Zealand. River Conditions: 154 cumecs at SH1 Bridge. Water discoloured, cold and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Cold, grey with a bit of wind. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 0.60 Hour. Comments: On break and back in New Zealand and on a river for the first time in a while. This was my first and possibly only Brass Monkey training session. I paddled the Invader up from the Highway Bridge while Lauri supervised from the bank to make sure I didn’t pike! Seal launched from the bank and felt pretty wobbly in the round hulled Invader after the super stable, planar hull Dagger GT. A little play on a minor chute and the to the hard grind of trying to paddle up the swiftly flowing river. Said “hi” to a group of race boaters finishing their practice runs and then chatted a little to Colin R. Completed three “circuits” before calling it quits and getting warm and dry again. Nice to be out on a river with actual flowing water and plenty of it, lets keep it that way.
Date: 30/4/09 Location: Lake Elphinstone, Queensland, Australia. Conditions: Water brown, flat and calm. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on Water: Approximately 1.5 Hours. Comments: It was another nice day with not too much to do so I threw the kayak in the back of the ute and head off for a paddle on the Burton Gorge Dam. Unfortunately when I got there, numerous “Keep Out!” signs had sprung up all over the place and there was a chain across the access track. Bugger, someone must have seen me out on the dam before, oh well scratch that plan. The alternatives were either go home or drive further up the road to Lake Elphinstone. Since I was almost there and had my kayak with me, it wasn’t a hard decision. The lake looked much better in reality than it did on Google Earth and I was soon on the water. Quite beautiful, surrounded by low hills and forest, but the only excitement was trying to “play” on the wake of the speed boat that was spoiling the otherwise tranquil setting. This was a pleasant way to spend an otherwise dull afternoon and I watched the sun set behind the hills whilst still on the water. Packed up, coordinated a few drilling related matters from the lake shore then raced back to town to get my time sheet off before 7pm, not a bad days work in the mines.
An aerial view from Google Earth of the lake formed by the Burton Gorge Dam. The put in is near the “W” in the middle, that’s where the dam blocks off the Isaac River.
Date: 25/3/09 Location: Burton Gorge Dam, Isaac River, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water brown, flat with minor waves due to strong wind. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, strong wind. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on Water: 1 Hour. Comments: The drillers were casing our current hole so the geologist got to go exploring. I’d been up to the Burton Gorge Dam before but the lack of access and the odd, scary “Keep Out” signs, the warnings about blue-green algae plus the lack of access to the water scared me off. But this time I didn’t see any signs and managed to find the access track to the dam. There was no one about and after taking a few photos of the lake and the dam I got changed and wandered down to the lake shore with my kayak. The Burton Gorge Dam was built above the Burton Gorge, where the Isaac River has cut through a set of low hills, and stores the water what would otherwise flow down past Moranbah. The lake was the colour of milky coffee, due to all the suspended fine sediments and looked kind of funny. There was a strong wind blowing across the lake, forming smallish waves and pushing water over the top of the dam, I decided to keep well away from that as I didn’t fancy getting pushed over the dam. It was fun to be out and the wind blown waves added an extra dynamic to the experience. No one told me off for being there so it must have been ok.
The Burton Gorge Dam stores all the water that would otherwise flow down the Isaac River and get lost in the sea.
The Burton Gorge Dam. Note the little island and the lovely brown water. Only 60km from Moranbah and a nice spot for a paddle but now difficult to access (thanks guys).
Date: 28/2/09 River: Isaac River, from railway bridge above Moranbah to Peak Downs Highway Bridge, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water brown, sluggish and warm. Grade 1+. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 2 people. Time on River: Approximately 1 Hour. Comments: The Isaac River was still flowing so James and I headed up to the local “play hole” for some fun. The flow was lower than a couple of days before so paddling upstream was not an option, so we towed the boat up the bank to one of the few rapids on the local stretch of the river. The rapid is pretty shallow and tame but beggars can’t be choosers and it was on the best rapids that I knew of within 100km (actually there is very little flowing water at all within 100km). We had a pretty good time surfing back and forth and taking turns with the boat, James did well and had fun, he would have been keen to get a kayak if there was more water about. Once we were finished, I floated the boat back down to the bridge, floating through the deeper sections and wading through the parts to shallow to paddle.
The local “play spot” on the Isaac River, best rapid I know of within 100km of Moranbah. Photo by James.
Date: 26/2/09 River: Isaac River, from railway bridge above Moranbah to Peak Downs Highway Bridge, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water brown, sluggish and warm. Flow at Goonyella 0.17m. Grade 1+. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 2.75 Hours. Comments: Rain had made many of the tracks around Eagle Downs too muddy for the drill crew to get out to the rig so I headed back to town. Mick offered to drop me and my kayak off at the railway bridge above town and James offered to pick me up at the highway bridge at the other end. We turned off the main road on to the muddy railway track, ignoring the “No Trespassing” signs threaten fines of up to $2000 and headed down to the river. There was a little, rocky rapid under the railway bridge, where the road forded the river but with a possible spectator in a mine truck on the bank, I didn’t have much of a play just in case I did something stupid. The river was pretty flat and sluggish but it was nice to just drift along, not having to paddle too hard, very relaxing, just being able to watch the banks slide by and too enjoy the peace and solitude of the location. That was until the driller phoned up to say they were on site and were planned to start drilling once they ran their rods in. This changed the pace of the trip to a hard out grunt of Brass Monkey like proportions (only a lot warmer and the river slower). It was pretty gruelling but there wasn’t much in the way of rapids to distract me from my task but I was glad to see the rapid 500m above the highway bridge that indicated the trip was coming to an end. I had a quick play there and headed for home. James was waiting at the bridge, which was a welcome sight. I got the gear packed away and then it was back to town for a quick change then out to site only to find that they hadn’t started drilling after all, thanks guys! An exhausting day out but nice to have got to paddle this section of the river.
Date: 15/2/09 River: Cattle Creek, Senninis Road section, Near Finch Hatton, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water clear and swift. Grade 2+. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: Approximately 1.5 Hours. Comments: I was unable to sort out a trip for the Sunday before I flew home so I spent the morning at this lovely spot. This was where Mick was going to take us before he decide to do the O’Connell River, I wouldn’t have known the spot actually existed, let alone managed to stumble upon it, if it wasn’t for his information, a little bit of local knowledge goes a long way. So with nothing else to do before flying back to New Zealand, I headed out to the small township of Finch Hatton. A little way past the township is a sweeping left hand bend and this is where Senninis Road branches off the main road to Eungella. I followed the gravel track up to a place with a clear view of a rather nice rapid and a good place to park the 4×4. The rapid consisted of crystal clear water flowing over smooth granite bedrock.
The put in for the Cattle Creek run up along Senninis Road near Finch Hatton, Queensland.
The first rapid for the Cattle Creek run.
I had the river all to myself and ran the rapid multiple times and then spent some time surfing some of the holes. It was a beautiful warm day and it was great to be paddling in just a short sleeved paddle jacket. I still got hot and spent some time swimming around one of the lower eddies and just floating with my buoyancy aid. There was quite a bit of litter around and so I cleaned it up, as my way of saying thank you. Chatted with a few locals who arrived for a swim and a picnic before heading back to Mackay to catch my flight to Brisbane.
Date: 14/2/09 River: O’Connell River, Near Mackay, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water clear and swift. Grade 2+. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Overcast and light rain later in day. Number on Trip: 3 people. Time on River: 3 Hours. Comments: I’d booked flights home and was all set to head home on Monday with a brief stop over visit with an old school friend in Brisbane. However we had heavy rain and the hitch ended abruptly a couple of days early. Flights over the weekend were full so there was no way I could make it home to spend Valentines Day with Lauri. Still every cloud has a silver lining and I was now trapped in Moranbah, with a kayak on a weekend and it had just rained heavily so the rivers were up. Talk about a lucky coincidence, this was too good to pass up. Mick had been keen to take me paddling but I was generally stuck at work when the opportunities arouse. Arrangements were made, bags packed and kayaking gear was loaded into the truck and I left Moranbah early on Saturday morning to rendezvous with Caleb in Mackay.
I picked Caleb up from Mitre 10 in Mackay and we debated if we needed to get his mountain bike for the shuttle run. We decided we didn’t need it as we had two cars so we should be ok. We then headed out of town to meet Mick at the take out for the O’Connell River. We had original planned to do a run on Cattle Creek but Mick was keen to try the O’Connell River as he didn’t think it had been kayaked before and he had been wanting to run it for a while. No one knew exactly what to expect and I was a little bit nervous as I hadn’t paddled the Dagger GT on any real white water and I was feeling a bit rusty as well.
We met Mick at the flood-way (translation: a low concrete bridge/ford) and drove through the shallow, clear water that covered the road. This was not what I expected, I thought Australian white water would have a browner hue. We put the kayaks on my 4×4, changed into our paddling gear, as Mick finished strapping on his special kayaking armour (this was a slightly worrying sign). Then we all squeezed into the single cab of the Hilux and headed up the track. Halfway through a particularly boggy part I realised I should have changed down a gear and had it in low ratio 4 wheel drive. We didn’t get stuck, by the skin of our teeth, but it did mean we wouldn’t be using Mick’s car to run the shuttle, still that was a problem for later, now was the time to go paddling!
The first drop was probably the most daunting and I was hoping I still remember how to paddle. Mick paddled it first and provided safety at the bottom while I paddle it. No drama, just dropped over the edge, disappear for a short while and then me and the Dagger GT with all its extra volume, popped to the surface, sweet! I then waited with a throw rope for Caleb, 3 for 3, all down and no rolls. The river was beautiful, clear water flowing over large granite boulders as it rolled through a mixture of farm land and forest with no crocodiles. Just like some of the rivers back home, a sentiment I expressed a number of times, earning the nick name Christchurch.
Mick runs the first drop without any drama. Photos thanks to Mick B.
Caleb lines up on the drop. Photo thanks to Mick B.
My turn, line up & off the drop…
…into the hole…
…and paddle out. All good.
As we got further down the river, my confidence in myself and my kayak increased and I got to do a bit more playing. The Dagger GT, with its 257L volume, was no where near as playful as my Blitz (with a volume of 185L) but it surf reasonably well, resurfaced quickly and was a good stable platform (no rolls for me). Caleb commented on the fact that my kayak “seemed more stable than his”, round bottomed RPM, because I didn’t tip over at all. Whilst technically true but Mick thought it was quite funny considering that I’ve been paddling a lot longer than Caleb and have a little bit more experience at the not tipping over side of things.
We were cruising along, not worrying too much about what was up ahead, Mick leading the way while I pottered along at the rear, catching eddies and surfing holes, just revelling in being out on such fine white water after such a long paddling drought. About halfway down the route got confused with the river flowing through a number of trees growing out of the usually dry river bed. We took the left “channel”, which seemed clearer, but suddenly Mick was shouting “STOP”, worried about what was ahead, we slammed on our brakes and then things got a bit messy and Caleb ended up upside-down. The roll didn’t work, with the trees and tight confines and he was soon swimming. Without much drama we had him back in his kayak, we vowed to be less blasé about paddling an unknown river.
Caleb runs one of the later rapids taking care to avoid the trees. Great rapids and scenery, very like the West Coast at home. Photo thanks to Mick B.
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful but definitely memorable, the scenery was great (just like being home), plenty more nice rapids and the company was great too. It was really nice to be so warmly welcomed by the local paddlers, hopefully we extend a suitably warm welcome to Mick when he’s over here (NZ) paddling.
Eventually we were back down at the flood-way where we had left Mick’s car. We got into our dry clothes and then attended to the shuttle. Since we couldn’t take Mick’s car up the 4×4 track and we didn’t bring the mountain bike, there was only one thing to do. So Caleb and I walked the approximately 9km back to where I’d left the vehicle. Since the track was under water in places, I wore my paddle shoes and my feet were pretty tired after we made it to the car. Then it was just a matter of driving back to Mick, picking up our boats and gear and heading back to Mackay. I was pretty exhausted by the time I checked into a motel but I had a really great day, paddled some very nice water and got to meet some good people. Thanks to Mick and Caleb for showing me some Mackay/Airly Beach hospitality.
Date: 11/2/09, 13/2/09 River: Grosvenor Creek, Near Moranbah, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water brown and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Raining/overcast. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: Approximately 1 hour each outing. Comments: Heavy rain had brought the creek up and a little rapid had formed below the running track.
Not the best photo but it is one of the few of me (behind the tree) kayaking the mighty Grosvenor Creek “Rapid”. The walkway marker post in the fore ground was washed over a couple of days later when the river got even higher.
Grosvenor Creek “Rapid”, a “park & play” spot near the Red Bucket, Moranbah.
Looking along the popular running track that crosses the river.
Date: 10/2/09 River: Grosvenor Creek, Isaac River confluence, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water brown, warm and flowing very slowly. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Hot, generally overcast. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: Approximately 1 hour. Comments: This was an attempt to see how far up Grosvenor Creek I could paddle, probably only about 500m before it became too shallow. There is a lot of wood in the creek and I spent some time jumping a log that sat just below the surface of the water.
Grosvenor Creek (left) joins the Isaac River near the Peak Downs Highway Bridge. The photo was taken a couple of days later when the river level had risen to conceal the barbed wire fence in the fore ground (when I was there I was able to paddle under it as almost no water was flowing down either river).
Date: 5/1/09, 8/1/09, 17/1/09, 4/2/09 River: Grosvenor Creek, Near Moranbah, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water brown, warm and not flowing at all. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Hot! Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: Approximately 1 hour each outing. Comments: This is the closest water to town and offers about 500m of flat water paddling. There is water in the creek all year round however by Christmas it had got quite stagnant and I was keen to paddle in it. However just before the start of my January hitch, heavy rain topped up the creek and flushed it out so that it started flowing again. It was nice to be out on a river and to be able to practice with the new boat. On my first outing I let a couple of local kids, who were swimming in the creek (yuck!), try out the GT and they seemed to enjoy themselves.
Date: 14/12/08 River: Therese Creek Dam, Near Clermont, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water clear, warm and not flowing at all. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Hot and sunny. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 1.5 hour. Comments: Rain prevented access to our work site again so I grabbed the kayak and headed to explore the Clermont area in search of water. There was some water flowing in both Nine Mile and Cherwell Creeks thanks to the rains that closed our site but not much so I kept on going. I eventually arrived in Clermont and checked out the “Lagoon”, it looked a bit like the duck pond in Hagley Park, so kept going on to Therese Creek Dam, which I’d spotted on Google Earth. The dam formed a reasonably sized lake and I had a fun time paddling about on it. There was a number of power boats towing skiers but these where easy to avoid. I did notice after getting off the water that you weren’t supposed to boat/swim within 200m of the intake (pictured below).
Therese Creek Dam. No crocs or flowing water here but still a nice place for a paddle.
Date: 9/12/08 River: Possibly Back Creek, Nebo Shire, Queensland, Australia. River Conditions: Water brown, warm and not flowing at all. Grade 1. Weather Conditions: Hot, sunny with occasional cloudy spells. Number on Trip: 1 person. Time on River: 1 hour. Comments: This was my first paddle in my new Dagger GT. I’d been looking for a suitable place to paddle and decided to head to Nebo and see what I could find. That turned out to be nothing and so I turned off and headed for Sarina. I didn’t get far down the road before coming across this swimming hole. It was probably about100m long with enough width and depth for a bit of a paddle, plus the odd log sticking out of the water for “slalom” practice. Not exactly the Hurunui (or even the Avon for that matter) but it was still fun to be on the water and to put my new boat through its paces. I wasn’t keen to practice a roll even though water was warmer than some of Christchurch’s heated swimming pools, the dirty brown water and the thoughts of what it might be hiding put me off. I’ll probably return to this spot again after the rains as it has some rocks at the head of the pool which may form some kind of feature with a reasonable flow, might even be an interesting “park & play” spot!
My Dagger GT at a swimming hole on an unknown river near Nebo, Queensland. No crocs but no flowing water either, might check out again when it rains.
Date: 13/7/08 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 44 cumecs at Ashley Gorge, water brown, swift and cold. Grade 3. Weather Conditions: Cold but sunny. Number on Trip: 9 people. Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: This was possibly last kayaking trip. I got back from Australia late Friday night / early Saturday morning and had planned to do the Brass Monkey race on Sunday morning as it was the only one that coincided with me being in Christchurch. I checked the river flows and realised that with a flow of 530 cumecs in the Waimakariri, the race was unlikely to be held (but the flow would make for a fast time for those brave enough to run it). However I did notice that the Ashley was also up and there was likely to be a number of people keen to run it. With this in mind I strapped the Blitz on to the roof rack along side the Invader and set off to the Brass Monkey put in, only to be told the race was off (surprise, surprise). After a quick look at the swollen Waimak, it was a quick drive down to the Belfast Tavern to meet up with screaming John’s team for a trip down the Ashley Gorge.
It was cold at the put in and the river was brown and swollen, we help Hugh assemble his cataraft and tried to keep warm while waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. Finally they arrived, crammed into the back of John’s rental van with most of our kayaks and we got on to the water, sliding down the bank into the river. I was feeling particularly nervous and my stomach was in knots, I guess as a result of the brown, swirling water and not having paddled for a while (recent swims probably didn’t help either. The early grade 2 rapids went by without a hitch especially as I deliberately chose easy lines, avoiding anything that looked “scary”. However on one of the first grade 3 rapids, I failed to spot a hole until it was too late, dropped into it, stopped and then flipped. I set up for a roll, waiting until the water went clear and the bubbles disappeared, then slammed my side hard into a rock, winding me, I aborted the roll and pulled the deck. Holding on to all my gear I swam towards to side with the aid of Hugh’s cataraft and Ian M’s kayak. Funnily enough this dunking was just what I needed to boost my confidence (the stuff that was worrying me wasn’t that bad after all) and I felt much better after that. I was also glad that I had decided to wear my wet suit as the water was pretty cold.
John having seen me get trashed (after I’d advised him to follow me as I planned to take the easy route) decided to portage the rapid but only needed to carry his boat for about 1m after bumping down the side of the rapid, earning the new nickname of “Chicken Chute” John. Although he did the right thing in walking a rapid he was happy with, Steel teased him unmercifully about it.
The rapid down to Forever Eddy was fun but you had to be on your toes as the holes were often hard to spot in the brown water. I accidentally dropped into the odd one but had enough boat speed to push on through. Once in the gorge proper the rapids came thick and fast but everyone got through without a problem, just the odd roll with the occasional helmet striking a submerged rock. I got a bit indecisive when it came to the last major rapid and instead of taking the far right channel, I swept into a large rock and dropped down the middle chute and tipped. The was a horrible graunching noise as something struck my helmet hard, I rolled up and made it to the side before checking for damage. There was no blood and my helmet was ok but I definitely knew I’d got hit.
The rest of the paddle out was pretty cruisy and I just had the odd play on some of the small features as I was feeling a bit sore from being knocked about. It was good to get into warm clothes and to stand in the sun before it disappeared behind the hills. I checked my head in a mirror and found I had a good bruise above my right eye, which form a distinct black eye later that evening.
Date: 11/5/08 River: Upper Grey River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Low flow, 92 cumecs at Dobson, water clear and cold. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Cool but sunny with the odd cloud. Number on Trip: 21 people. Time on River: 4.5 hours. Comments: This was a run down the Gentle Annie section of the Upper Grey. It was the second day of our easy West Coast trip and it was a trip I had been keen to do and I was not disappointed. The shuttle run is quite long and so a lot of effort went in to ensuring that boats, gear, cars and people well organised into their correct locations so as to reduce the amounts of running about required.
The river was absolutely beautiful, flowing clear and cool through some magnificent scenery. Mountains, native forests, river flats, the West Coast certainly knows how to put on a display.
The rapids were not too demanding, generally boulders gardens with plenty scope for playing and eddy hopping. Everything was just stunning, this is one of the reasons I enjoying kayaking so much, even just floating along watching the world drift by made you feel glad to be alive.
I had a great time catching eddies and picking my way through the various boulder gardens, picking up advice on lines to take and moves to make from both Pat and Kerry. Our little group ended up at the back of the bunch, with me lagging towards the rear. I was having too much fun and if you are further forward, others will often unintentionally block an eddy or put you off a move just by being there. Whilst I was fooling around at the tail of one boulder garden, I got stuck sideways against a rock, the flat bottom of my Blitz against the flat side of the rock. I tried to get free by wobbling about but that didn’t help. I decided to get out of my boat and get off the rock that way. When I was halfway out of the cockpit, the boat slid off the rock and tipped over. Unfortunately with my deck popped and being almost out of the boat already, I couldn’t roll so was in for a swim. I called to Pat before he disappeared from sight and he towed me to shore, feeling just a little bit silly (and wet).
The last section was fairly flat and so was a bit tiring and my blistered hands were glad to see the take out. This was a really lovely trip and definitely worth the long shuttle.
Date: 10/5/08 River: Taipo River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Low flow, water cold and clear. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Cold but sunny with the odd cloud. Number on Trip: 16 people. Time on River: 1.5 hours. Comments: This was the Saturday part of our “easy” (not grade 4) West Coast trip. We left the Yaldhurst Tavern while it was still dark and the group met up at the Taipo River take out where it crosses the highway before flowing into the Taramakau River. We were also joined by some local paddlers plus a group that travelled down from Nelson to take part in the trip, making it quite a large group of paddlers, especially with so many people I didn’t know. Driving over the 4 wheel drive track to the put in was exciting and we kept our fingers crossed that the roof rack would stand up to the vigorous shaking that it received.
After some fluffing about sorting out gear, we clambered down the steep bank and were soon on the water. This is a superb location, crystal clear waters flowing through a valley surrounded by mountains and steep hills clad in native bush.
The water was swift and clear and rather cold. The rapids were all relatively straight forward grade 2. I chose to try and take the harder lines and almost had a nasty surprise when I dropped into an eddy above one of the first rapids in the gorge. I had taken the right hand line as it looked exciting, with plenty of white water, while most of the others chose the left side. I found myself sitting in a eddy just above a large hole. Turned out not to be a problem but I was glad to have run it properly rather than blindly dropping into the guts of it as I nearly did.
This was a fairly quick trip but I tried to do as much playing and catching eddies as possible, though this was often difficult with such a large group. The best play spot was just below the highway bridge and we spent some time there before getting changed.
We planned to run the lower section of the Crooked River next but it was decided to try Moonlight Creek instead. Not sure if anyone in the group had actually run it but it was decided it was worth a crack. After a long drive we made it to the take out, the lack of water didn’t look promising but we carried on to the put in before deciding there was too little water and not enough daylight for the run. So after a short bush walk to have a look at the river and some old mining ruins, it was off again to Ikamatua. Moonlight Creek looked quite lovely but definitely needed more water and is probably worth a visit at some other time.
The evening at the Ikamatua Pub was certainly an eye opener. The local rugby team had won for the first time in a while and so were celebrating a lot! This mainly involved drinking copious quantities of alcohol and culminated in several players running naked through the bar with flaming newspapers clenched between their buttocks in a tradition know as a flaming ass-hole. Not something you see everyday!
Date: 4/5/08 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 23 cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear and very cold, lots of drifting clumps of didymo visible. Weather Conditions: Sunny with overcast period and freezing cold with light southerly winds. Number on Trip: 7 people. Time on River: 5 hours. Comments: This was the annual Hawarden Gap trip down the Hurunui and my first kayaking trip in a while. It had also got a lot colder than the previous trip back in March and I hadn’t made the appropriate adjustments to my kayaking wardrobe. I didn’t dress as warmly as I should have and didn’t even think of bringing my poggees. The flow was low and I was keen to play and after a couple of rolls, I was quite damp as my dry jacket was letting water seep through to my inner layers. As the trip progressed, I got colder and colder and my interest in further play evaporated unlike the water in my jacket.
When we stopped for lunch I warmed up a little. I should have put on my extra clothing but for some reason I didn’t, a silly mistake! By the time we arrived at the Hawarden Gap, I was frozen. Graeme had a swim on an earlier rapid as was probably pretty cold too, so he and a few others decided to portage the rapid. I put on my spare cloths and felt better with the extra poly pro on. Ian M ran the rapid first without a problem. When it came to my turn, I ferry glided across the river to an eddy above the rapids and promptly flipped on the eddy line. Water flooded up my nose, filling my sinuses with freezing cold water. When I’d got back under way I’d forgotten to put my nose clip on. I rolled up but the damage to my confidence was done and I was feeling a bit funny from the excess water in my head. With my nose clip firmly in place, I broke of the eddy and headed down the rapid. Taking the right hand line, I got down the first drop, spun upstream and flipped, no roll attempt this time and I bailed out in the flat water at base of the rapid, doh! Thanks for the photos capturing the moment Graeme.
Tipping over doing the Hawarden Gap. Photo kindly provided by Graeme.
Then bailing out after not even trying to roll! What is that about? I blame the cold. Photo kindly provided by Graeme.
I swam to shore clutching my paddle and towing my boat as I have frequently done before on this rapid (I think I’ve only run it successfully twice before and one of those times was alone in the Topo Duo). I was now soaked but still quite a bit warmer with the extra clothing. The rest of the rapids presented no problems but the paddle out was pretty gruelling with the low flow. Eventually we made the take out and it was a real relief to get into some warm dry cloths. I also got to drive the shuttle up to the top and then head straight home from there, thus missing on the usually hour long wait at the get out while the sun sets and the temperature drops to freezing. Not the most enjoyable trip of the season but it would have been greatly improved if I had dressed correctly and had brought my poggees.
Date: 24/3/08 Location: Lake Wanaka, Central Otago Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 2. Time on Water: 1.5 hours. Comments: The lake was crystal clear and the day perfect so Lauri and I paddled out to Ruby Island from the Wanaka Township. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was superb, it made for the perfect way to unwind after Warbirds over Wanaka. There were plenty of others out on the lake and we even got to see the Catalina do a touch and go on the lakes surface. Paddling out to the lake was easy, even in the Fly but paddling back was harder as there seemed to be more swell. The speed boats kept there distance so we just got the odd wake to contend with. It was a nice paddle even if it was just flat water, lunch was well earned that day.
Date: 9/3/08 River: Buller River, Tasman District River Conditions: 44 cumecs at Longford. Grade 2+, water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, nor-westerly winds. Number on Trip: 11. Time on River: 2.5 hours. Comments: We were disappointed not to be able to do the Hamilton Rapids on the Wairau after the way was blocked by a locked gate due to a goose shoot. So we did the 3km run from Lake Rotoiti to State Highway 63 bridge on the Buller instead. A very scenic run with almost continuous bouldery rapids, plenty of eddies to catch and holes and waves to play on plus the odd eel. Per had close encounter with a log under bridge at take out which we’d been warned about but he didn’t notice until it was too late. Exhausting after a very energetic trip, I took only roll near end after massive surf session near end of the run, it really rocked and I was absolutely stuffed by the end, so were a few of the others judging by the number having naps on the way home (including our driver, well after he shifted to the back seat).
Date: 8/3/08 River: Waihopai River, Marlborough River Conditions: 7 cumecs at Craiglochart No1 bridge. Grade 2+, water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, nor-westerly winds. Number on Trip: 11. Time on River: 2.5 hours. Comments: 7km bed rock gorge from power station to picnic area, finished just before dark, nice cruisy run but probably better with more time and water, very tired by finish, lots of flat water in the last section, bashed elbow on rock in one rapid.
Date: 8/3/08 River: Clarence River, Kaikoura River Conditions: 6 cumecs at Jollies (at top of river). Grade 2+, water discoloured. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, nor-westerly winds. Number on Trip: 11. Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: Last section of the Clarence from Glen Alton Bridge to State Highway 1 bridge, rapids pick up in the later stage with some excellent big wave trains.
Date: 24/2/08 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 21 cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, gale force nor-westerly winds. Number on Trip: 11 people doing from Dozy Stream down and 7 just running Maori Gully. Time on River: 3.5 hours. Comments: We had quite a large group for this trip and it was decided to split into two groups, with one doing multiple gully runs and the other group was keen to go further up and get a longer run in before doing the gully. Those in my car were keen to do a warm up before doing Maori Gully and I wanted to run Devil’s Fang Falls again, so we joined the latter group. Starting at South Branch was mention but in the end it was decided that we would start at Dozy Stream. Nearly everyone was on the water by the time we got back from shuttling the cars. Even Dennis wasn’t keen to run Devil’s Fang Falls (too many rocks exposed), so disappointed I got in below the falls with everyone else. After paddling around feeling a bit bummed out, I decided to run the falls anyway and got out and started walking up the bank. The wind was gale force and it was a real struggle to carry the kayak with out being blown over, so in the end I had to drag it. By the time I had reached the falls, everyone had disappeared from view, off down the river so I decided I just run the staircase on the side rather than the hard drop where there was a possibility of getting stuck. Running the drop was quite exhilarating and I paddled on down the river feeling better.
I caught up with the group at the next rapid just as they were leaving so I had a bit more of a play before carrying on to catch up at the next rapid. This seemed to be a bit of a theme for the trip, with no one keeping an eye on any stragglers. As I was at the rear I kept a watch on anyone other than me that was getting left behind, this included waiting for a good 5 minutes or more after the rest of the group disappeared leaving one guy adjusting his boat on the bank. Admittedly after he was back on the water, he left me behind on the next rapid. The other theme was the gale force winds, these whipped the spray off waves, sending it hurtling down the river like hail stones. It made the trip a lot less fun as paddling upstream meant battling against the wind as well as the current.
When we got to Seawards we had a bit of a break while one of the vehicles was shuttled and lunch was retrieved and then it was back on the water. Not one of the better trips through Maori Gully as the wind interfered with a certain amount of play and made some of the eddy hopping pretty difficult. Some of the highlights were jumping over the middle of Simon’s hole (at low flows this doesn’t seem to cause much in the way of problems) and catching Grandstand eddy and watching everyone go past from its entrance above the drop. I also tried to catch the right hand eddy below the Elevator (or if Grandstand eddy is on the Elevator, then the other main drop), tried to boof in from above, realised that this would actually work at the lip and dropped straight into the hole. I flipped but quickly rolled up, to be flipped again as I was side surfing the hole upside-down. My paddle caught the green water current and this dragged me out of the hole so I could roll properly, which was pretty cool, it was the first time in a while that I had got stuck in a decent hole. We also had a good play at the pop up spot and tried some stern turns at another eddy line somewhere so it was a pretty good day out despite the wind.
When we got out and headed back to the cars, we found half the other group waiting in the shade having only done one run down the gully, after which a few people just headed back to town, so I was glad we got a bit of extra paddling in. We stopped off at the Nor-Wester for drinks and bumped in to Erik from Film Soc, who had just returned from a tramping club trip to Mt Cass. Apparently the Nor-Wester is a popular watering hole for a number of different groups.
Date: 9/2/08 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 34 cumecs at State Highway One Bridge. Grade 2, water clear. Weather Conditions: Overcast with sunny periods, warm with light nor-easterly winds. Number on Trip: 2 safety kayakers plus over 800 competitors. Time on River: 13 hours. Comments: This year I got to take part in the Coast to Coast, together with Lisa F, we helped keep the competitors safe from a nasty willow sieve close to the finish. I spent around 13 hours on the river and didn’t get off until it was almost dark and everyone had packed up, still I had plenty of food and I didn’t have to sit in my kayak the whole time so it was quite a nice day out. No one had any problems at our spot but we did see the evidence of upstream carnage in the form of ample duct tape on some boats. Only two paddlers decided to shoot the gap between the top two sets of willows, fortunately both successfully as failure could have easily been lethal. Most of the top paddlers ignore the upstream instructions but safely avoided the willows, while the the rest of the field took the safer but slightly slower route we marked out. We spotted Chris P and Kerry H paddle past, but neither Kerry nor myself spotted our Outward Bound instructor, Roger, who was racing as part of a mixed team. I parked my car in the wrong place and someone had to break in using a wire to move it. When I parked it at 6am there was nothing there so I parked it well off the road near a fence around a paddock, hopefully well out of the way. However they removed the fence and the paddock became a car park for support people so my car was in just the wrong place, oops. Was pretty exhausted by the end of the whole thing, getting up at 4:30am will do that, on the river by 7:30am, in position and set up by 9am and the first competitor went by at almost 12:30pm so I could have had a sleep in after all.
Date: 17/1/08 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 26 cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, strong nor-westerly winds. Number on Trip: 10 people (3 on a cataraft) with 9 running Maori Gully. Time on River: 4 hours. Comments: Hugh organised a trip down the Hurunui for a Radio New Zealand reporter covering the Hurunui Water Conservation Order application and we tagged along to provide safety and background interest. Pat provided some good coaching and plenty of tips as I followed him down the river catching as many eddies as possible in Maori Gully. I also got help out with a few rescues (my first in a while), included Per after watching him tip over as I waited with Pat in Grandstand Eddy. Pat saw him go over and asked if Per could roll, I replied “yes but…” and took off in pursuit to help him and his boat over to the river bank. Plenty of playing so we managed to loose Hugh and the raft by the half way mark and by the time we got of the river, the cataraft had be disassembled and carried up to the cars, much to our relief.
Date: 13/1/08 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 24 cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, some nor-westerly wind gusts. Number on Trip: 9 people with 8 running Maori Gully. Time on River: 4 hours. Comments: Per got a few people together for a Sunday Hurunui trip as there was not club trip set until well into the new year. It was a beautiful day on the Hurunui and things were pretty busy at the put in, with at least two other groups of paddlers plus some family groups enjoying the river on a hot summer day. On the way up to Jollie Brook we stopped off at the new rapid (now called Devil’s Fang Falls) above the Dozy Stream put in and discussed the best strategy for running it. At 20 cumecs, the left hand channel looked pretty boily and the right hand channel looked very rocky with a rooster tail forming on the fang at the bottom. The staircase on the far left hand channel looked good, if there was enough water to get to it.
Back at the put in, I went round and talked to the other groups of paddlers to make sure they were aware of the new rapid. The two guys with the Dancers hadn’t paddled the Hurunui in twenty years and were very pleased to hear about the changes before they got to discover them by surprise.
Ran the shuttle and drove my car back up to Jollie Brook then got on the river. Nice run down the river with plenty to do. We met the guys in the Dancers later on and they were pleased that they had know about and were able to walk around Devil’s Fang Falls and they thanked us for saving there lives! Not much playing on the Magic Roundabout as it was full of river bugs! Jumped Simon’s Hole in a show of bravado and then eddy hopped my way down Maori Gully.
Date: 30/12/07 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 34 cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 6 people with 3 running Maori Gully. Time on River: 3.5 hours. Comments: My last trip of the year and it was a really good one, running the Hurunui from the Top Gorge and down through Maori Gully. Graeme called up the usual suspects and managed to put together a nice sized group for a paddle down the Hurunui. I had a hard time getting out of bed and after hanging the laundry out was running late. Everyone was waiting for me by the time I arrived at Belfast and it was all hands on deck to get my gear transferred over to Graeme’s car for the trip up to the take out at Seawards. At Seawards we got changed, leaving our dry clothes in Hugh’s car, all six kayaks were strapped on top of Graeme’s car and we piled in for the drive up to Sisters Stream, the get for the Top Gorge. We stopped briefly at Dozy Stream to check out the new rapid and see if we could spot a good line through it. It looked pretty rocky and there were a number of holes around the approaches to the drop, which made choosing a good line more difficult. In the end it was decided that running it from the right hand side and moving left would probably be ok, this was the theory that we would test later on.
The 500m walk from the road down to the river was hot work, especially for those foolish enough to put their dry jackets and gear on first. However it was nice and cool on the river, so after a brief warm up it was off down the gorge. We had quite a range of kayaks on this trip, I was in my Blitz and Shane D had his Inazone, Graeme was playing it safe with his Lil’ Joe, Hugh had his Remix (a modern retro boat) and Retro and his Aussie mate, Ian were using Retro’s Reflex and Corsica S respectively. Indeed with such a varied fleet, Shane and I spent a lot of time struggling to keep up as our more play focused kayaks were constantly getting caught in holes and on waves, being forced to surf endlessly before being able to break free of the rivers hold.
The Top Gorge was good but not too challenging, this was the third time I’ve run it and the feeling was certainly a lot different from the first time I paddled it about 4 years ago. Caught eddies and played our way down to Jollie Brook, I took a roll after surfing the main feature of the Jollie Brook took an unexpected turn (upside-down)! Carried on down the river, trying to get the most out of it with out getting left too far behind.
Things were going well and we had a quick regroup above Dozy Stream to discuss what we were going to do. Graeme decided to walk the new rapid and so headed off first to get in position with his camera. Once he was in position, everyone headed down one at a time and disappearing from view.
There were a number of people on the bank in various places, who stopped to watch us go by and in some cases to take photos. There were several groups around the rapids above Dozy Stream and hopefully they got some good photos. Not really sure how the others went, as Retro and I were the last. We both ducked into the old eddy to reminisce and I broke out first to run the new rapid. The old wave train is completely gone with just the big, nasty drop in the middle. I approached it from the right hand side, a number of holes above the drop made this a little tricky but I managed to run the drop cleanly and avoided the rocky outcrops on the way down. Ian was soon down without a problem and then I spent a bit of time riding the boils near the base of the drop, whilst staying out of the big hole. I ended up getting flipped rather rapidly after one close encounter and Graeme managed to capture that on his digital camera.
We had a brief stop at the Dozy Stream put in to eat some food, stretch our legs and for Hugh to empty his boat out (he had apparently done a practice wet exit to get out of his boat). From here down the pace picked up and I found myself frequently getting left behind. A quick visit to the Eddy of Doom before trying to surf out of it across the river with out being swept towards the bluff, failed but no problems though. Eventually we got to Seawards where the trip was planned to end, but Ian, Shane and me were keen to continue on (it would have been rude not too). I had a brief play at the Magic Roundabout, the slighter higher flow meant that it wasn’t so cruisy and I ended up rolling after failing to pull off one move and being swept into one of the rocks. We had a fairly quick run down the rest of the gully but did spot for a nice play at the Pop Up Spot and after a few pointers I managed to do a few good ones and had a heap of fun doing it, quite exhilarating really! Then down to the take and a brief wait for the shuttle to arrive and it was off to the Nor’Wester for some well earned drinks before heading home.
Pulling a pop up in the Blitz at the Pop Up Spot in Maori Gully. Photo by Shane Davidson.
Date: 15/12/07 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 25 cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 19 people, 7 doing multiple runs on Maori Gully while the rest of the group ran from Jollie Brook down to Seawards and 8 of that group running Maori Gully. Time on River: 0.5 hours first run, 1.25 second run. Comments: A real summer day, nice and hot with a cool, clear river to paddle. We had some discussion at the Belfast as to what to do, I was keen to do the run from Jollie Brook down and another group wanted to do multiple runs of Maori Gully. It was decided that we’d meet at Seawards to get changed and then go from there. At Seawards, we split in to two groups and with 12 people and 3 cars heading for Jollie Brook, there was no room for me so I joined the Gully run group.
It seemed a little odd starting at Seawards as there is no warm up before getting into the Gully but today that wasn’t a problem. We had an excellent play session at the Magic Roundabout and it provided all the warm up we needed. There was a nice surf wave on the left-hand side and it was great to break in and out of the eddies and ride the swirling currents. On down past Simon’s Hole, feeling bravish and took the left-hand channel, just kissing the edge of the hole. Went through the next rapid catching eddies and playing where possible, it was just great to be on the river on such a lovely day.
I took a spill on the next set of rapids after trying a not so good line, tried a few unsuccessful rolls as I floated upside-down through hole after hole and resisted the temptation to pull the deck before getting upright towards the end of the rapid. A bit annoying, as that section was good for catching eddies, however by doing multiple runs, you get a second chance. On down the remaining rapids, catching eddies and surfing where possible, the last major rapid has a sweet surf wave but if you get washed off it, you end up down stream and it is pretty hard to get back on. I surfed the wave across the river before being spat out and swept on down the river. We stopped for a play at the pop up spot before carrying on down to the get out.
After catching our breath after the climb up from the get out, we got the boats back on the roof racks and drove back to Seawards. Had some lunch (well a muesli bar anyway) and lay in the sun while the shuttle was run. Another short break while a second shuttle was run to retrieve some essentials that had been left in the back of one of the cars and then it was back on the river for run number two.
The second run was similar to the first one but with rolls in different places and not so much play as fatigue started to kick in. By the end of the second run, I was feeling pretty hot and tired and was looking forward to a nice swim at the get out. Most of the group was keen for a third run so we shuttled the vehicles, spotting the other group halfway down Maori Gully and by the time I was wandering down to the Maori Gully take out for a swim, they were getting off the river. The water was just the right temperature and I had a lot of fun jumping off the rocks and splashing about in the water. When I was feeling suitably refreshed I wandered back up the hill (it was so much easier without a kayak on your shoulder) to hang about and catch up on the gossip.
The other groups trip went well without too much drama, the “haystack” above Dozy Stream caused a bit of excitement, with even some experienced paddlers ending up inverted, a few of the beginners wisely walked it. Eventually the rest of my group appeared, having had a few dramas of their own. Per flipped after trying to catch a small eddy part way down one of the major drops and got his kayaks nose pinned against a bluff. He bailed out just before his kayak freed itself and then the group rescued him and his kayak after chasing them down several rapids. All ended well and everyone had a good day out with some nice summer paddling.
Date: 25/11/07 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 23 cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny but with strong winds. Number on Trip: 19 with a similar number doing Maori Gully due to some pick ups at the get in. Time on River: 4.5 hours. Comments:Didymo!!!!!! I hadn’t seen any didymo in the “flesh” before but now the Hurunui is full of the nasty stuff. It was first noted earlier in the year above the top gorge (i.e. above the areas paddled by kayakers) but now is all over the place, so be sure to Check, Clean or Dry your boat and gear before moving on to paddle other rivers.
It is always good to be back on the Hurunui (even with didymo) and even the strong wind gusts did little to spoil this. After a lazy start, lying in the sun while the shuttle was run we paddled down the first stretch on mass, with only the odd collision before the group became more strung out and the chaos lessened. I ended up near the back with Murray and a couple of others keen to take their time and really enjoy the rapids.
It was nice to get reacquainted with the river again, having not paddled the Hurunui since September at the start of the season. Things were all looking nice and familiar (well, since the changes that took place in the floods of last season) until we got to the rapid above the Dozy Stream put in. The old left hand chicken route (an old favourite with me) seemed almost empty with most of the water now flowing straight down the main rapid. It was quite a surprise to watch Murray paddle around the left side of the rock at the top of the rapid and then disappear. It was even more of a surprise when he broke out from behind the rock into the right hand eddy. Normally this would require you to paddle up a drop of at least half a metre (no problem for a salmon but a little hard in a play boat). I followed him down and broke into the eddy in the normal way with some difficulty due to a few rocks being in the way, which I just put that down to the lower flow. Once inside the eddy I realised with horror that the rapid that had so terrified me before had been eroded out and now presented little challenge and it was with some sadness that I broke into the flow again.
I was in for another surprise as I headed down the river, the old wave train had evolved after the last year floods into more of series of pour overs and holes. The main feature, about half way down the rapid looked a bit different to last time I ran it but I was feeling confidant and so headed straight for the guts of it. Apparently the floods early this season had changed things and I was a little taken back when I found myself heading over a metre high drop, studded with rocks, into a large hole. I flipped but soon rolled upright, slightly stunned. Wow, that was cool. Being right at the back of the group I’m not sure how the rest of the group coped with this rapid (which is definitely grade 3 now) as we had a couple of beginners with us but I didn’t hear any carnage stories so it must have been all good.
We carried on down to Seawards and met up with a few other kayakers who were also planning to run Maori Gully and we set off as one large group down the river. Chaos ensued and the Magic Roundabout looked more like the Riccarton Road roundabout at rush hour, boats collided and there were kayakers everywhere, good fun though. Had heaps of fun surfing waves and catching eddies, didn’t quite pull off a ferry glide across the top of Bum Rock and went over the rock sideways in to the hole below, spent a little upside-down time there before getting free and rolling upright again. Below the Elevator (I think) John R got out to rerun the rapid and I noticed the water was pouring out of his boat through it’s open bung hole. I called out to him but just assumed he had undone it deliberately to empty his boat. Later on he asked what I had said about his bung and then when I told him he pulled over to the side to empty his boat out and actually screwed his bung in this time.
More fun at the final big rapid where a nice river wide surf wave had formed, after waiting patiently for my turn, I missed getting on it and was swept downstream. Had a play at the pop up spot and then headed on home. The get out appeared and an attempt to circle the rock above the get out resulted in another roll after being swept up on the buffer wave in front of the rock. Another fun trip and I even managed to make it back into town in time to shower before going out for dinner.
Date: 16/11/07 River: Tekapo River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 85 cumecs at Flow Gates and falling fast! Grade 2. Water clear and very cold. Weather Conditions: Sunny. Number on Trip: 1. Time on River: 1 hour. Comments: We drove over the bridge in to Tekapo and looked down at the river, it was running bank to bank with a good flow. All excited, I headed to where we were staying and got changed into my kayaking gear, arranged a shuttle and headed for the put in. As we crossed the bridge again, I looked down and to my horror realised the river was now empty! The rotten buggers had turn the river off! So that was the end of plan A, time for plan B. I dismissed my shuttle and just drove myself down to the white water course, hoping there’d still be some water down there. Fortunately there was (just not much and falling fast), so I walked up stream a bit and then played my way down the river to where the slalom course rejoins the river. Not exactly challenging but the river was crystal clear and it was nice just to be on the river. After I got off the river, I crossed the white water course and had a bit of a play on the bottom drop, the sprayed on concrete surface putting some deep scratches in the nose of the Blitz. I then carried my boat to middle pool and paddled down the lower section, which still had a paddleable flow. Not exactly extreme but then I probably wouldn’t have done more being on my own. A nice paddle but a little disappointing to have missed the 85 cumec flow.
Date: 22/10/07 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 16 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Grade 2/3. Water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Sunny but cold. Number on Trip: 16 on top section, 12 on lower section. Time on River: 2 hours on top section, 3 hours on lower section. Comments: With a club trip off to Murchison for the long weekend, Graeme organised a trip to the Ashley for those left behind. With the Ashley running at 16 cumecs, the trip promised to be more beginner friendly than some of the previous flows. We had a good turn out, with plenty of experience, the sun was shining, the river was flowing so what could be better than a day out on the Ashley.
The upper section was just magic, with plenty of rocks to dodge and eddies to catch. It was a fairly slow trip down, but in a good way, making the most of the sunny day and playing as much as possible. This section is probably best at this flow, with plenty of challenges and not too many consequences. However you do want to be pretty careful about being upside-down otherwise geologic interaction will result (i.e. you bash your head, hands etc on a rock) and the rocks of the Ashley tend to be pretty sharp and jagged.
With the lower flow, there were plenty of eddies to catch and rocks to dodge. Photo thanks to Hugh.
…and in some cases, some very big rocks to dodge. Photo thanks to Hugh.
Some sections got pretty boney and a lot of rocks were exposed, but most of the rapids were reasonably straight forward, though I did get tripped up a couple of times by unexpected rocks just below the surface and I felt the odd one sweep by as I was upside-down.
Graeme runs the Main drop…
… and emerges unscathed from the hole at the bottom.
The highlight of the trip was probably the main drop (pictured above), where we all had multiple runs at it, with a complete lack of carnage. Numerous photos were taken, some to be proudly displayed to friends, family and colleagues to show what we really get up to on the weekend and that there is more to the Ashley River than the picnic area.
The rest of the trip was excellent with plenty of fun and white water. I goofed a little on the second to last major drop, where the main flow runs into the big rock, and pulled a few mystery moves whilst trying to maintain my dignity. The last major drop provided a bit of a surprise, as at this flow the right hand channel behind the rock was very narrow and sheer sided and the rapid looked almost unrecognisable from previous trips.
Towards the end the river got quite flat and slow moving and it was a relief to get to the get out as my hands were getting pretty sore (my wedding ring forms blisters but I’m not prepared to take it off for any reason) and I was really exhausted. This was probably the best trip of the season and it is really great to have such good photos, so a big thank you to everyone involved.
Date: 14/10/07 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 27 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Grade 2/3. Water discoloured and cold. Weather Conditions: Cold, southerly winds, rain and some hail. Number on Trip: 16 on top section, 9 on lower section. Time on River: 1.5 hours on top section, 2.5 hours on lower section. Comments: Graeme had scheduled a trip to run the Boyle, so when Sunday dawned, it was off to run the Ashley again. The weather forecast looked pretty bad, with cold southerlies and snow down to 600 metres and the rivers off the main divide were still high. So once again Graeme was foiled in his attempt to paddle the Boyle. The flow had dropped from earlier in the week and the Ashley was down to a more sedate 27 cumecs. We had some time to kill at the Lees Valley put in while the shuttle to the middle bridge was run, so I had a snooze lying on top of my kayak in the warm sunshine. We got under way once everyone got back, moving off in a largish group, jockeying for positions on the waves and in the eddies, kayakers running into each other all over the show. Things eased off a bit once the group became more strung out. There was apparently the odd swimmer amongst the beginners but I never saw anyone out of their boat from my position near the front of the group.
As we neared the bridge, one of the kayakers had somehow managed to pick up a passenger, a rather bedraggled rat (or possibly a large mouse), which rode down the rapids sitting on his spray deck (not sure what happened to it latter, apparently it didn’t survive the cold). At the bridge we met up with Bob, Murray and Dennis, who planned to run the lower section. We sorted out who was doing what, one group planned to run the upper section again, another group was to run the lower section and the rest would run the shuttle (or go home). As we were setting off, John ran up to say that he was heading home and had shifted my gear to Graeme’s car, little did I realise that this meant that I’d spend half an hour standing around in my wet paddling gear at the end of the trip.
The run down the lower section was definitely cruisier than the last couple of runs but the cold kept playing to a minimum. The poor, young German kayaker paddling with us, with only a rain jacket to keep out the water, was shivering at every stop (his dry clothes took awhile to arrive too). It was nice to be able to feel confident running the rapids in this section but it was also nice when the end came in to view as it had been a fairly tiring paddle and it was pretty cold. Unfortunately relief was still some way off as our dry gear had arrived yet. Bob, Dennis, Murray and some of the others got changed while the rest of us jumped up and down and played on the swings to keep warm. Eventually Graeme’s team arrived after some problems with their shuttle and it was good to get in to some warm clothes, just as the rain started to bucket down. Another good run down the Ashley at slightly less scary volume.
Date: 11/10/07 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 86 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Grade 2. Water very dirty, some debris and very swift. Weather Conditions: Cold and drizzly. Number on Trip: 5 Time on River: 1.5 hours. Comments: Thursday is a work day, so no paddling, just sitting at my desk wishing I was at home or paddling or something. Obviously Graeme has had similar thoughts as he had decided to bunk off work early and paddle the Ashley, which was still up. Being a sharing guy he invited a number of similarly minded individuals along for the trip. So after seeking permission from management (both work and home), I arrived at work at 7:30am with my kayaking gear and my Blitz strapped to the roof of my work car. 3 o’clock eventually rolled round and I was off like a shot, meeting up with the rest of the team at Belfast. It was 5:45pm by the time we got on the river and the Ashley was even higher than it had been at the weekend and this had some people feeling nervous. John even pretended to have forgotten his spray deck in an attempt to get out of paddling! We paddled under the bridge, carefully avoiding the barbed wire strung below it (a nasty trap of the unobservant).
It was good to have Bob along on the trip, in case anyone got in to trouble. We had chosen to just run the upper section, as we didn’t have the time or the skills to run the lower section at its current flow. Floated through the early rapids, not catching any eddies in case someone followed me in and got stuck. At one of the first corners, Graeme took a line to close to the inside bank and got caught on a rock in the shallows and the swift current left him with no alternative but to get out and pull his boat to shore. This unfortunately knocked his confidence and part of the way down the “crux” rapid he decided to call it quits and walk out along the track up to the road. We carried on down the rapid with out any problems, though if John had got any closer to the bank, he would have needed wheels on the bottom of his kayak. After this rapid, things eased off, though everyone was careful to avoid the bluffs and anything that looked even slightly like a hole. One of the last rapids caused a bit of interest as at the end of it the water ran into a bluff and formed a body of “funny” water as it flow around the corner. I had discovered this on Sunday when I decided to just slide down the tongue and found myself being sucked down. This time I made sure I avoided it, Bob paddled through it and was quite surprised when it sucked the tail of his kayak down. Hugh and John (by fighting his way through the trees in his kayak) avoided it after seeing that. We made good time and were at the get out around 7pm. Graeme appeared not long after we got there, having been delayed by a flat tire on the way to the get out. We all enjoyed ourselves, though it was kind of funny running a river after having spent most of the day at work.
Date: 7/10/07 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 80 cumecs dropping to 68 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Grade 2/3. Water very dirty, some debris and very swift. Weather Conditions: Sunny, warm nor-wester, strong wind gusts. Number on Trip: 20 on top section, 11 on lower section. Time on River: 2.5 hours on top section, 1.5 hours on lower section. Comments: I was looking forward to this trip and was suffering from white water withdrawal leading up to it. The Ashley came up during the week then dropped again, then the other rivers shot up, and it looked like it would be the Ashley or a pretty high run down the Hurunui (where the trip was scheduled to go). The meeting time was moved to 10am to accommodate those wishing to watch the rugby, which meant for a leisurely start to the day with the prospect of a late return and an unhappy home team. There was a big crowd (around 30 at guess) waiting in the car park with plenty of new faces, amongst them a number of the beginners, off for their first club trip. Murray, Retro and Steel plus a good number of experienced paddlers were on hand. Dave arrived late and after much fluffing about we final left the Belfast car park at almost 11am. We were making for the Ashley, which was running at 20 cumecs according to the ECAN website, which should have been a nice easy flow for the beginners on the upper section while still offering a reasonable paddle on the harder lower section. The Hurunui at around 210 cumecs, and the Waiau was even higher so we decided against then, anyway it is almost a sin to not paddle the Ashley when it is running.
More dilly dallying in Oxford and then up the Lees Valley Road to the put in, looking down into the gorge the river looked brown and much bigger than expected. When we reached the put in, it was clear the river level was much higher than expected. The water was brown, swift and boiling; chunks of wood and debris drifted past. At this point many of the newer paddlers wisely decided against paddling, rescuing multiple swimmers and gear in flood flows is definitely no fun and the Ashley offers few opportunities to get out if things go wrong. From the remaining paddlers, group leaders were appointed and three groups were organised. Murray took the first group, Dave A with Steel and Retro took the least experienced group and I attached myself to a small group of competent paddlers to follow up behind and so after more waiting around, we were on the water at 1pm.
The river was swift and we drifted past the beginners on the bank, smiling for Loraine’s (www.photochick.co.nz) camera before leaving them behind to run the shuttle and make sure we had dry gear at the end. All the waiting around had made me feel too warm and sleepy, none of the features looked inviting, often with bits of tree sticking up from the water, so I just concentrated on getting down the river. We caught up with the second group at the eddy we had rescued Per from on a previous trip, one of the women was having breaking out of the eddy to ferry across to avoid the bluff. Eventually she decided to try a portage over the bluff and try to get down to the river on the other side. Bill went with her and we waited down stream in an eddy for them both to reappear. After a while Dave decided they weren’t able to get back down and would probably have had to walk out (fortunately they were by the four wheel drive track) and some one should let the others know so a vehicle could be sent to pick them up.
Three of us set off down stream to carry the important message, it was good to be on the move again and we cruised down some of the harder rapids of this section without a problem, things were starting to feel good. We dropped down another rapid and caught up with the other half of the second group, with one paddler standing on the bank clutching his paddle but lacking a boat. Eventually he managed to make his way down the rocky bank to where his boat had been rescued. It was decided that he should be rafted up with two other kayakers to help him down the river. At this point most people came up with reasons why they weren’t able to raft up or tried to not to get noticed (I did the latter), however two volunteers were found and we were able be continue on down stream. All was going well, the river widens out and the rapids eased off, so the raft broke up and he was once again separated from his boat. We had another long wait while he picked his way along the bank before getting a tow down the river to his boat. From then on he was rafted all the way down to the bridge except for a portage down the side of one willow-draped rapid, too hazardous to do an uncontrolled float down.
We reached the middle bridge around 3:30pm and were kindly dragged from the swift waters by waiting members of the first group. Debbie slipped getting out of her boat but was hauled bodily out of the current before she floated too far and I managed to drag her boat to shore getting a bit wet in the process. Once we were all out of our boats, we had to figure out what to do next. Dave wasn’t keen to carry on, but Murray was waiting in an eddy down stream all ready to go, so it was back in to our boats and off down the river. We were now down to 11 paddlers, all with sufficient skills to cope with this section and we made good time down the river and were soon at the first grade 3 rapids.
I flipped near the start on the rapid but rolled up again quickly, feeling the rocks whiz by just below me whilst I was under water. I flipped in more or less the same place at a similar flow so there must be something I’m missing here (probably a submerged rock forming a bit of a pour over possibly) as there wasn’t anything particular hard or obvious visible. Lots of smiles at the bottom of this rapid as the frustration of the previous leg was replaced with exhilaration. The rapid above Forever Eddy and the entrance to the gorge proper was big and bouncy and you had to pick your lines carefully to avoid the numerous holes, one caught Bill briefly but he was soon free of its grasp. The gorge itself was about 1km of continuous grade 3 rapids with plenty of brown, boiling water pushing into the bluffs and surging over rocks. Murray led the way with Steel close behind and I tried to keep them in sight as I drifted along, trying to only to use paddle stokes to keep my boat pointing in the right direction or avoid features. They got further and further ahead, before disappearing around a bend, I turned to find no one behind me and so pulled into eddy. Before long Retro appeared, picking his way down the rapid in the club Kendo he had borrowed off a non-paddling beginner. Apparently Retro had left the spray deck for his Reflex at home and modern spray decks don’t fit the smaller old school cockpits (I hope you remember to pay your hire fees for the Kendo).
I took off after him, following his basic lines, as it is always nice to have a probe in front. We regrouped when the gorge opened out again. Just two more major rapids to go and everyone (except Bill who was feeling a bit off form) was feeling good. No problems at the Big Rock dogleg rapid, I rode up on to the pillow and round the corner. The last main rapid caused the most problems as we all stopped above it in the eddy on the left-hand side and the good channel is on the right-hand side. Normally it isn’t too hard to ferry across and drop down to the right of the big rock but with the current pumping along, this was easier said than done. Murray went first, made the channel and disappeared from view, the nose of his kayak appeared briefly above the horizon line as it shot straight up into the air. Steel following closely behind, witnessed this but was already committed, his RPM kept him safe and he ran the drop without a problem (one of the few to do it on this trip). The next kayaker swept against the rock but made the channel, it didn’t look good so I went next. I paddled hard to get as far as I could across the river, but not quite far enough and I rode buffer wave on the rock before sliding down the channel. I flipped as I hit the bottom and rolled up again but before I could clear my eyes and get my bearings I was over again as the three converging current flipped the Blitz. Not sure exactly what happened next, I think I failed another roll and then waited until the turbulence died down. After a while of hanging around upside-down, I remember that I really should breath at some stage and I tried to think what I was supposed to do. It didn’t occur to me to try another roll so I pull my deck and stood in the calm water of the eddy I was in and caught my breath. I thanked Steel for his unneeded offer of a tow and pushed my boat up on the rocks and emptied it out. While I was sorting myself out, Ian and most of the remainder of the group clambered over the rocks to avoid the rapid, put off by the sight of everyone else getting trashed.
Back on the river and on to the take out is always good, knowing the hard stuff is behind you, and you can take the opportunity to have a play and try a few things. With the high flow, it was a relatively fast trip to the take out and I was pretty exhausted by the time I got there. It was nice to get in to some dry clothes and then to be chauffeured back the Belfast Tavern, thanks Steel. Picked up a pizza and was home a little after 7pm in time to watch Dr Who on Prime.
Date: 16/9/07 River: Tekapo River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 40 cumecs at Flow Gates. Grade 2. Water clear and very cold. Weather Conditions: Sunny. Number on Trip: 1. Time on River: 1 hour. Comments: A nice run down the Tekapo River that was unexpectedly running when we went to visit the Mt. John Observatory. Noticed the river was running on the Saturday but didn’t have time to fit a run in or work out how to do the shuttle. On Sunday we headed down to the slalom course with the idea of walking up stream. Fortunately while we were waiting a couple who were also on the Alumni trip can down for a look (the husband was a kayaker) and they gave me a lift up to the road with my kayak. I had a nice play on the way down from the bridge, which was nice though I did miss my Blitz, I’ve obviously been paddling it to much as the Fly now feels a bit strange and tippy without the planar hull.
Date: 9/9/07 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 30 cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3). Water clear and very cold. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cool. Number on Trip: 9 (6 doing Maori Gully). Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: First official local WWCC club trip of the season had Tom leading a smallish group down the Hurunui from Jollie Brook down to Seawards and on through Maori Gully for the brave. Had some brief confusion over the shuttle but it actually worked out pretty good in the end. Most of the group was made up of people I didn’t know, experienced paddlers new to the area or returning to the sport. Ross had his brand new Bandit that he had recently brought from Canoe and Outdoor World (they were just coming on the market when he last went kayaking). It was sold to him as a suitable white water boat and they charged him $700 for it in a pretty dodgy deal. I guess they were happy to be rid of a largely unsaleable kayak for such a good price but in retrospect the customer will probably be disappointed with there purchase in the long run. He certainly had the longest boat on the river.
The run down to the swing bridge has good for getting used to being back on the river, with plenty of eddies to catch and small waves to surf. Ross had his first swim at the Jollie Brook rapid and was very glad he had put his extra warm gear on, as the water was freezing. Once he was back in his boat, everyone was off again. Matt, Dale and myself in our slower play boats found ourselves lagging well behind the rest of the group (mainly due to our boats wanting to play on the rapids instead of just running them as quickly as possible) and often lost sight of them altogether.
Bumped into the other group of WWCC paddlers on the river at the South Branch confluence as they paddled up the main branch. They were doing training as instructors before the beginners courses started later in the month. We managed to catch up with the rest of our group at the Dozy Stream, where Ross and his boat had become separated again after running into the bluff. Fortunately Tom had led the less confidant paddlers down the easier route while the others ran the more challenging right channel. Matt and I dropped in to the eddy behind the boulder (it would have been rude not to), taking Dale with us. The Blitz broke out easily into the flow and then caught the eddy below the rock, where I waited for the others to break out. We ran the rest of the rapid with a brief surf on the waves on the way down and regrouped with the others. Tom reunited Ross with his boat and after a bit of a break, it was off again.
Most of the group decided to avoid the Eddy of Doom, as far as I could tell from 500m upstream but it would have been rude not to drop in, so Matt, Dale and I paid the obligatory visit before breaking out and crossing the face of the bluff without any problems. The current now seems to been flowing at more of an angle to the bluff, making it difficult to get across the bluff face without riding the pillow at its base.
At Seawards the shuttle drivers got out and went to pick up the vehicles and the rest of us stretched our legs before running the Gully. Dale was in two minds weather to get out or not, but with a little encouragement and reassurance, he was keen to do it. We set off together but soon broke into two groups of three. I had a brief play on the Magic Roundabout but had to cut that short as everyone else disappeared round the corner. The first major rapid was good until I went over the top of a pointy rock I thought was a wave and ended up tipping over. A couple of roll attempts later (one apparently against the next rock down), I was upright and at the bottom of the rapid. Boy, the water was cold but very exhilarating! The next couple of drops were sweet, Matt lead the way followed by Dale with me covering the rear. Dale tipped after being pushed into the bank but quickly rolled up right. The last main rapid was great, I surfed across the nice wave half way down but couldn’t get back on it again, so left it to a couple of the others. We played a few more of the rapids on the way down to the get out, taking our time to reduce the time spent waiting for our dry clothes to arrive. Just before the get out I had a go at circumnavigating the rock and took a roll after sliding off the buffer wave on the rock face. As I was now alone on the river, I decided to call a halt to further experimentation and get out.
It was great to be back on the river and it was a good trip, at a good volume, though it would have been nicer if the weather was warmer and we had been able to linger longer on the rapids instead of racing down the river. Dale was certainly glad that he had done the Maori Gully run and had a big smile on his face by the end of it. Still by the end of the day I was pretty tired and may have nodded off during the trip home.
Date: 20/8/07 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 68 cumecs at Marble Point. Water discoloured. Weather Conditions: Warm and sunny. Number on Trip: 5 Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: Graeme, Hugh, John, Suzie and I took Monday off for a pre-season paddle down the Waiau. We had a perfect day out, it sure beat working. Hugh took a swim after failing to roll and I did about four rolls while trying things in the Blitz. It was really great to be back in some white water after a long break and it was good to see my skills and confidence hadn’t left me.
Running Sharks Tooth in the Blitz. Photo by Graeme.
Date: 28/6/07 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 42 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water clear. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cold. Number on Trip: 3 Time on River: 1 hour, 45 minutes. Comments: Graeme, Kim and I went for a nice Saturday afternoon paddle down the Brass Monkey course. It was nice to be out in my Blitz again and I managed to surf a few waves (most of the “rapids” are formed by submerged tree stumps and trunks) and had a bit of fun. Looking forward to the kayaking season starting again.
Date: 17/6/07 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 30 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water clear. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cold. Number on Trip: 1 Time on River: 30 minutes. Comments: This was my first trial of the WWCC’s Vision DRR boat and the wing paddle we won in the last Brass Monkey series. I was a little nervous but decided to have a little paddle up Otukaikino Creek (the small creek that flows down from the Groynes and joins the Waimakariri just above the State Highway one bridge) before trying it on the main river. I managed to ease myself into the boat without too much drama (no seal launching from the bank in this boat). The first few minutes were pretty exciting as I flailed about trying to brace with the wing paddle while Lauri laughed from the bank. Eventually I got the boat stabilised, paddled to the shore and Lauri swapped the wing paddle for my trusty white water paddle. After that, things improved somewhat and I had a short paddle up the creek (without the wing paddle) and although the expected swim never eventuated, the dreams of competing in the Brass Monkey series in the C class evaporated. Perhaps if I practice, next year I’ll be able to try and give Murray, Dennis and Colin a run for their money in the hard fought C class veteran men’s division.
Date: 4/6/07 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 112 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water discoloured. Weather Conditions: Sunny but cold. Number on Trip: 3 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: It was freezing cold (especially bad after the slightly warmer temperatures in Hawaii) when we met up at the Belfast Tavern and that had me wondering why I wasn’t still in bed. However once we were on the river, I soon warmed up and it was really great just to be there. The river was up but the early section of the Brass Monkey course was still a bit grovelly, still once we got in the main flow we were treated to the odd small wave train. It was a lovely sunny morning for a paddle with some great company and no drama, thanks Graeme and Suzie.
Date: 18/3/07 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 83 cumecs at Marble Point. Grade 2, water discoloured cold and with some debris. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm with strong NW winds. Number on Trip: 7 Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: John had planned to do a repeat of Retro’s “Paddle ’til ya Puke” on the Hurunui but with a low number of more experienced paddlers to cover the Gully Run, we decided to do the Waiau, which was up due to recent heavy rains on the Main Divide. We also had a shortage of suitable vehicles for the trip, I had the company car because I was on call for the week, two others had mechanical problems and an another didn’t want to take their car off the tar-seal. As we were pondering this, another kayaker turned up (without suitable vehicle) but left again when he found out were weren’t going to do the Hurunui. However with the change of destination, we were able to get three suitable cars and soon had them loaded up and were on our way to the take out at the Gravel Pit. We got changed and left the shuttle vehicle at the take out and headed up to the put in on the Hanmer River. Boats were paddled or carried down to the Waiau and we were soon under way, on the river before 11am! Lauri’s newsletter article was having results!
The river was quite different from the last trip down the Hurunui (low flow and super cruisy) and required a little bit more concentration with its boils and currents, but the Blitz had no problems once I remembered how to paddle again. The rain in mountains had raised the river and it was brown and swirly with the odd lump of wood floating along in the current but no one had any problems and it was great to just paddle along without having to worry about fishing anyone out, well done team! Initially John had me leading the way while he acted as tail end Charlie but as he was in his creek boat and I was trying to play on everything, the positions were soon reversed and I often found myself lagging behind. Alton was also keen to strut his stuff in his Flip Stick, surfing almost everything and pulling off a number of tricks I can’t do (which is almost any trick, my main play move is trying not to fall out of my boat). The higher flow had created a number of play holes from rocks and outcrops that are usually well above the water level, but meant that usual spots were flowing a bit swiftly to do much playing on. The rapid at The Fork / Screamer (where I was stationed during the last Waiau River Race 28/5/06) was looking good but after the second time I got swept off the wave without actually getting a surf, I ended up too far downstream to fight my way back. Still as a consolation prize, there was a nice play hole with a good eddy just down stream so we had a play on that instead.
The rapid at Fence Line Corner was particularly good today, this spot in continually evolving as the river eats its way through the farmers paddock on the left bank, and has currently formed a nice weir about 10 to 15m wide out of the soft mudstone. We spend quite a while playing here as it really easy to surf with a nice rest spot below it and almost everyone gave it a go. The only thing to remember is that several hundred metres of fencing wire ended up in the river around here and some of it is still there, we had no problems but it is still something to bear in mind around this spot. The river had also worn a short tunnel through the mudstone and John paddled through it a number of times. The hole above Marble Point almost caused the odd swim as people dropped into the turbulent water down stream of the rock, Alton was sure he was going to swim but managed to get his roll right in the end. We had a brief stop at Marble Point but were soon under way again after the wind almost took off with one kayaker’s boat and gear (he just managed to grab it before it headed off downstream without him). Those of us that remained in our boats had a hard time staying in position with the force of the wind so didn’t stick around too long.
Further downstream was a good little pop up spot and Alton and I almost managed to shoot our boats completely out of the water on our early attempts but subsequently fail to repeat our previous success and carried on downstream. There were some really great wave trains on this stretch of the river, which I didn’t remember from previous trips. The best one had some waves at least a metre high and our boats got almost vertical at times. This rapid was particularly good as it had a large eddy up the right hand side, meaning we could paddle back up to the top without too much difficulty and run it again and again and again… Shark’s Tooth caused a few worries but no problems for the group, with the increased flow driving hard into the rocky tooth. John signalled to go right and we dropped into the eddy on that side and then I surfed across in front of Shark’s Tooth to the other side and Alton followed me successfully with only a brief encounter with the pillow wave at the base of the tooth, sweet.
A few more rapids and we were at the gravel pit where our dry clothes waited. A quick change, a short wait for the shuttle (whilst making sure all our gear didn’t blow away in the gale force winds) and then off to the Nor’wester for a Monteith’s Black and some wedges with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream, YUM! While I was waiting for the shuttle, I phoned Mark to let him know I was back on call and he asked if the weather had hit us yet and I told him it was still sunny and warm. Apparently a big storm with hail, lightning and thunder had rolled through Christchurch causing flooding and other damage but completely missed us. As we neared Weka Pass, the sky ahead was a solid wall of darkness and when we entered it we had a bit of heavy rain but this soon passed at the storm continued northward, largely bypassing our group. A nice paddle with a good group and home before 5pm so everyone was happy, excellent!
Date: 4/3/07 River: Rakaia River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 120 Cumecs at Rakaia Gorge. Grade 2, water swift and clear (blue). Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm with overcast periods. Occasional wind gusts. Number on Trip: 25 Time on River: 3.5 hours. Comments: This trip down the Rakaia River got off to a promptly start, thanks Hugh’s organisation spurred on by Lauri’s recent newsletter article on how to stay out of the dog house. Getting changed at the get out was an equally swift affair and pretty soon we were at the Kowhai Flats put in. It was a bit of a haul across the river bed to get to a suitable channel, the Topo Duo is pretty heavy, but we were on the river by 10:30am (almost unheard of on a club trip). With 25 paddlers on the trip, we divided into three groups though on the river these turned in to some fairly loose associations and tended to get pretty strung out at times. Whilst milling around before heading off downstream, John some how managed tip his Fly over and despite assuring us earlier that he could roll it, was soon slapping on the bottom of his boat to no avail. By the time he had emptied his boat out and got himself sorted out, everyone else was ready and we set off down the river.
The group sets off. Photo by Lauri.
The early section is braided with the rapids generally being gravel chutes with the occasional boulder to dodge (or run over the top of for fun). The water was crystal clear and bluish in colour and sped us along surprisingly quickly, you didn’t seem to be moving much until you noticed the river bed speeding by beneath your boat. There were a lot of jet boats on the river, possibly a big club trip, and it was really nice of the lead jet boat to let us know how many were following behind. All of the drivers were very polite and considerate and we received lots of cheery waves, which was nice. The scenery was superb with towering cliffs of eroded sediment forming the banks in places and excellent views back up the valley of the Southern Alps.
We had a brief stop for lunch before the gorge, however one of the groups had taken another channel and bypassed us and this brought our break to an abrupt end as everyone hurried back into their boats and raced away. We end up being the last boat away and everyone else had disappeared off into the distance and we had to paddle hard to try and catch up. We passed a spectacular cliff made up of eroded conglomerate and just drifted past admiring the scoured out gullies and eroded pinnacles, as well as the sedimentary features formed when the material was deposited. Eventually we caught up with the rest of the group and carried on down the river at a slightly slower pace.
The cliffs tower above the river, red dot in the centre is a kayaker. Photo by Lauri.
Once we entered the gorge, the character of the river changed, confined to a single channel by the towering rock cliffs, the volume of water forming boils and eddies around the corners and bluff. The boils took the odd person by surprise, giving them the opportunity to practice their rolls. One of the hard rapids involved a particularly boily piece of water on a corner the a couple of rocks thrown in for good measure. The channel through it looked pretty tight and after watching one of the kayakers in front of us flip near the big rock, I decided to take the chicken route on the inside of the corner. This turned out to be not such a great idea as there two swiftly recirculating eddies and we had to really paddle hard to get across the boundary between them, something that several of those following us, weren’t able to do. Lauri was a little disappointed that we missed the rapid but I felt my Topo Fu wasn’t really up to the challenge at that time.
In the Gorge. Photos by Lauri.
As we neared the end of the gorge, we noticed that the third group, which had a frequent swimmer, was lagging far behind. Hugh and John stayed behind to offer some assistance while the rest of us had a leisurely paddle out. Once we passed under the bridge, it was just a short drag up to the cars and our waiting dry clothes, which were of course locked in John’s car and he had the keys. Fortunately I wasn’t very wet and it was a warm day, so there was no real hardship there and I ended up picking up my car still wearing my paddling clothes. After that, it was a quick change, load up the boats and head back into town, arriving back sometime around 4pm, pretty early considering we had paddled around 20km with a group of 25 people, amazing what can be done with just a little bit of organisation and motivation. The trip must have been pretty tiring too, as both Per and Tom nodded off in the back seat and had us wishing that we hadn’t locked the camera in the boot.
Date: 18/2/07 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 23 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny, warm with occasional wind gusts. Number on Trip: 12 (8 doing Maori Gully). Time on River: 6 hours. Comments: The day dawned grey and misty in Christchurch but the forecast looked good so it was off to the Hurunui. I was thankful of the 9 o’clock start, as I had got to bed around three that morning after a really enjoyable evening spent listening to Paul Ubana Jones play at the Old Mill in Waikari. Almost as soon as we left Christchurch, the sky cleared to a brilliant blue, it was going to be a great day. We got in to our paddling gear by the Seawards River confluence, stashed our dry gear in the vehicle we planned to use for the shuttle, stacked the extra boats on the cars, loaded up and drove up the put in above Jollie Brook. The river looked beautiful as we wound up the gravel road, the flow was low and the river looked a bit boney in places but the rapids looked nice and cruisy.
At the get in, everyone got the rest of their paddling gear on, loaded up their kayaks and final we were on the river. Our group was a good mix of abilities, with kayakers on their first season, including one student whose only kayaking was an eight day course in Nepal (he was able to roll consistently on both sides though so that was one up on me). We also had a range of intermediate paddlers plus old hands Murray and Bob to keep an eye on everyone and provide some helpful tips. There were twelve of us and we paddled as a single group, Q asked me to keep an eye on Chris, a new paddler with a reputation for going for the occasional swim. I told him not to follow me as I was in my Blitz and was keen to give it a good run and possibly push a few boundaries. We pushed on towards the swing bridge at a slow pace, catching eddies, surfing holes and dodging any rocks or other kayakers that got in the way, always a great warm up.
We hit the Jollie Brook rapids and had our first swimmer; I took a deep breath before heading off after them. Unfortunately the breath contained a sand fly that went straight down my throat (one of the hazards of using a nose clip and breathing through your mouth) and spent the next few minutes trying to cough it up while the others got the swimmer and gear to shore. We spent a while here, playing around or practicing our moves before moving off downstream. More catching eddies and dodging rocks, Matt got his Flipstick caught on a rock and bailed out in the foot deep water (too shallow to roll back up). I set off after his paddle while Matt hauled his boat to shore by sliding over the rocks on his bottom. Once he was back in his boat, we continued on down to the next rapid, a large boulder with the current running in to it. There are a series of small eddies on the right bank and these were in hot demand by those wishing to practice their ferry glide or to surf the waves next to them.
We carried on downstream at a slow place, playing on everything that came along, it was great to see the newer paddlers trying new things and really testing their skills. Graeme some how managed to take a swim in a silly place (flat water) after failing to roll and I helped tow him to shore across the dead calm water (he did tip whilst playing on the rapid so that makes it alright). The trip down to the South Branch confluence took over 3 hours, which is probably a record, and by the time we reach there, my right leg was almost completely numb (more alterations to the foam around my feet will definitely be required). I had a bit of a play on the new rapid below South Branch and then stretched my legs on the bank and had a bite to eat, while the rest of the group had fun.
For the run down to the Dozy Stream put in, the pace picked up a little bit as people began to tire and didn’t play quite as much. Above the new, improved rapid above the Dozy Stream put in, we discussed the various options for running the rapid. Everyone chose to run the right channel and most of those dropped into the eddy behind the big rock before dropping down into the main current. The rapid is now really good and we spent a bit of time surfing the play hole halfway down the rapid. Most of the group had no problems here, just the odd roll and no swims as far as I can remember. Chris looked good, charging down the centre of the rapid, looking pretty pleased with himself to have got through.
More rapids, more playing and soon we were at the Eddy of Doom, I suggested to Chris that he may want to run the rapid down the right and avoid the Eddy of Doom, unless he wanted to see what it was like. I was therefore somewhat surprised to see him drop in to the eddy behind me. Well that is the easy part, getting out again is the tricky bit. My first couple of attempts to ferry glide across the face of the bluff weren’t particularly successful, burying the nose of my kayak in a wave, losing my sideways momentum and then getting swept back into the strongly recirculating eddy. After a couple more attempts, I found myself in a patch of flat water in front of the bluff but between the two main currents, Chris joined me here and then we were both able to break out and ferry across the face of the bluff. Chris was pleased with his accomplishments; he was having a great day out. At this flow, the river is a lot less pushy and it is a great time to try things and move out of ones usually comfort zone, without too much risk.
The day was getting on and there was even talk of skipping Maori Gully (Sacrilege!!!) as four o’clock passed by and we hadn’t reached Seawards yet. Eventually Seawards rolled into view and we pulled in to the get out. Four of our group got out and set of to run the shuttle while the rest of us ran the Gully. Chris was one of those still in his boat and he looked expectantly at me, so I referred him to Murray and he said it was ok. The plan was that we would divide into two groups, with Murray leading the “GT” group, that would take the less experienced paddlers and basically bomb the run by the easier lines. Bob lead the other group, which initially looked like being just him and Helen, and run the Gully “properly”, catching as many eddies as possible and playing on everything. May from Singapore joined Bob’s group and I started out with Murray’s group until they streaked ahead on the first rapid and I decided Bob’s group would be more fun anyway.
With the low flow, playing around on the Magic Roundabout was easy and a lot of fun, riding up on the buffer at the base of the bluff or surfing between the eddy and the two rocks in the middle of the current. Then on down past Simon’s hole, passing on left hand side for the first time (no one seem keen to play here though). The flat water between the rapids was placid and flowed slowly along at this flow, almost relaxing, normally it swirls and boils, and pulls you along swiftly between drops. The next rapid, was fun as we followed Bob through it, catching as many eddies as we could and surfing some of the waves and holes. Bum Rock appeared ahead and we carried on catching eddies and playing. It was pretty cool following Bob and actually doing moves and catching eddies that I had never dared to try for before. Surfing across holes above nasty looking rocks without fear, it was great.
Helen tipped above Bum Rock and tried to roll, got her head up and when she realised that she was about to be swept into the rock, pull her deck. She was swept against Bum Rock and held briefly by the force of the water and her kayak before going down the drop to the right of the rock. Bob set out to rescue her, while I set off in pursuit of her Kendo. I cut in front of the wayward Kendo and followed it down the remainder of the rapid, apprehending it at the large pool at the bottom of the rapid. Holding on to the Kendo, I tried to work myself and it to the shore whilst slowly being drawn towards the next drop. I wasn’t that keen to attach my tow line as I didn’t want to let go of the boat to do it and I didn’t feel like going over any on the drops tied to a water filled kayak. Fortunately May arrived on the scene and together we got the runaway Kendo to the bank by the time Bob and Helen arrived.
The next three drops were fairly straight forward, though the low flow had exposed some rocks in the right chute of the Elevator (the second drop) and I took a roll after hitting one of them when I ran the drop on the hard right. The corner rapid was great, I varied from my usual line and tried a bit of surfing before joining the others at the bottom pool. We carried on and stopped for awhile at the Pop Up spot and had lots of fun trying to pull pop ups without spending too much time underwater. I had never tried this before as I don’t like tipping over much and this tends to be one of the results of pulling a pop up. Still I gave it a go and it worked well in the Blitz and it shot out of the water nicely and I only flipped a few times. After this, we headed for the get out without to much messing about (obviously we had to try and surf as many of the remaining waves as it would have been a shame to waste them) and managed to finally get off the river around 5 o’clock. The cars and dry clothes were waiting at the get out, everyone else was changed. Chris had enjoyed his first trip through Maori Gully without too many problems and was very please with his achievements, he has come a long way since the beginning of the season. It had been an almost perfect day out on the river and definitely one I would be happy to repeat, however arriving home at 8 o’clock caused a few ructions and was the only blight on an otherwise perfect day.
Date: 4/2/07 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 36 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny with a few wind gusts. Number on Trip: 22 (15 doing Maori Gully). Time on River: 4 hours, 15 minutes. Comments: My first river trip of 2007 and I arrived late at the meeting place at the Belfast Tavern, fortunately everyone was still there and I managed to get a place in a vehicle. It was looking like being a beautiful sunny day (something rare this summer, well on weekends at least) and there were 22 paddlers keen to enjoy it paddling the Hurunui. Coming over Jacks Saddle, we came across John 4×4 parked in the road while Murray and Bob retrieved their boats from part way down the hill on the other side of the road. John’s roof rack had suffered another critical failure, fortunately the boats weren’t damaged by their vehicle top seal launch onto the road, no one was injured by flying kayaks and the kayak weren’t too hard to recover. After some adjustments, the roof rack was refitted by Bob, properly this time so it won’t fail again (yeah right!). After a brief discussion at the Maori Gully take out we headed up to the Jollie Brook camp site put in and got changed. Eventually after the traditional standing around chatting we got on the water, though a small group choose to head down to the Jollie Brook swing bridge to get a warm up and some practise rolls in before having to run any rapids.
It was great to be back on the river after over a month of no trips. The Blitz performed well, surfed nicely (the sessions with it out at the beach seemed to have paid off) and it didn’t serve up any major surprises. The run down to the swing bridge provided the opportunity to familiarise myself with the boat while catching eddies and surfing the smallish holes behind rocks. Once we reached the swing bridge, the group played around, practicing rolls, surfing and ferry gliding. There was the odd swim, Per found himself stuck against a bluff upside-down but managed to free himself and get himself and his boat to shore. I retrieved his paddle from the eddy and took it back down to him and that was the closest I got to rescuing anything on the whole trip.
Eventually we set off down stream in a very cruisy manner, stopping to play on rapids or just mill about chatting, it was a lovely day and there was no hurry. As it was such a nice day, it was good to try things out and I took my only roll of the day riding the buffer wave in one of the rapids above the South Branch confluence. I was trying to get into the eddy on the right but was have a hard time ferry gliding across without ending up on the bluff. It took about 2 hours to get to the South Branch confluence and we got to play on the new rapid that had formed below it. Apparently heavy rains had flooded the South Branch and this flow scoured out the riverbed, changing the rivers course and forming the new rapid. There were a few more changes but the coolest is the rapid above the Dozy Stream put in. This rapid seems to have been scoured out by last years floods and now has a couple of decent holes, some good surf waves and being right on the road, it is a great little park and play spot.
WWCC at Dozy Stream put in. Photo thanks to Per.
The run down from Dozy Stream to Seawards went fairly quickly, without much drama. The big eddy of doom, provided some fun, I thought of avoiding it, as I was a little worried about how I would get out of it with my short boat and the 37 cumecs flow. Of course, once you are in it there is only one way out and that’s across the face of the bluff. I watched a few other paddlers break out and make their way across the bluff and down stream before I broke out in to the current. On the first attempt my nose caught and I didn’t get out quite as far as I would have liked and let myself wash back into the eddy. The next go, I kept the angle of my boat up but the Blitz didn’t have the boat speed of the Fly but I still managed to get out far enough and rode the buffer wave around the base of the bluff, safe again!
Eventually we got to Seawards and hung around for a bit before getting up the momentum to carry on down the river. I broke up first and ran the first rapid before pulling into an eddy to let the others catch up. Murray followed, guiding Lindsay on her first kayak trip through Maori Gully, with John behind. I tagged on the end and we basically bombed the run, pausing briefly to check lines or wait for stragglers. Murray picked some sweet lines and we were all happy to follow them, without much in the way of drama. The only drop that really got my nerves going was the big one after “The Elevator”, called by Bob, Grandstand Eddy on account of the eddy on the left side that can be used to survey the drop before running it. The last couple of times I’ve run this drop resulted in me being upside down unintentionally. This time, instead of running the tongue on the left-hand side, we headed to the far right, where the river forms a V into a large hole. It looked scary from the top and I made a point of trying to avoid the turmoil of white water at the tip of the V and instead slid down the left with no worries. John, following behind me, took a slightly more central line and had a few nervous moments as he punched through the hole at the end.
Ran the last major rapid, one of my favourites as it is pretty easy (dodge the big holes and enjoy the waves) and marks the end of the grade three rapids, and head for the get out and the worst part about running Maori Gully, the climb out. As we had been so quick, there was a bit of a wait while Mike (who was nursing a rib injury) and the grade 2 paddlers ran the shuttle. Eventual everyone was back at the take out and it was nice to get into some dry clothes. Graeme arrived looking a little worst for wear and carrying half a paddle. He had followed Bob down the left-hand tongue from Grandstand Eddy. Bob flipped and when Graeme followed him, he flipped too and while upside-down got pushed into Bob and the odd rock. Somewhere in this turmoil and the resulting swim, his kevlar reinforced paddle shaft snapped clean in half. Having no split paddle with the group, Glen took the freshly made C1 paddle and let Graeme use his paddle for the rest of the trip.
Graeme (plus half a paddle) and Matt in Maori Gully. Photo thanks to Per.
It was great to be out on the river again, especially on such a beautiful day. Excellent!
Date: 17/12/06 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 42 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear, cold and swift. Weather Conditions: A bit of everything, sun, rain, wind, cold but mainly overcast. Number on Trip: Over 30 kayakers plus 4 rafts with over 30 people on them. Time on River: 4 hours, 30 minutes. Comments: The Hurunui Big Day Out. The weather wasn’t looking too flash as we left the Belfast Tavern car park and as we headed up the motorway it got steadily worst. However, once passed through Weka Pass it began to get clearer and by the time we reached the Maori Gully take out, it was merely overcast. Chaos was the order of the day, as gear was sorted out, people got changed and the dry gear was stowed in the vehicles what would be left at the get out. All the rafters dry gear was loaded into two vehicles that were to be driven down to the rafting get out via a farm track. This would mean that all the rafters would be able to quickly get changed into dry cloths and wouldn’t be left standing around in the cold, the rafts would then be packed up and loaded on to the trailer and everyone would then be driven back up to the awaiting barbecue…Now back to reality… Once everyone was sorted out, we made our way up to the Jollie Brook put in.
More confusion as kayakers milled about and rafters were issued with paddles and gear and given instructions on how to paddle a raft. As one of the the rafts wasn’t up to scratch, all the rafters were divided into three groups instead of the previously organised four. Eventually kayakers took to the water (without any real groups, taking of names/numbers or assigning tasks/position) and began milling around before straggling off down stream. The rafts were launched and did some on the water practice exercises before they headed off. I planned to paddle along with the raft that Lauri was on but it powered on down stream and disappear from view. Shortly after the other two rafts went by, a beginner tipped out and let his boat float down stream while he struggled to shore. Duncan wasn’t having much success clipping a tow line to the boat but eventually we managed to push it into an eddy where it was reunited with its owner. By the time, we got under way again, Duncan, Tom, Per and I were at the back of the field (or so we thought) and remained there until John R and Glen’s group caught us up near South Branch and then we carried on together the rest of the way.
Me in my kayak and Lauri in a raft, a decision I was going to regret about 4 hours later. Photo by Per.
It was pretty neat to be back on the Hurunui again as this was my first trip on the regularly run section of the river, this season. It was also interesting to note the various changes that the previous high flows had wrought. The chute below the South Branch confluence is no longer really a rapid as most of the flow comes in through a channel that used to be the eddy above it. This new channel has formed it own new rapid on the corner where the river runs into a rocky outcrop on the left bank. There are a few other changes in the channels further down but the most noticeable change, was in the rapid above the Dozy Stream put in. After breaking out of the eddy behind the rock, I was somewhat surprised to note that the rapid had got considerably bigger with more of the flow taking the right channel and some scouring out has occurred. There were some fairly big waves and holes and it made for quite an exciting ride.
Finally we made it to Seawards and the less experienced paddlers got out. Tom also took the opportunity to swap the clubs Lettmann (which seemed to have been leaking) for Per’s creek boat. After a while, we headed off again, pausing for some to have a play at the Magic Roundabout and then on past Simon’s hole, with only Glen pausing to have a play here. Down through the various rapids and drops, I took some not so good lines and ended up rolling on two of the drops. Eventually the take out appeared in the distance and I thought I could make out Lauri in her red jacket, I waved out but as I got nearer I realised I was mistaken. Then out of the boats and off up the hill (the climb out hadn’t got any easier).
When I arrived at the top there was still no sign of Lauri, in fact there was no sign of any of the rafters. I asked around and it appeared that there had been a mix up and no one really knew where the rafters were (or seemed to actually care) and the vehicles with the dry gear hadn’t been able to get to the take out due to a locked gate and a misplaced key (apparently this was known to be a problem before the rafters got on the river but no one deemed it important enough to sort it out). So somewhere out there was a group of cold, wet rafters, mainly women and children, some of whom didn’t have adequate clothing/footwear/food with no dry clothing and no idea where they actually were, but that was ok because the barbecue was all under control. Eventually the rafters located the vehicles with the dry clothes and managed to lug the heavy rafts up the hill, so when I picked up a rather worse for wear Lauri, we headed straight for home. Needless to say, some people weren’t very pleased and it wasn’t a pleasant drive home. Apparently the rafting was fun (though rather tame as Ed had to play it safe because of the children on the raft) and most people seemed to enjoy it but the experience at the get out really soured the whole thing.
Date: 10/12/06 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 35 to 30 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Water brown and swift. Grade 2/3. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, some high cloud. Number on Trip: 14 on top section, 10 on bottom section. Time on River: 2.25 hours on top section, 2.25 hours on bottom section. Comments: This was the WWCC mystery trip and it turned out we were heading down the Ashley again, excellent! There was some confusion over the meeting time with the trip list stating 8:30am and a later email giving the time as 9am (perhaps that was the mystery), still everyone seemed to get there and we were under way by 9:08am. We had a large group with quite a diverse range of skill levels, from new paddlers, fresh off the beginners courses, to expert paddlers like George, Bob, Matt, Bruce, Retro, Brendon and Kayo. We headed for the Lees Valley put in and as we had a professional shuttle driver (imported all the way from Italy) and the beginners would be getting out at the middle bridge, there would be no waiting around at the end while the shuttle got run. John, the trip organiser, also decided to add “mystery” to his selection of paddling gear, ending up grabbing two left bootees and Nikki’s poly pro and paddle jacket. He also brought two kayaks but decided against paddling his Fly for fear of the mystery moves he would have ended up pulling. John is slightly over the recommended 80Kg weight limit of the Fly and thus it tends to “float” slightly below the surface and thus he encounters some of the problems that a fatter version of me had when I first started paddling a Fly.
Things got off to a fairly shaky start (I was feeling a bit wobbly myself and didn’t really feel like paddling the grade three section), with some of the beginners being more comfortable out of their boats than in them. They also didn’t seem to have “grasped” the idea that it is good to hang on to your gear if you bail out. This forced me to call out on occasion “Quick, save the boat, it belongs to the club! Better rescue the paddler too, I suppose”. The frequency of swims meant that there were some long periods of waiting causing the odd irate comment from at least one old hand. At least one new kayaker got stuck in the eddy that Per ended up in last trip, after a swim and then had another swim while trying to get out of the eddy. We also ended up with a spare paddle in the eddy after it drifted from the grasp of another swimmer. I towed it down stream so it could be reunited with its careless paddler, while Bruce dealt with extracting the beginner from the eddy. Eventually everyone was back in their boats and we were under way again.
The group gradually got more and more strung out but we seemed to finish with the same amount as we started with when we finally arrived at the Middle Bridge. We had a brief break here to eat some food, to get the shuttle drivers short and to generally decide who wanted to paddle the next section. John and Graeme (who had chosen to paddle his Fluid Flirt playboat) were a little unsure and decided against it before changing their minds and deciding to give it a go (no threats or other coercion was involved). So ten paddlers got back into their boats and headed off down stream while the rest drove back up to the put in to pick up the cars and run the shuttle for us.
The first part of the grade three section is pretty cruisy but there was a certain amount of nervous huddling around the more experienced paddlers. Bob was keen to see the eddy that caused Angus grief on the mid winters trip, I had a hard time picking it out but Bruce showed Bob the spot which was lovely and flat at this flow. At the first of the harder rapids, Graeme went through a hole and flipped and was soon out of this boat and spent a bit of time underwater as the current pushed him around a large boulder. Brendon was quickly on hand to get Graeme and his boat to shore, while I was following behind and recovered his paddle. Graeme has soon back in his boat, taking pointers from the experts and we were back under way towards the gorge.
Bob and George lead the way. Photo by Bruce.
In the rapid above the forever eddy I flipped after getting sideways in a large hole near the top of the rapid (this apparently changed Graeme’s mind about following my line) but soon rolled up again and made my way down to the large eddy with its endlessly circling lumps of wood. From here on we moved into the gorge proper and hardest section of the run.
The run the gorge was quite fun, especially as I was starting to remember the various rapids. Graeme did very well, even though he took a less than optimum line through the main drop, instead of boofing on the hard left, he plunged straight through the centre of the hole without too much difficulty. The second to last main rapid, where the river piles into a house sized rock forming buffers before curving round to the left, provided Graeme with his second swim but he was soon back in his boat. The last major rapid caused no problems and didn’t look as bad as it did last time, though no one chose the left hand channel.
The group got quite strung out on the paddle out as we dawdled along surfing waves and having fun. Eventually we arrived at the get out expecting to find all the vehicles waiting for us but unfortunately, someone had locked the keys to Johns 4×4 in it, so it was parked at the Middle Bridge with mine and Johns dry cloths still in it. Fortunately John had a spare key and had gone off in his wet gear to recover it whilst I hung round in my wet paddling gear and waited, bummer! It was a good trip and everyone, especially Graeme, enjoyed themselves very much.
Date: 19/11/06 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 50 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Water brown and swift. Grade 2/3. Weather Conditions: Sunny to heavy rain, some strong wind gusts. Number on Trip: 4 on top section, 3 on bottom section. Time on River: 1.5 hours on top section, 2 hours on bottom section. Comments: With the Hurunui at 380 cumecs down from 650 cumecs earlier in the week, the Waiau at 574 cumecs down from 1127 cumecs, the Waimak at 1135 cumecs down from 2465 cumecs, the Rakaia at 1089 cumecs down from 5070 cumecs and the Rangitata at 453 cumecs down from 1499 cumecs, things were looking pretty high (these were some of highest flows I can remember) and the odds of a weekend paddle were looking increasingly slim. However with the Ashley river at around 120 cumecs on Saturday and falling, there was still a chance of an Ashley run. Things looked pretty promising on Sunday morning and we headed out the Belfast Tavern to see who else was keen for a paddle. I decided to take my dependable Fly and leave my more exciting Blitz at home. The Fly is faster and more stable (plus I can roll it better), it has room for a split paddle and extra safety gear and it is a better boat to assist in rescues with. There were three other keen kayakers waiting in the car park plus Hugh had brought his cataraft along. So after a brief wait, our small party headed off to run the Ashley River.
The weather looked increasingly grey as we headed towards the hills and we had to drive through the clouds as we made our way along the gravel road high above the Ashley Gorge. We had glimpses of the rapids far below and the river was certainly pumping along. We left Hugh’s car and raft at the Middle Bridge (he planned to assemble the cataraft while we paddled the grade 2 upper section) and drove to the put in. As we neared the Lees Valley, the sun broke through and we got changed into our paddling gear in the bright sunshine. Hugh drove Graeme’s car back to the Middle Bridge while our small group paddled off down the swollen river, running at two or three times the volume of the previous trip. I paused briefly to remove my Hothead and wondered if I was over dressed for the day (2 pairs of thermals and 2 fuzzy rubber tops).
We made pretty good time, generally just running straight through the rapids with Matt in the lead and me chasing up the rear. Graeme discovered a pour over hole in one of the earlier rapids, flipped and quickly rolled upright. Per, following just behind, also flipped in the hole and after an attempted roll, popped up beside his boat, his paddle floating separately. Matt soon had his paddle and attempted to guide Per and his boat towards the shore. Unfortunately suitable eddies were few and far between on the swiftly flowing river and we floated through several rapids. Eventually Matt ditched Per’s paddle so he could more effectively push the large creek boat and its hanger on towards the side. The river piled straight in to a rocky outcrop forming a large swirling eddy on the left hand side and Matt managed to get Per and his kayak in to this eddy and enabled him to get out on to the bank. Meanwhile, I had paddled wildly through the rapid clutching two paddles, one of which was round the wrong way, worried that if I tipped I wouldn’t be able to roll. I managed to get through the rapid and pull into the eddy below the rapid on the opposite side of the river.
Once Per’s boat was emptied, Matt assessed the situation and decided he wouldn’t be able to raft up and get Per out of the eddy and round the bluff, so there was a brief period of pondering. Eventually I decided that I could probably ferry glide across the river into a small eddy below the rocky out crop and climb round until I could pass the paddle to Per and that is what we did (this time I towed the paddle using a sling looped over my arm instead of trying to paddle with two paddles). Soon everyone was back on the water, putting in at the top of the rapid and ferrying across to avoid the bluff, and we were on our way again. I stuck close to Per after that but there were no further problems. Per did flip on one of the harder rapids but he rolled straight up almost without breaking his stride (if “stride” is the correct word when he was actually paddling a kayak). This looked pretty impressive and avoided a long and not very pleasant swim. Eventually the bridge rolled into view, signalling the end of this section and start of the harder grade 3 section, the part of the run that had been causing a knot in my stomach for most of the trip.
We pulled over to the side to have a bite to eat and check on Hugh progress at assembling the raft. It had taken him most of the time to get the cataraft put together and the two pontoons inflated but he was ready to go. I decided to ignore the butterflies in my stomach and carry on down with him and Matt while Graeme and Per moved the vehicles down to the domain. Hugh told us that Brendon and another group had put on twenty minutes ahead of us (apparently they had thought the meeting time at Belfast was at 9am) and we wondered if we would catch them up.
The first section flew by, with us only pausing only to let Hugh catch up. I followed Matt fairly closely, watching his lines and improved slightly were I could (hmm, that looked sticky, I think I’ll avoid that). We had rocked by Angus’s eddy with a wary glance but no problems and had a brief break while Hugh put some extra air in the pontoons (the cold water means the air inside contracts). Before we knew it we were at the first big rapid above the forever eddy that announced the entry to the gorge proper. We crashed through the dirty brown waves, avoiding the numerous rocks and holes before joining the endless circling debris in the forever eddy and waited for Hugh. He duly appeared and headed off again, Matt in the lead and me following closely on his heels and listening carefully to his pointers before running each of the major rapids. This was quite different from my first couple of runs through this section, where I just bombed through the rapids with my head down, makes me wonder how I got through some of them.
After the next rapid, Hugh appeared while we were waiting in the eddy below the rapid, he was spinning round and round with one oar jammed in the frame of his raft as the result of a collision with a bluff. Matt went to his aid and we followed him down the next rapid as he tried to free the stuck oar whilst trying to navigate the flow with only one usable oar. Eventually Matt managed to shunt the cataraft so that it crashed into a rock and stopped, Hugh was then able, with the correct application of some brute force, to free the oar and carry on down the river. There were some big waves and it was not uncommon to the crash through them with the water breaking over your head. The speed of the water generally pushed me through most of the rapids though I took care to avoid the holes, weaving my way through the rapids. The main drop wasn’t too demanding but was still big but the higher flow pushes you through without too much grab, at lower flows it forms more of a drop that can be boofed into the eddy on the left hand side.
Gradually the rapids eased off and my hair and feet were still dry and just two of the major rapids to go. The next one has a large (house sized) rock on the right with the flow running into it forming a big buffer. It looks intimidating from the top and I have had swims and rolls there before, but this time was sweet, just went with the flow and rode up on the pillow and round the corner with no worries. I think in the past most of my problems here had resulted from trying to avoid the buffer wave.
The last major rapid involved a ferry glide from left to right before dropping down a chute on the right side of a large rock on the right side of the river. This rapid caused a bit of grief to Robert on the previous trip when his water logged RPM was push against the rock and tipped. I watched Matt from the eddy as he took the correct line and disappeared from sight. I broke out of the eddy in a slightly casual manner and rather than ferry glide across the current, attempted to work my way across to the other side.
I soon realised that this was a flawed strategy as I wasn’t as far across as I needed to be and was going to get swept against the left hand side of the rock (the increased flow meant that more water than usual was going down the left side of the rock forming a navigable but not very pleasant looking chute into a mean looking hole). This would probably be followed up, if I was lucky, with a backwards trip down the nasty looking left channel and plenty of spanking in the foam below. Decision time! I turned the nose of my Fly towards the left channel, sticking close to the rock to avoid the V shaped drop and its associated hydraulic. I then rode up on the buffer wave before sliding over the drop and it to the hole below. I hit the bottom and felt the tail grab and the nose begin to rise so I leaned forward and dug the paddle in and I was free. I pulled into the eddy beside Matt, he has impressed with my line and I was somewhat surprised I hadn’t got caned!
Hugh appeared and we carried on down the river, there was still a long way to go but the major rapids were out of the way. We adopted a fairly leisurely pace and took the time to enjoy the scenery, still no sign of the group ahead of us though. As we neared the get out, Matt commented that we hadn’t surfed anything so we spent a little time surfing some small holes before heading out. The drizzle had changed to rain but Graham and Per were waiting with the vehicles at the get out, which was great. It was nice to get into some warm cloths and a dry car (certainly those in Brendon’s group thought so as they waited in our cars while their shuttle go run). It was a good day out with something for everyone, a easy trip, some rescue practice plus a bit of a challenge on the second half and I kept my feet and hair dry! Excellent! The best part though was arriving home to the smell of freshly baked scones and a delicious home cooked meal, thanks Lauri.
Date: 22/10/06 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 15 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Water brown and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Cold, southerly winds and some drizzle. Number on Trip: 11 Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: All the other rivers were very high so we ran this upper section of the Ashley Gorge. 11 paddlers was quite a large group but with a shortage of more experienced people, I was more comfortable keeping everyone together. It was a cold day and the arrival of the Whales meant that it was likely that some one would be swimming. Most of the group hadn’t paddled the river or at least this section before and we even had one paddler on his first ever river trip. We set off from the Lees Valley put and bounced down the boney first stage and through the early rapids with out a problem. I led the way with my little ducklings behind and Ernst followed up to prevent stragglers. I tried to catch eddies and do some surfing but this often meant being run down by a flotilla of ducklings or being trapped in an eddy as the group charged past.
The Whales did quite well and only very occasionally got in to trouble (two swims each plus one for Cynric after he got stuck on a rock), despite bouncing down some reasonably challenging rapids, often with me shouting at them to keep paddling (only grade 2 but some manoeuvring is required to avoid rocks). David’s first swim was in a flat eddy with the nose of his kayak almost touching the gravel bank, he was very cross about that but rescued himself and was soon back in his boat. It was quite neat to watch the ducklings charging down the rapids and flying over the top of some of the rocks (“you’re supposed to avoid the rocks!”). Some of the braver ones would catch eddies and could be encouraged to try ferry gliding and surfing, so we did get to do a bit of playing.
Everyone managed to get through the harder rapids and I think there were only one or two swims that were caused by running the rapids. I really only had to do one piece of rescue work and that was emptying out a kayak and towing it across the river to it’s waiting owner, which wasn’t very demanding, even in the Blitz. This section of the Ashley is good for beginners as it offers plenty of challenges but isn’t too pushy, however the river can be pretty shallow and the rocks are sharp so tipping over is best avoided. I was quite glad to get out of the Blitz as my right foot had gone numb (I must remember to remove some of the foam around my feet), the comfort is one of the things I miss about the Fly. We had a good day out but it was nice to get into some warm, dry cloths, as it was a pretty cold and miserable day.
Date: 7/10/06 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 14 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Water brown and swift. Grade 2. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, Nor Westerly wind. Number on Trip: 4 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: Graeme organised a great little, low key run down the upper section of the Ashley on Saturday, just the four of us running it at a relatively low volume. This was a nice, easy going trip with no drama. It was good to be on a small trip with a good group of people. We got to move along at a good pace but still had time to catch eddies and play. I think everyone rolled at some stage, but no swimmers. I tipped over near the start whilst playing on a hole, I clipped a rock with my helmet (the Ashley is very rocky and often shallow so it isn’t a good place to be upside down) but rolled up with out much difficulty (still need that pool session though), the water was pretty cold. The rapids were quite good (tighter and more technical than other local grade 2 runs), even with the lower flow, and it was definitely worth the trip. It was a good day out, thanks Graeme.
Date: 1/10/06 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 45 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear, cold and swift. Weather Conditions: A bit of everything, sun, rain, wind, cold but mainly overcast. Number on Trip: 21 Time on River: 4 hours, 30 minutes. Comments: My first Hurunui trip of the season, saw Lauri and me heading off to run the Hawarden Gap in the Topo Duo. As always with trips in the Duo, I get a bit nervous, worrying that we may have lost our “Topo Fu” and will end up with the fishes! Lauri had hardly any sleep the night before and just wanted to take it easy at first and I was happy to oblige. The first section we took fairly easily, taking the safer lines and not playing or eddying out in tricky spots. The higher flow made this easier, (on previous trips where the flow has been as low as 16 cumecs, you tended to get channelled through some of the harder bits), however the higher flow did mean that the rapids tended to be bigger and this increased the overall enjoyment of the run. By lunch time, we felt that we had our “Fu” back, actually it happen a little earlier when Lauri was keen to try surfing a neat play hole that everyone else was having a great time on, however, sensing an imminent swim, I decided not to.
After lunch the pace and the rapids picked, we were feeling pretty good by the time the hills finally closed in and we reached “The Gap”. We all pulled in to the side and got out for the obligatory inspection of the rapid (it looked scary) and then watched as the braver, more experienced members ran it. We tried to pick up pointers and work out the right line, but all we seemed to get was, “head for the centre, lean forward and paddle hard”. At the base of the drop on the left hand side was a nasty area of funny water, it boiled and heaved, sometimes forming a sucking whirl pool, at other times a surging mass of white water, we decided it would be best to avoid this spot. It was there that a good number of people got tipped up though most managed to roll. Glen pulled a great move, tail standing his Whippit in the boiling mass below the drop, apparently he didn’t plan on that. Finally after sufficient procrastination and establishing that Lauri was happy running the drop, we wandered back to the Duo. I was pretty nervous but Lauri was keen, so I had no excuse for piking out and after all the worst that was likely to happen was that we would get wet. So we put our heads down and paddled hard through the middle of the rapid and for a moment it seemed as if we would make it….. then we hit the boiling mass at the bottom and the Duo flipped. I briefly considered trying to roll but I felt Lauri bail out so I ditched too. I started swimming to the eddy on the right bank, holding my paddle and towing the upside down Topo Duo. Lauri latched on the other end and Glen helped tow the lot of us into the safe eddy below the rapid. That was some serious fun! Apparently we should have headed right, to cancel out the cross current that pushed us in to the mess on the left hand side, apparently the Duo flipping looked pretty cool (it was certainly cool where I was sitting, cold even).
Running the Harwarden Gap with Lauri in the Topo Duo. Photo by John Hunter.
After we emptied out the boat (a full Topo Duo holds almost half a ton of water) and retrieved Lauri’s paddle (forgetting she wasn’t playing canoe polo, she let go of it when we tipped up), we placed the Duo high up the bank and set off to look at the second and possibly harder rapid (it runs into a bluff and then doglegs to the right). With the higher flow, it didn’t look too bad, plenty of room on the right to avoid the pillows at the base of the bluff, we’ll be fine! As we were wandering back to the boat, I heard a sudden cry and turned to see that the Topo Duo had slid down the bank and was going to try to do the rapid without us. I dived across some rocks (bruising myself slightly and possibly injuring my toe) and managed to catch the tail of the Duo before it completely entered the main current. After that we got ourselves in to the boat and ready to run the second rapid. At some stage during this process, Hugh’s boat floated past and continued on down the second rapid without him, so Hugh had a good excuse for portaging this rapid.
We broke out in to the main currently feeling pretty good, the worst had happen and we were ok (wet but ok). We made it down the second rapid and round the corner without a problem and then spun out in the eddy on the right. The current pushed us hard against the towering rock bank and we almost tipped again (I was pretty sure we were going over and so were most of the spectators) but some timely bracing kept us upright. Eventually we got everything sorted, broke out and ferry glided in to a nice safe eddy on the opposite side of the river. The rest of the gorge went well and there was no further drama. As the rapids became easier, we took the opportunity to have the occasional surf (we even got some applause!) and generally fool about. Glen and Ben decided that the Topo Duo looked fun so they clipped their kayaks together and tried to emulate us, this went well until things got a bit messy in one of the rapids, it is apparently not so easy to control to play boats clipped together with tow lines and Glen (I think) ended up with grazed knuckles after a collision with a bluff.
Most of us were pretty tired by the time we made it out on to the plains and we were very glad when the take out came in to view (look out for the twin tanks on the cliff top to the right, after the house). The farmers were there to greet up and help us over the fence, they were very friendly and it is good of them to allow us access across their land. Rain began to fall as we got in to our dry gear, so we all stood under the trees to stay dry. A small group, who had run Maori Gully at the start of the trip, had left all their dry gear in the car at Seawards and so were very cold and had to huddle in Bruce’s Bothy Bag still in their wet paddling gear. This provided a certain amount of amusement but we were quite impressed by the amount of warmth coming out of the air vent and it definitely seemed like a useful piece of safety equipment. Finally the cars arrived and we loaded up and went home with the sun still visible, probably a first as far as Hawarden Gap trips as it is usually dark before the shuttle is done.
Date: 17/9/06 River: Rangitata River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 50 cumecs at Klondyke, water cold, clear and swift. Grade 2+ Weather Conditions: Fine but cool, slightly overcast. Number on Trip: 8 on grade 2 section, 6 on the grade 4 section. Time on River: 3 hours Comments: Another run down the Rangitata, from Klondyke to Lynn Stream, this time in the Blitz. I was planning to try out a few more things on the easier river and was looking forward to some “play boater” action! We got off to a slow start and only managed to get on the river at 1pm, from a 9am start in Christchurch. John and Hugh ran the shuttle for the gorge paddlers and Hugh arrived back at the Rangitata Rafts HQ after a while, saying that John was a wee way behind him. So we waited for a while for him to appear and eventually Hugh set off back up the road to see where he had got to. After awhile Hugh reappear but still no John, so after another brief waited we headed down to the get in. and there he was.
We quickly changed and got on the river and had a brief paddle around before dropping over the weir. Half the group went down the harder middle line, whilst the less confident took the right hand “chicken” route. Everyone made it down fine, but David decided that a swim would be nice when he reached the bottom. The water was higher and swifter than expected due to the irrigation out take being closed for maintenance, so we actually got the full 50 cumecs. We carried on down the river at a fairly fast pace, not leaving much time to play and generally only pausing to rescue any Whales that went swimming by. The water was freezing cold but they always seemed to be smiling as they got back in their boats. It was pretty hard to keep up at times, especial as I tried to stay near the rear to make sure no one got left behind.
I ended up upside down after trying to surf some largish waves backwards on one of the bigger rapids. I tried to roll upstream but couldn’t quite pull it off and after two further half hearted attempts, during which I was very conscious of the rocks whizzing past my head underwater, I decided to bail out. It was a bit of a struggle to get out of the Blitz as it is a pretty tight fit and has a central pillar, unlike my Prijon boats. Eventually I was free and floated down the rest of the rapid and Hugh helpfully towed me to shore. This was the first time I had swum in a while and boy was the water cold! I empty the water out and paddled down to where everyone was waiting, Kabita also swam but was soon back in her boat. The pace picked up again and I was struggling to keep up whilst trying to surf waves and keep an eye on stragglers. John took a swim out of the Topo Duo when they capsized after hitting an eddy line where two channels combined. No real problems and John was able to man handle the water logged kayak to shore. I lent my spare poly pro top to Johns?f girlfriend so she didn’t get too cold while John emptied out the water. In the meantime, the rest of the group disappeared out of sight down the river and were no where to be seen by the time we got under way again. It was pretty hard keeping up with the Topo Duo in the Blitz but eventually we caught up with the others and carried on as a group once more.
I tried to keep near the front, as most of the people weren’t familiar with the take out. I also did some more surfing and took a couple more rolls without much drama. By this stage I was really regretting not having put my poogees on when we stopped earlier, as my hands were quite numb. I was also regretting not eating anything since breakfast, as I was starting to feel quite cold, hungry and tired. I managed to find a nice little play hole and was having a good surf until most of the group decided to paddle straight at me. While trying to avoid a collision I ended upside down again, I tried to roll but just didn’t have the energy and so just bailed out and towed the boat to shore. So that was swim number two.
Eventually we arrived at the usual take out, John waited expectantly for everyone and looked just a little disappointed when he found out we were actually getting out at Lynn Stream, 2km down the river. Kabita took advantage of the swirling eddy line and took another swim, losing a bootee in the process. She also managed to lose the drain plug from her Kendo whilst emptying out the water, so Hugh ordered her off the river. We watched until she had made it safely up the bank and then carried on down the river. We over took the others as we didn’t want anyone just cruising past the get out because Arundel Bridge is about 14km further down stream (there are other get outs but they are not particularly obvious). Finally we reached Lynn Stream and it was quite a relief to get up to the vehicles and into some warm dry clothes. I was quite cold and it took some time to actually warm up, the fire and food at the Mayfield Pub certainly helped.
Some lessons were learned and I will probably keep the Blitz for trips with more playing and less paddling (it won’t be coming down the Hawarden Gap). I will also have to do a bit of rolling practice in the pool and the surf to get more up to speed with the new boat. The other thing I need to keep an eye on is making sure that I eat enough food on trips. Normally I have a big breakfast and then supplement my food intake with muesli bars, so I may have to rethink this strategy or at least actually eat the muesli bars.
Date: 10/9/06 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 130 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water discoloured. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 13 Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: We had a beautiful sunny day for our paddle down the Waimak to have a look at the section of river that would be most effected by the Central Plains Water Scheme. We had a good flow to push our boats along so didn’t have to paddle too hard. The braided nature of this section meant that we had to keep an eye on everyone to make sure no one got lost. Every so often someone would disappear down an alternative channel, turning up again where the channels converged. Not too much drama, only one swimmer and Lauri tipped over briefly but was righted by another paddler whilst I was off helping a beached Whale in another channel. The highlight of the trip was the small rapid just above the Gorge Bridge. A couple of nice surf waves had formed with the higher flow and we had some fun playing on them. The less experienced paddlers also got to finish on a high note, crashing through pressure waves with no problems. It was a pleasant day out, everyone enjoyed themselves and we finished off with a bit of a barbecue, thanks to Graeme.
Date: 3/9/06 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 22 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Water brown and swift. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, no wind. Number on Trip: 6 Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: This was the first trip of the season and we were meant to be heading for the Hurunui. I turned up at the Belfast Tavern before the meeting time of 8:30am to find an empty car park and was a little bit worried that I’d made a mistake with the time. Fortunately Brendon and Kayo turned up in their van, with Robert from Dublin. We tossed my gear in the van and headed to the Ashley Gorge domain to meet up with Angus. I thought I’d get to test my new Blitz out on the grade two section of the Hurunui, so the though of getting a thrashing in the grade three section of the Ashley had me a little worried. At the domain we met up with Angus and a friend of his, before getting changed and piling into the van for the drive up to the middle bridge. The water at the put in was well below the level of our previous trip by a good metre and the bank that Steel had launched from was well away from the river.
Once on the river, the Blitz performed very well and I was very pleased with my new boat. Robert took a little getting used to being back in a kayak and took a swim while attempting a practice roll. Getting the boat to shore was not so easy in the lower volume play boat! When we reached the spot where Angus had swum on the previous trip, there was scarcely a ripple to mark the spot where the fearsome eddy had been. We stopped off at the forever eddy to have a look for Angus’s throw rope, lost on another trip, but didn’t find a trace of it. It was nice to stretch my legs as my feet were getting pretty cramped even though I only have size 8.5 feet. Brendon provided some helpful hints on how to paddle a planar hulled kayak, though probably his most useful tip was to keep my paddle further forward (so as not too paddle like a girl!) and to maintain the “box” no matter where one placed the blades.
Things picked up as we moved on to the grade three rapids, I took a dodgy line through the first rock garden, bouncing over the odd rock, with the lower flow, good lines were hard too find. The rest of the rapids went fine, though we did stop to look at the big drop on one of the later major rapids. With the low flow, it formed a metre high drop with a good sized hole at the base. Brendon suggested boofing into the left hand eddy and then ably demonstrated the required technique, my line wasn’t as good but I managed to stay out of the hole and get into the eddy. Kayo was going to have a play in the hole but decided not too as she got close to it (just as Brendon predicted). The second to last major rapid was probably the trickiest, as it required a move from left to right, while avoiding getting washed into a large rock before heading down the narrow channel on the far side. Robert, whose RPM had been filling up with water through a yet to be discovered crack, didn’t quite make it. His sluggish water-filled kayak was swept against the rock and when he leaned backwards, the water rushed to the rear making the boat tail stand and he ended up upside-down in not a very nice place. As he disappeared from my upstream view, he baled out and was rescued by Brendon and co.
From then on the trip was nice and cruisy, it was a real pleasure to be out on the water on such a great day (completely different from the first trip of last season, where it almost snowed!). I took a roll while messing about on an eddy line, but came up without a problem. All in all, a very successful trip, the new Bliss-Stick Blitz worked well and it was great to get another trip down the Ashley in, especially with such great weather.
Date: 8/8/06 River: Avon River, Christchurch, NZ River Conditions: Water level high, brown and swift. Weather Conditions: Cold and raining. Number on Trip: 1 Time on River: 45 minutes. Comments: Driving home after work on Tuesday after a couple of days of heavy rain, I decided to check out the weir at the Antigua Boat Sheds. Last time I had a look during a high flow it was almost completely washed out, little more than a ripple on the surface. This time it was forming a not bad looking hole that seemed to have some potential, so I shot home, got changed into my paddling gear and headed out again with my new Blitz on the roof rack. I seal launched into the river and had a quick paddle around to get a feeling for the Blitz before running the almost foot high weir! Extreme! Not too much drama running the drop (!!!!) and I was rewarded with quite a nice little play hole about 3 metres wide, just (river) right of centre with good feeder eddies on either side. I carved back and forth having fun until it got a bit too dark and then got out and headed for home. At some stage in the future this weir is going to be removed and replaced with a riffle (see here for details) which is unlikely to have any potential for kayakers, so the quest for the ultimate city play wave will have to look elsewhere!
Antigua Boat Shed weir at normal flow, check it out after the next heavy rain for surfing in the CBD!
Date: 17/6/06 River: Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 60 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Water brown and swift. Weather Conditions: Sunny but cold. Number on Trip: 6 Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: What a perfect day! Come Friday night, Robins’ mid winter trip to the Ashley was starting to look distinctly marginal as melting snow had pushed the flow level up from 50 to 125 cumecs (according to Graham Charles book making the run a grade 4). With this in mind I loaded my gear into the car on Friday but didn’t bother to get my boat out. Waking early, I checked the flow on the website, back down to a more manageable 68 cumecs, a glance out the window had the weather looking good and it was all on, my first (grade 3) Ashley trip in almost three years. Steel and I had butterflies in our stomachs as our small group drove to the put in at the middle bridge, neither of us had paddled this stretch in a while and never at this flow. There were still patches of snow around and the river flats at the put in had about four inches of snow on the ground, pretty cold on the feet, especially with bootees on. Warm gear and poogees were a must, it was really nice to have the right gear and be warm and dry. I slid down the hill whilst sitting on my kayak but Robin and Steel decided to launch their kayaks into the river by sliding down the snow and off the top of the four foot high bank. This worked reasonably well, though Steel landed a bit hard and flat and was a little sore afterwards.
The river was brown and swift but didn’t look quite as scary as it did on previous trips, however once on the river I was reminded not to take it too lightly on the first couple of “nothing” rapids, with the water pushing into the bank being more boily than expected. Angus in his very small C1 provided plenty of excitement by turning upside-down at every opportunity and rolling back up again just as quickly. Unfortunately shortly into the trip, he ended up upside-down at the base of a bluff with a very rapidly recirculating eddy. He tried to roll repeatedly but the current wouldn’t let, so he bailed out and disappeared from view, causing some concern amongst those watching. Fortunately he was swept around the bluff and made it to shore with the rest of the group in support, leaving Bruce and myself to watch his boat and gear spin round and round, disappearing occasionally beneath the surface. Eventually his paddle must have been swept around the corner to be picked up by the group with Angus. Bruce was able to get the C1 to shore when it floated out of the eddy it was trapped in. This left only two sliver air-bags and a first aid kit circling forlornly the spot where Angus’s brand new thermos flask found its’ watery grave. I thought briefly about trying to get them, but decided against that. Bruce had an unsuccessful attempt, making me feel glad I hadn’t tried. Angus’s boat was emptied out and towed around the bluff and everyone was reunited and soon back on the water.
As we carried on down the river with the sun shining brightly, my confidence increased and I took the opportunity for surf some of the features with the others. I also made a point of not following Steel too closely as he had a habit of paddling straight into holes behind pour overs that weren’t particularly obvious in the dirty brown water. The rapids continued to get harder as we approached the gorge proper, where the river narrows and steepens as the water flows through the five closely spaced grade 3 rapids that form the crux section of the run. Running this part of the river was quite different from the previous times I had run it, those times I just leaned forward and paddled like stink, I vaguely heard but didn’t understand any instructions or signals from other paddlers. Despite that I still managed to make it through most of the rapids without too many problems. This time Bruce was on hand and able to provide plenty of information to get us through the harder rapids without much drama. The rapids are a step up from Maori Gully and were definitely more intimidating, especially when filled with swirling brown water. I took a roll part way down one rapid and Steel did a couple more, but no one was keen to swim after Angus’s little adventure.
Gradually the pace eased off and we made our way down to the domain. Once off the water, Robin fired up his brazier with a little wood, paper and petrol and we were soon warming ourselves around its’ rosy glow. The resulting mayhem of half naked kayakers did drive off the group of picnickers, but as more kayakers arrived they soon joined the cosy huddle around the fire. It was a very popular day on the Ashley, with probably about 20 kayakers in total taking advantage of the ideal conditions. Ben also turned up with the silver wine casks from Angus’s boat, that he had recovered from the nasty little eddy, others had tried without success. The other lost items were no where to be seen.
Footnote: Bruce and Ian ran the Ashley the next day in less perfect conditions and managed to find Angus’s dry bag and thermos flask circling around with all the timber in the “Forever” eddy before the crux section. Quite a lucky find and they were duly returned to a grateful Angus.
Date: 9/6/06 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 65 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, NW winds. Number on Trip: 2 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: Graeme organised a nice afternoon paddle down the Brass Monkey course on the Waimak and given the perfect weather and the desire to scope out the river before the race series begins, I couldn’t say no. Murphy must have been watching from the bushes near the put in because no sooner had I got my dry top on, the call out phone rang with a reasonably urgent job. This was followed by another beep to indicate a voice mail from when I was on the first call. Calls were made and problems sorted out as we made our way down the first stretch of the river (it really was too nice a day to have aborted the trip). Eventually we made it to the get out at the State Highway One bridge just as the sun was setting and it was almost dark by the time we were back at the get in, both feeling a bit tired but happy to have had a very pleasant trip. The first quarter of the course was pretty scratchy with lots of smaller channels and not much water, though once the halfway mark was reached things became much easier. Not too much in the way of hazards, only a short stretch near the halfway point where the main current flows close to some willows on the right bank. It will be interesting to see what the river is like for races, as the following Monday a good southerly storm rolled through, dumping plenty of rain and snow and the Waimak peaking at over 1700 cumecs. I crossed the river on the Monday and it was flowing very swiftly, filling the channel, bank to bank, with brown swirling water and plenty of debris. It was quite a different river from our trip on Saturday.
Date: 28/5/06 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 68 Cumecs at Marble Point. Grade 2, water slightly discoloured and cold. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm (but cold and fog shrouded in Christchurch). Number on Trip: 4 safety boaters (29 competitors). Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: Safety boating for the Mighty Waiau River Race. This was a great day out as the river and weather was just about perfect (especially when compared to the dull grey day fog shrouded Christchurch was having). Andrew and I had to paddle pretty hard to get into position at “The Forks” (probably the largest rapid on this section of the Waiau) before the first competitors arrived.
Me waiting for the competitors to arrive. Photo by PhotoChick.
Due to the massed start, they came down thick and fast and we just watched them go past, keeping a careful eye on those “choosing” to swim to make sure they made it safely to shore with all their gear. It was kind of funny not rushing to rescue swimmers but with up to five people in the water at one time plus other competitors still going past, it was the best thing to do, especially as it would have been hard to get back in position if we chased anyone. After the last competitor went by, Andrew and I paddled down to Marble Point where Andrew and Lorraine (who was taking photos from the safety jet boat) got out and headed back to Culverden to set up for the prize giving. I continued on down stream with Ian and Linda, who had been covering Marble Point, enjoying a nice cruisy paddle and an excellent day out.
Another competitor goes safely by. Photo by PhotoChick.
Date: 21/5/06 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 24 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cold, light drizzle and strong NE wind gusts. Number on Trip: 6 Time on River: 3 hours, 30 minutes. Comments: Well this was actually my last paddle on the Hurunui for the season, I transferred the call out phone to a work mate and snuck out of town for one last paddling trip. The weather wasn’t too flash but there wasn’t much rain and the wind gusts held off until we were well down the run. We put in above the gorge before the South Branch confluence and paddled down at a fairly leisurely pace to Seawards before Ian, Bruce and myself ran Maori Gully and the rest ran the shuttle. Natalie and Graeme were considering doing the gully but decided not to when we got to Seawards. This was an excellent trip, putting reasonably high up so as too get a decent run in, plus with the smaller numbers there were more opportunities to play, however Maori Gully seemed very empty and lonely with just the three of us. Highlights included sliding out the back of a small eddy and down a bit of a drop (pictured below thanks to Raewyn), successfully getting out of the eddy above the Dozy Stream put in, ferrying out of Steels’ Eddy of Doom below the Dozy stream put in plus playing on the Magic Roundabout at the entrance to Maori Gully.
An unintentional gnarly move. Photo by Raewyn.
Date: 14/5/06 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 28 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cold, light drizzle clearing before a Southerly change. Number on Trip: 7 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: Probably my last paddle on the Hurunui before the end of the season. Just a small group of hardy paddlers braving an oncoming southerly front bringing snow down to 500m in places. The rain cleared before we got on the river and we were rewarded by blue skies and sunshine, though these disappeared as the weather closed in. We put in at Dozy Stream and made a quick trip down to Seawards and then on through the Gully. Glen showed off his skills by playing on everything, including Simon? Hole, quite impressive. I showed off my skills by taking a roll on the Magic Roundabout and another on one of the main drops in Maori Gully. I felt pretty exhausted by the end of the trip and nearly expired while climbing up from the get out (time to get rid of all that heavy safety gear and just put nice light air bags in the back of my boat, NOT!). I was impressed by how dry my boat was inside, the dry top and new deck kept all the water out, even after two rolls and a lot of surfing, I was nice and warm and dry too which was a real bonus. A good trip but I was a bit disappointed not to have run the Ashley the previous day (it was a beautiful sunny day AND the Ashley was up), next time I will be there!
Date: 7/5/06 River: Taipo River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Low flow. Grade 2+, water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Sunny but cool. Number on Trip: 7 Time on River: 1 hour. Comments: There was some debate as to weather or not we had enough time to run the Taipo but eventually we decided to give it a go. The track in is definitely four wheel drive only (real 4WDs not just cars with 4WD) and was pretty rough but apparently not as bad as it used to be. After some drama with John roof rack (you would think that a “quality” Thule roof rack wouldn’t just fall to bits under normal usage, but there seems to be a number of people who have had similar problems with them) we made it to the put in by 4pm with just enough daylight for a quick run down the bottom gorge to the highway bridge. Whilst carrying his boat to the river, John slipped and went down like a tonne of bricks and started swearing away like a trooper. Fortunately he didn’t break anything, just missing some rocks and sharp wooden spikes. Adding this to his earlier bee sting (“John there is a bee on your helmet”, John places hand on bee, bee stings Johns hand, “so there is”, says John), John obviously kept his luck for on the river.
The Taipo had a particularly cool opening rapid that was about 500m of continuous white water in a steep sided gorge, nice big waves and no rocks, so we just bombed straight down it, like a big wet roller coaster. Apparently there used to be a large hole at the start of the gorge, which later evolved in a bit of a dam followed by a drop, which appears to have disappeared too as there was no sign of either feature despite being on the look out for them. There were a number of other good grade 2+ rapids but nothing too demanding and no one decided to take a swim. We finished the run down the Taipo just as the sun dropped behind the hills, so it was a pretty long day but well worth it despite the drama with roof rack failures and one vehicle almost running out of fuel on the way home (a overseas visitor who hadn’t realised that it is almost impossible to get fuel outside of the main centres after dark). Fortunately, after some begging, the cafe in Arthur’s Pass turned on their petrol pump and saved the day. We all had some very tasty and well deserved food at the Wobbly Kea Café and headed back to Christchurch.
Date: 7/5/06 River: Crooked River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Low flow. Grade 2+, water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Sunny but cool. Number on Trip: 8 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: This was a one day trip to the West Coast organised by Graeme and John to see if it was possible to paddle the Crooked and Taipo Rivers on the same day and still make it home. We left Christchurch before 8am and were on the river at around 11am. It was a beautiful sunny day and the rivers were crystal clear and a lovely blue colour. The take out of the Crooked had over 20 large trout in formation in the large pool below the bridge, it was quite impressive to see (they were obviously aware that the fishing season ended last Sunday). The scenery was still really great and the rapids good (but not too hard) so we all had fun and I was able to keep nice and dry (hence warm, the water was very cold). There were a few rolls and the odd swim but no major problems. We paid the $20 to the farmer for the use of the road in and had no problems with access.
Heading down the Crooked (Thanks to Ian from Paddlerzone).
Date: 9/4/06 River: Hope / Waiau Rivers, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: Hope 200 Cumecs at Glynn Wye, Waiau 400 Cumecs at Marble Point. Grade 2, swift, cold and brown with some debris. Weather Conditions: Cold, rain clearing to a nice sunny day. Strong nor-westerly winds Number on Trip: 10 Time on River: 3 hours from the Hope Bridge to below Handyside Creek. Comments: This was planned to be a run down the Boyle and earlier in the week, it looked like it would be a pretty boney affair with some of the lowest flows recorded for the season. However the weather is never predictable and by Friday river levels were climbing rapidly and by Sunday morning, the Hope was at 244 cumecs, the Waiau was at 404 cumecs and the Hurunui was at 126 cumecs. Things were not looking good for a Boyle run (apparently the lower gorge gets pretty nasty at high flows) and when we met at the Belfast Tavern, Hugh and Ian decided to run the Hope and Waiau from the Hope Bridge down to Handyside Creek. The weather got progressively worst as we headed into the hills and was raining solidly when we stopped at the get out to look at the river. All the rivers we had crossed so far had been brown and swift and very high, water was thundering through Sharks Tooth with most of the rapid washed out, water flowing solidly on both sides of the rock. As we looked at the Waiau, all brown and swirling with large waves, a number of the party decided not to paddle, so we had three shuttle drivers.
At the put in the water rushed by with some good sized waves, everyone got into their gear and gingerly climbed into their kayaks in the one suitable launching spot before ferrying across the river to an eddy on the far side. Ian from Paddlerzone decided to use a faster method of getting in to the river by seal launching from the bank and ended up upside-down and floating towards the trees before rolling upright after a couple of attempts. After everyone was on the water, we all headed off down stream in a long line. We made good time as the river was moving pretty quickly (you could even hear the cracks and pops as stones were moved along the river bed by the current), though the large waves and boils and cross currents took a bit of getting used to. We also had to keep an eye out for large holes that formed behind rocks covered by the high flow, these often appeared as slight swells on the upstream side or sometimes just appearing as ordinary waves. There were some exciting wave trains and some big holes, but no real problems as most features could be easily avoided and there was plenty of room to manoeuvre, even the bluffs weren’t too pushy. The sky cleared shortly after setting out, exposing the fresh snow on the surrounding mountains and this really improved the trip no end (though putting on some sunscreen didn’t seem so stupid after all).
Graeme ended up in a large hole and after a couple of roll attempts was still in the hole and decided to swim, fortunately it was at the end of a rapid and he hung on to his paddle and was soon on the shore reunited with his boat with no problems A couple of others took rolls in holes, myself included, but it was all good. I ran into a large hole near the get out, it look like a large wave until I went over the edge and realised it was actually breaking on to itself and then it was too late. I tipped on my offside and didn’t tip over properly, apparently only my head ended up in the water with my boat still upright. I tipped myself over properly and rolled up after a botched attempt (my second roll for the year). Lofty was pretty disappointed, he thought I was going to swim and he would get to rescue me and I’d then owe him a beer, well I foiled that (still I am going to have to practice offside rolls in the pool at some stage). This was a good trip with the high flow making for an exciting time. My new deck and Bomber dry top kept the water out and I was still warm and dry at the end of the trip, which was a nice change. My new set of Kathmandu Altica Thermaplus long john’s and tops are also keeping me nice and warm. The smoother fabric feels much nicer too, without the rash and constant itching I was getting with my polypros. Stopped off at the Hurunui Pub for a beer and a game pie, which was a tasty way to fill quite a large hole in my stomach.
Date: 26/3/06 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 17 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Overcast, cold with NE winds. Number on Trip: 13 Time on River: 6 hours. Comments: Autumn was making its presence felt, as it was pretty cold and although we expected the sun to break through the clouds, it only got darker. We clambered down the Maori Gully get out (which is much more fun than the usual hike up) and warmed up paddling around before heading off downstream. The first part is quite open with plenty of rocks to practice eddying out behind but as the hills close in, the river narrows and the banks get rockier and the rapids bigger. Initially we took quite a leisurely pace, playing and practicing moves. Bob provided helpful coaching and got some of the newer paddlers to try pushing their confidence boundaries. Above one rapid, I found the broken stump of an old Taupo paddle which I fished out and placed on my deck until I could offload it to Murray (as he might be able to salvage the blade for repairs). I thought about putting it in my boat but as it was a bit slimy I decided not to. However as I began to descend the rapid, I realised that it would probably wash off and sink so I grabbed it and flailed down the rest of the rapid with my paddle in one hand and the stump in the other. I finally caught up with Murray without any mishaps and he stowed it in the Topo Duo. By the time we stopped for lunch, the pace had picked up as the cold set in. I broke out my poogees and extra polypro top, being wet makes you cold and I wasn’t enjoying it (incidentally this should be my last wet trip as I’ve just brought a Bomber Dry Jacket and I look forward to trying it out). After lunch, we headed off to at a good pace towards “The Gap”, eventually we got there and pulled over to the side to look at the rapid.
The Gap (actually it is the second drop that has a bit of a dog leg). Photo by Raewyn.
I always find rapids look scarier when viewed from the bank, so I was pretty nervous as I pushed off to run the rapid (I swam the first part last time we ran it). The rapid looked quite different from the previous time with the lower flow but it looked like running it down the middle would work. Everything went fine and I found myself down the bottom pointed upstream in a rather turbulent eddy. Once Alex made it down, I broke out and carried on down through the next rapid. Everyone got through without too many problems, Raewyn rolled in the eddy I had been sitting in, which was a pretty good effort. There were a couple of other upside-down experiences but no one took a swim. There were a few more interesting rapids in the gorge include one with big rock and rooster tail in the middle. Despite signals from below, a number of people took the more interesting line over the top of the rock, fortunately without problem. Once these rapids were past, things became more relaxed though we kept moving fairly swiftly as most people were cold and tired and were looking forward to getting in to dry clothes (I certainly was).
I was acting as tail end Charlie and making sure no one got left behind and we were near the end of the gorge section when we noticed Mike caught on a bluff. The rapid itself looked like “nothing”, a series of riffles running in to a bluff with an eddy at the side. Mike ended up tipping over and tried to roll repeatedly before coming out of his boat. I moved closer to try and figure out how to get to him without getting stuck myself. Mike let go of his boat and tried to swim around the bluff, then he just disappeared. It was a horrible feeling to watch the reddish blur almost 3m below the surface and know that there was nothing you could do. Fortunately after about 20 seconds, he resurfaced and after he caught his breath, I towed him to shore while his mostly submerged boat circled in the eddy. Ian ferried into the eddy to rescue the boat but this was pretty hard as the boat was full of water and the eddy was pretty boily. I went across to help with a couple of throw ropes to tow the boat out, it was suggested that I took the end of the rope in my mouth but I was too keen on being upside-down against a bluff tangled in a rope, as it turned out, getting in to the eddy was easy. Once in the eddy, it was pretty hard to keep hold of Mikes’ kayak and it got away again while Ian was out of his boat trying to empty the water out. I had my deck off and my cockpit full of rope so wasn’t happy as I floated into the current trying to grab a boat with just its end showing. Eventually Ian got the boat emptied out and Bob towed it over to the other side. The next mission was to get Georgie out of the eddy. After several attempts at breaking out, she ended up in the water. She managed to get out and Hugh helped her carry her boat upstream so it would be easier to ferry across, this worked and after that drama we carried on out on to the Amuri Plains. Fortunately everything ended well but it does go to show that even “easy” sections shouldn’t be taken lightly. After the irrigation take out the river gets pretty dry and boney so the going is a bit slow and we were all glad when the get out came into view. It was nice get into some dry clothes but we still had an hour wait while the vehicles were shuttled and it was almost dark before we left for home.
Ian holds Georgie’s boat whilst she clambers ashore. Photo by Raewyn.
Date: 19/3/06 River: Crooked River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Very low flow. Grade 2+, water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 13 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: This trip was the highlight of the weekend and we specially saved it until last. I got Hugh to lead and he inspired us all with his ability by taking a swim at the put in, his boat slid out from under him whilst he was trying to get in. That provided a few laughs and I made sure I put my boat a bit higher up (away from the particularly slippery slime) the same sloping rock when I put in so as not to repeat the performance. The scenery and gorge were still quite spectacular and the rapids were fun, but there was a lot less water. The rapid at the start by the old bridge looked unrunnable on the left hand side, mainly all rocks. The first few rapids were pretty boney and there was a lot of bumping over rocks, with just the odd swim. It is important to remember when running these types of rivers, to keep you feet up when swimming. Sure your bottom may get bruised but that is way better than drowning because your foot got trapped behind a boulder, so don’t try to stand up in swift water even if it is relatively shallow.
When we reached the rock garden, everyone got out to check out a route through the boulders as there was a lot of potential for getting pinned. We set up safety and sent John through as a probe. He had no problems and I followed through on a slightly different line, crashing in to and over rocks before pulling into the eddy at the bottom. Everyone else came down, one by one, with no problems, each taking a different line or showing their own personal style. Duncan showed his class by breaking in behind the first rock in a flawless move. He then went and blew it all by shooting straight up on top of a rock, apparently to get a better look down the rapid. The rest of the rapids were relatively straight forward to run but were pretty exciting. The gorge arrived sooner than I remembered (we didn’t play as much on the way down I guess) and was really beautiful with its water sculptured, moss covered cliffs overhanging the river and crystal clear waters. After that there was more rapids and some pretty good play spots, including a really nice but shallow hole near the get out. A great trip and well worth the effort.
Date: 19/3/06 River: Arnold River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: High flow (approximately 2.15m at the Lake Brunner), Grade 2, water clear. Weather Conditions: Mainly sunny with some cloud. Number on Trip: 19 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: There was some dissent over this run, some of the more experienced paddlers wanting to do this after running the Crooked River (translation: you can run it if you want after we head home), however in the interests of fairness to the many beginners, we paddled it first. We swapped the groups around, so people could experience different paddling instruction or could spent some time playing without having to rescue beginners. Johns’ group went first, followed by Chee Chang with me following up behind. It was quicker trip that the previous day with less play and fewer swimmers, some of the less confident paddlers were managing to get down the rapids without swimming and only a little coaching “PADDLE”. We had a little bit of horseplay in our group, having some of the younger kayakers and when we caught up with Chee Chang near the end, he decided to join in the fun, promptly pushing Cynric over “so he could practice his roll”. Unfortunately he didn’t and ended up swimming, he then promptly attached himself to Chee Chang’s kayak and tipped him into the eel infested water, holding him under so Chee Chang had a nice swim too and a good ribbing!
Date: 18/3/06 River: Arnold River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Low flow (approximately 2.22m at the Lake Brunner), Grade 2, water clear. Weather Conditions: Overcast but warm. Number on Trip: 18 Time on River: 3 hour 30 minutes. Comments: This was a deviation from Ian’s’ master plan as no one was particularly keen the run the flat water of Lady Lake River, which looked pretty dry to boot. We decided to run the Arnold as a step up from the previous trip. The river was running a lot lower than last time so we were looking forward to a much more relaxing trip than the previous roller coaster ride in January. We divided up in to three groups and headed off down the river. Lauri and I led the last group in the Topo Duo and had a nice cruisy run, surfing on lots of the waves and holes, some of which were somewhat larger than ones we had previously surfed making it quite exciting. We managed to stay upright but had a couple of close calls when we ended up side surfing some of the larger holes. We both really enjoyed it and we seem to be getting the hang of paddling the purple menace and it is quite surprising what you can do in it. The Arnold is a great little run, with something for everyone, good rapids, warm water, easy access and some great scenery. Currently Trustpower has plans to destroy this run as part of a small scale power generation scheme by channelling the water from the river into a canal and running it through generators and putting the water back into the river below the current take out. If this was to go ahead, it would be a real shame to lose such a recreational asset.
Fun on the Arnold. Photo by Graeme.
Date: 18/3/06 River: Crooked River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Very low flow. Grade 2-, water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Overcast but warm. Number on Trip: 18 Time on River: 2 hours 30 minutes. Comments: I arrived late just as the rest of the group were considering running the shuttle. Ian had phoned me early that morning, asking if I wanted to run the trip as he had to go up to Auckland. I said sure and with all the hasty organising I had to do, meant I was running late (actually I drive slow so the drive took longer than the expected 2.5 hours). The first run was a nice easy one to get the less confident paddlers adjusted to being back in a kayak. The flow was pretty low and so the early rapids were pretty boney. Lauri got to paddle her Fly and only took one swim near the start. I distracted her by getting stuck on a rock halfway down the second rapid and so she was looking at me, wondering why I was playing silly buggers, and not concentrating on what she was doing. She was quickly back in her boat, glad that her Bomber jacket kept her nice and dry and completed the trip without further mishap. There are some nice easy rapids that can be run straight down plus there are some nice little play spots to keep the more confident paddlers amused.
Date: 12/3/06 River: Rangitata River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 60 cumecs at Klondyke, water cold, clear and swift. Grade 2+ Weather Conditions: Rain clearing, SE winds easing, mainly fine but cool. Number on Trip: 8 on grade 2 section, 10 on the grade 4 section. Time on River: 3 hours Comments: Another run down the Rangitata in the Topo Duo with Lauri. Feeling pretty confident in the Duo after the Waiau trip, we took the harder lines and had heaps of fun surfing anything we could get on. Everyone else did really well and we had no swimmers, even though a number of people took the opportunity to try new things and test their limits, good work. We were also accompany by a guy called Ed, who said he had done some kayaking in the past but hadn’t paddled in 20 years. His boat was an old Olympia (even longer than the Topo Duo) and his gear dated to a similar era, but boy could he really paddle, pulling old school tricks like pirouettes (you don’t see that with today’s short boats). Gradually we learned he was a founding member of the White Water Canoe Club and had done quite a bit of really serious grade 5 paddling in New Zealand and around the world and was even in this years WWCC calendar. It was great to have him along and it was good to see him once again enjoying the sport he loved. We all enjoyed the trip, taking our time and playing everything until the cold started getting to me and I had to hurry things up. I had dropped off my Rasdex jacket to be repaired (the seam sealing around the cuffs had come loose allowing water in) and had to use my old paddle jacket and so got soaking wet. I was quite frozen by the time we made the get out where Barry waited with our vehicles. The rest of the grade 4 paddlers did two runs through the gorge and had a great time too. Thanks Raewyn for the photos.
The weir below the put in. Photo by Raewyn.
Playing in the Topo Duo. Photo by Raewyn.
Surfing a hole in the Topo Duo. Photo by Raewyn.
The Topo Duo rocks! Photo by Raewyn.
Raewyn surfs in a club RPM.
Date: 5/3/06 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 33 Cumecs at State Highway One Bridge. Grade 2, water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny with strong NE winds. Number on Trip: 3 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: A nice gentle Sunday afternoon paddle with Lauri, Graeme and myself. This was Lauri’s’ first paddle in her Fly in a while and she really enjoyed it. It is nice to have a gem like this so close to home. The river was pretty busy with plenty of jet boats, 4x4s, motorbikes and yobs throwing rocks at the burnt out car that had been dumped in the river. The river level was very low but we managed to find channels that didn’t involve too much bottom scraping. No real hazards and just a few little rapids and trees forming small holes, which Lauri had a surf on. Nice easy shuttle and no one threw rocks at our car, bonus!
Date: 26/2/06 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 36 Cumecs at State Highway One Bridge. Grade 2, water clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny with light NE winds. Number on Trip: 4 Time on River: 4 hours, 30 minutes. Comments: The final kayaking stretch of the Bloody Good Race was held on the Waimakariri River from the Willows down to Stewart? Gully. We were covering a hazard just down from Weedons Ross Road, where the current swept through some trees dumped in the river and bank protection works (I think). It was pretty nasty with lots of trees and wire cables in the main flow and was designated as a compulsory portage (which annoyed some competitors but was safer and fairer to everyone taking part). I was parked down near the hazards while the others directed competitors to the far bank and helped them out of their kayaks for the portage. It was quite nice sitting in the river until the itching started (not to bad as I wasn’t wearing any poly pro and hadn’t the previous day) and by the end of the day I was standing on the bank in just my shorts wishing race would end and I could get into some dry clothes. It was a pretty slow day but it was still good to be out on the river.
Date: 25/2/06 River: Rangitata River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 58 Cumecs at Klondyke. Grade 2, water clear and warm. Weather Conditions: Fine but with a few clouds. Number on Trip: 4 Time on River: 6 hours, 30 minutes. Comments: Day two of the Mt Cook “Bloody Good” Race, includes a kayaking section down the Rangitata River from Klondyke to the Arundel Bridge. This section isn’t too dramatic in plastic white water kayaks but in a long, narrow race boat made of brittle fibreglass, it is a different kettle of fish, with biggish rapids and plenty of rocks to dodge. I was safety boating in more or less the same place as last year, just down from the camp ground on the second rapid, with Andrew. Dave and Tara paddled down from Lyell Creek and were covering the rapid above us. We had a pretty uneventful time, only having to rescue on paddler (twice) and filling in the time between customers by surfing back and forth across the rapid. It was great, the Invader just flew across the river and ended up in the small eddy on the other side in a shower of spray, I had a ball.
However, after a large proportion of the competitors had gone by, Bruce (acting as a mid field safety kayaker) told us that there was another rapid below us that we were supposed to be covering instead of the rapid Dave and Tara were on. This came as a bit of surprise as we had been given GPS co-ordinates for the second rapid we were too cover and they correspond to the one Andrew and I were on. I promptly paddled upstream to get Dave and Tara to cover our rapid whilst Andrew and I paddled about 500m down the river to the next hazard and boy was it a nasty one. The main current dropped down a chute and into the bank forming a bit of a whirl pool and then a little further along it dropped down another chute, flowing through a series of trees in the water along the left bank with the last tree covering about 70% of the channel, not a nice place to be. We quickly set up a sign and had Andrew direct the remaining competitors down another channel (scratchy but navigable, just), whilst I sat in my boat above the nasty stuff to intercept anyone who ignored the other channel.
While I was sitting there, I was quite surprised when a competitor walked up to me from downstream. I asked him if he had a problem and he told me his boat was stuck in the trees and he had lost his paddle. I went do with him to see if I could recover any of his gear but I could see a thing. He pointed to the spot where his bright yellow sea kayak should have been, but it certainly wasn’t there any more and there was no sign of it down the river. I got on the radio and spoke to race control and they got him to walk up the river to our put in and they would send his support crew to meet him. I promised that I would try to find his boat but didn’t hold out much hope of seeing his paddle again and off the ran up the river bed with his bare feet. Hint: remember to also have some form of footwear on when paddling because if you lose your boat with your shoes in it, you generally have to walk out bare footed.
After a while Ian and Shane (the tail end Charles) turned up with Dave and Tara, I sent the off the scratchy channel with Andrew while I set off down the other channel to see if I could find the lost gear. I avoided the trees fairly easily but did wonder how the other paddlers got on in their long race boats (I would have portaged it if I was in a race boat). There was not sign of either boat or paddle, so I continued on down the river. I eventually found the paddle, lying in a shallow rapid with its black blades visible above the water but still no boat. Eventually the channels joined but and I caught up with Ian and Shane but no Andrew! He eventually appeared, having got stuck repeatedly in the boney alternative channel and had to hand walk his kayak (hmm, I wonder what that would do to a fibreglass race boat) and we headed off down the river to catch up with Dave and Tara. We found them further down the river, looking worriedly at the empty sea kayak they had found with no sign of its paddler. They had already contacted race control and were very pleased to find out the competitor was safe. Ian set about salvaging the kayak and I got him to strap the paddle to its deck so I didn’t have to carry it any more. Ian and Shane took turns at towing the sea kayak out whilst the rest of us enjoyed ourselves on the paddle out. There were some quite nice rapids and we all enjoyed ourselves but were glad when we reached the Arundel Bridge and could get out and in to dry clothes for the journey home. It had been a long day and we were all pretty tired.
Some lessons were learnt and will hopefully be applied on future events. They included…. -Someone needs to run the river at some stage and makes notes of hazards, personnel requirements and placement. -On the day of the race (or the previous day), the safety co-ordinator runs the river, places any “go this way signs” as well as numbered signs marking safety personnel locations and makes any changes to the safety plan. This means that everything is correctly placed by someone who is familiar with all the hazards on the river and knows their locations exactly. -Safety boaters are then supplied with written notes on the hazard and location, grid reference/location map, a sketch map of the hazard with suggested personnel placement marked on it. This should reduce the confusion of “the second rapid on the right after the tree by the rock” type of verbal explanation (detailed written instructions also look better in court too).
Date: 19/2/06 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 37 Cumecs at Marble Point. Grade 2, water cloudy. Weather Conditions: Sunny and hot with light NW winds. Number on Trip: 21 Time on River: 5 hours, 30 minutes. Comments: This was a very cruisy trip, the sun was out and the river relatively low, so it was kick back and drift down the river in the Topo Duo with Lauri. Lauri felt that it was quite a different river to the one we paddled on our first trip in the double kayak and she was a little disappointed by the lack of decent wave trains.
The Topo Duo navigates a “rapid”.
I tried to make up for it by attempting to surf some of the river features and by picking slightly more exciting lines (i.e. ones where you just miss the large rock by a smidgen or run straight through the hole). We put in at the Hanmer River confluence, stopped for lunch at Marble Point and took out at the gravel pit (this is about 700m upstream on the right bank from the usual get out and is much easier for beginners). There were plenty of jet boats on the river and this caused a few worries for some of the less experienced paddlers, though no real problems. There were also a few swimmers but the water was warm and the day was hot so a number of people even opted for a completely voluntary swim to cool off.
Playing on the Rapid at Sharks’ Tooth. Photo by Chee Chang.
Rapid at Sharks’ Tooth (low flow and the other channel has reduced the challenge from years gone by). Photo by Chee Chang.
Learnt a few things with on the shuttle, firstly, always stop at stop signs and secondly don’t follow Chee Chang (this often applies on rivers too). The Police were sitting just down from the Hanmer turn off, issuing tickets to those breaking the law. Andrew got a $150 fine for failing to stop and another driver got to have a wee chat with a Police Officer after temporarily losing traction (if he was a bit younger and driving a racier car, he probably would have been fined too). I managed to get stuck after following Chee Chang down to the river (OK so he has a 4×4 and I have lowish saloon), I got down alright but getting out required a bit of a push after I lost traction (and did a proper burnout with smoke and all). A great day out and everyone seemed to have fun, especially some of the beginners who find the Hurunui a bit daunting at times.
Sharks’ Tooth. Photo by Chee Chang.
Date: 12/2/06 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 31 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), water cloudy. Weather Conditions: Overcast, cold with strong NE winds. Number on Trip: 16 Time on River: 5 hours. Comments: My first trip back on the Hurunui since November and it was good to be back. It was another great day on the Hurunui. We decided to do the run from Jollie Brook down, putting in at the camp ground instead of below the swing bridge and thus getting to run an extra rapid. We paddled as one large group and I covered the rear for most of the trip, keeping any stragglers moving. The river was higher than I had paddled it for a while and the water was still cloudy from the fresh earlier in the week. Bob provided Tara with some expert instruction, giving her tips and exercises to try and showing her more challenging lines. Tara and her partner Dave were also having a competition to see who would have the most swims. The competition was pretty tight, with Dave probably spending more time upside-down but generally managing to roll upright. However once we entered Maori Gully, Tara pulled ahead due to tiredness and her more challenging lines, she even managed to run Simon’s Hole upside-down!
About half the group dropped into the eddy behind the rock above Dozy stream put in. I dropped in too and sat there for a while wondering why I hadn’t taken the easy route down the left channel. Dave broke out first, showing the line not to take, washing up on the pillow at the base of the bluff and tipping over but managing to roll upright again without any difficulty. The eddy gradually emptied out, with paddlers either paddling straight down the drop or heading for the rock and breaking out from the eddy. Eventually it was my turn and I paddled directly at the rock and soon found myself upright, surfing in the main channel, no problems!
The next challenge was the big eddy and bluff on the next section. It was easy to get in but with a slightly higher flow, getting out across the face of the bluff was a bit harder. Kieron looked good as he played on the pillow at the base of the bluff until I realised that he wasn’t playing but was actually stuck. In an attempt to get unstuck, he clipped his paddle to his tow line (a bad idea) and tried to hand walk along the bluff. This was going fine until his tail caught and he was upside-down with his tow line tangled around his neck. Fortunately he was able to untangle his tow line and roll upright after flushing off the bluff, excitement over, phew. After watch this, I was a little worried however the Fly, with its higher boat speed, kept me away from the bluff without breaking a sweat, much.
Maori Gully was pretty sweet and I felt pretty comfortable, picking lines and playing on some of the features (not the really major drops though), I even had another go on the Magic Roundabout! Lots of fun all round.
Date: 11/2/06 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 148 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water swift and cloudy. Weather Conditions: Fine with cloudy patches, light drizzle at times, strong NW winds. Number on Trip: 2 Time on River: 9 hours. Comments: I finally got to help out with the Coast to Coast, cool! Not much too it, we mainly spent the day sitting in our boats directing people away from a couple of channels that fed directly into some willows. Only one person made it through our cordon, appearing suddenly behind us and completely failing to avoid the willows. He swam out of his boat, which was recovered by the jet boat team and had to helped ashore. We assumed that he had ignored the signs further up the river to get into the closed off channel, hopefully he learned the lesson that the signs are there for a reason and not just to slow people down. The other drama was an English kayaker who tried to paddle towards us despite us shouting at him, eventually we got him to pull over to the over side and we went over to see if we could help. It turned out he had decided to take part in the race the week before and had hired the last suitable kayak that Topsport had, an old fibreglass sea kayak, and wrecked it by running over rocks and down shallow chutes. He drained out the water and we patched up the bottom as best as we could and he continued on.
The day dragged on and my reaction to the polypro I was wearing got worse and worse, I removed my long john’s but was still tormented by the constant itching. Eventually around 7pm we were told we could head out and with a great deal of relief we set off for the gorge bridge with a couple of the last few competitors. We ran a bit of a drop behind a large rock near the end, which was fun, then paused to help a competitor who had decided it wouldn’t be so much fun to run in his race boat. After we had got changed and picked up my car, we noticed the same sea kayak we had patched up earlier, the competitor had just abandoned it on the river bank. Eventually Linda got it back to Topsport and they were quite surprised to see it again as they had though it had disappeared for good. Hopefully they got to charge the guy who hired it heaps for not returning. It was really good to be involved in the race but it was a very long day and I was pretty beat by the time I got home at 10:30pm.
Date: 10/2/06 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 180 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water swift and dirty from the Esk River down. Weather Conditions: Generally fine but with some clouds. Number on Trip: 9 Time on River: 4 hours. Comments: Admittedly this shouldn’t actually be here but it was such a cool trip I really have to write it up. I manage to get a jet boat ride up the Waimak Gorge to check out the course for the Coast to Coast. I had especially bunked work (OK so I’d actually booked a day off weeks in advance, but “bunked” sounds cooler) and was really looking forward to finally getting a look at the Waimak Gorge (plus I was also getting the oft promised jet boat ride that all safety boaters are bribed with). The water flowing under Gorge Bridge was brown with quite a bit of debris in it but judging from the mud on the bank, the river had fallen from earlier in the week. Everyone duly arrived and we boarded the two jet boats and headed up the river, it was fun racing along and I had my hands tightly clenched one the holds and my gear and was quite nervous as the went up the smallish rapids.
At Woodstock we came across one of the large commercial jet boats which had broken down due to sucking debris into the impeller and had to transfer its passengers to another boat whilst on the river. Apparently they shouldn’t have been running the river at that flow and were outside of their operating parameters, a bit embarrassing especially as a MSA Inspector was driving our lead jet boat. Once in the gorge the scenery was spectacular, with great soaring cliffs, waterfalls and interesting rock formations. I wished I had my camera but as I was holding on so tightly to the boat, I probably wouldn’t have taken any pictures. It was quite hard to gauge what the rapids were like as the jet boat appeared to fly over the water (I clocked speeds of almost 80km/hour on the down stream run using the GPS) and you seemed very detached from the river itself. It was quite interesting when the jet boat slowed to an idle and the river came in to focus again. It is the feeling of being in touch with the river that I particularly like about kayaking.
Once we were out of the gorge and above the Esk confluence to water cleared to a glorious blue colour, the flow level dropped and we had to turn back after scraping the boats bottom once too often. On the trip back, the lead jet boat would stop at all the major rapids to put out numbers for the safety jet boaters, so they could be sure they were in the right place. After Woodstock, I clambered out of the jet boat I was in and into the lead boat. We placed a few signs directing people away from the various hazards (mainly willow trees with the current flowing through them) and figured out where I’d be stationed the following day. Whilst placing the last sign, we ended up stuck on a gravel bank and the boat wasn’t moving. I was still in street clothes and didn’t really fancy standing in a muddy river and having wet trousers and shoes for the rest of the day, eventually I had to get out and help push too. The boat still wouldn’t move and eventually we had to resort to driving the other boat at it to create a wave to wash the boat off. I was fortunately back on the boat by this stage and eventually we got off the bank and finished the trip off.
Date: 1/2/06 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 36 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water swift and cloudy. Weather Conditions: Overcast, cold with strong NE winds. Number on Trip: 9 Time on River: 2 hours. Comments: This was a rescue training session for the Coast to Coast with Linda Wensley, just to brush up on the basics before the race. Did various exercises towing and ferrying boats and people, rescuing paddles, throw ropes etc plus a scenario that involved rescuing a paddler and boat trapped in a tree, which was quite useful especially as willows are the major hazard where I’ll be stationed. Had a reasonably fun time with the water being warmer than the wind. Had a bit of a swim after the session, trying to find a lost tow rope, but it seemed to have disappeared off down stream.
Date: 22/1/06 River: Crooked River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Low flow. Grade 2+, water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Overcast. Number on Trip: 15 Time on River: 3 hours. Comments: This trip was probably the highlight of the weekend, with beautiful scenery and plenty of white water action. The road in (grade 5 with a locked gate) providing its own excitement, removing bits from the underside of Bills’ car. The get in is marked by a wooden cross. A memorial to a British kayaker, Eleanor Rutter, who drowned in the grade 5, upper gorge section further upstream. It was a solemn reminder of the risks that are present whenever one ventures into the Great Outdoors. Ian and Chris braved the “calf” (as in small cow) deep mud and wandered up the track to put further up and thus run a few of the harder rapids.
The rapids at the bridge site near the put in (thanks Graeme for the photos).
The rest put in below the old bridge site after they finished their short run. The river was clear and blue and was surrounded by superb native bush. Klaus managed to break his paddle on one of the early rapids and ran the rest of the river with less than half a blade on his right hand side. He still managed to play most features and roll with ease, even with his abbreviated paddle. As this was the second paddle he has broken recently, it was suggested that he should get a stronger paddle and stop bracing off the bottom.
Boulder garden rapid plus my arm. Photo by Graeme.
There were some pretty cool rapids, especially just before this really neat gorge where the river closed in, with great green moss covered cliffs overhanging the deep green water, quite spectacular and only able to be seen from a kayak. We had some excitement near the start of the gorge when Ernest bailed out after tipping on a large buffer wave and swam to shore. Chris pursued his boat down the next rapid and managed to catch it round the corner. This left Ernest on one side with his boat on the other side with a rapid between them. Ian paddled back up the rapid and ferried across and after several attempts at throwing a line across eventually ferried back with a line. This was attached to Ernest’s boat, which was then hauled back up the rapid and we carried on down stream with no further dramas. Definitely worth a repeat visit.
Date: 21/1/06 River: Crooked River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: Low flow. Grade 2-, water clear and cold. Weather Conditions: Mainly sunny with some cloud. Number on Trip: 17 Time on River: 2 hours 30 minutes. Comments: This was a cruisy trip to make up for the mornings excitement and allow some of the less confident paddlers a chance to get out on the water. We paddled from the Crooked River Scenic Reserve (the get out for the lower gorge) down to the Moana-Rotomanu Road bridge. This was an easy grade two trip with not too much in the way of rapids but it was quite relaxing and there were plenty of waves to surf so everyone had some fun.
Date: 21/1/06 River: Arnold River, West Coast, NZ River Conditions: High flow (approximately 4m at the Lake Brunner), Grade 2+, water clear. Weather Conditions: Mainly sunny with some cloud. Number on Trip: 17 Time on River: 1 hour 30 minutes. Comments: I had been looking forward to paddling this river for a while but hadn’t manage to get over to do it. I had certain expectations but was quite surprised (pleasantly) by want I found. The Arnold was very high and swift and instead of the expected gently flow river with a few easy rapids, it turned out to be a willow lined roller coaster of reasonably large pressure waves with few stops or eddies. We ended up chasing Ernest’s boat for over 300m down one rapid before we could get it to the side. Wasn’t quite the beginners trip it was meant to be but still lots of fun. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I could have as I was a bit nervous in case anyone in my group ran in to difficulty, fortunately none did. Also attempts to surf waves and features, generally resulted in being swept off down stream. Currently this river is under threat of being dammed, which would be a real shame as it is a real gem and is well used by schools and beginners in the area.
Date: 10/12/05 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 43 Cumecs at State Highway 1 bridge. Grade 2, clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny to overcast to heavy rain. Number on Trip: Only 2 (154 race competitors though). Time on River: 4 hours. Comments: Safety boating for the Arawa Waimak Classic race, Andrew and I put in at Woodstock at 11am (after getting up at 5am) and paddled down to the willows down stream from the big rock. The river hits the right bank here and the current runs through the willow trees making a hazard for anyone who gets in the wrong place. Everything went well, with Andrew directing people away from the trees, so all we had to do is watch the competitors paddle by. Some good results with Ian Huntsman beating Ben Fouhy to claim the fastest overall time, Gary Wake from the WWCC also posted a good result too. There were plenty of swimmers in the rock garden and in the gorge but fortunately none down our end. Once the last competitor passed us, a jet boat appeared and lets us know we were finished (possibly incorrectly as there may have still been a couple of tail end Charles still to go), so we paddled out to Gorge Bridge just in time for the rain. A nice paddle down an easy stretch of the river.
Date: 3-4/12/05 River: Tekapo River and Slalom Course, Tekapo, NZ River Conditions: 18 Cumecs released from dam. Grade 2 to 3+, clear. Weather Conditions: Cool, overcast, showers clearing on Saturday to hot with gusty nor-westers on Sunday. Number on Trip: Approximately 60 with about 18 WWCC members. Time on River: 6 hour releases both days. Comments: This year we had a good turn out from the WWCC at Tekapo and a good weekend was had by all. Saturday was spent practicing on the slalom course, playing on the holes or running the drops at the bottom of the course, whilst others ran the river from the dam down to the slalom course. The river run is a nice cruisy grade 2 trip of about 2-3km, with the rapids getting harder (though still relatively easy) as one goes along, great for beginners. After we got back from running the river, we headed back up to the dam for the down river race. This year I just planned to paddle my Fly gently and not try to keep up with the slalom boats. Things were going well down the river and I managed to get a lead on the other plastic boats, as Glen literally fought it out with some other kayakers, with plenty of pushing, shoving and ramming of other competitors boats. Unfortunately, just like last year, I ran straight into the guts of the big hole at gate four (my nemesis) and tipped upside down and after three (described by Kieron as pathetic) roll attempts I bailed out and completed the course swimming with my boat and paddle. This valiant attempt earned a 2nd place and a chocolate bar. Phil Abraham managed to beat Alan Hoffman this year and also headed off Ian Gill-Fox, who was paddling a much faster down river racer, when he took a bad channel and got caught in the shallows.
Steve surfs the play hole at Tekapo.
Sunday was spent with the serious (for some people) slalom racing, most of the paddlers present having a go, some more successfully than others. WWCC paddlers Chris and Kate Morley, Glen Clark, Mike Owen, Ian Gill-Fox, Kieron Thorpe, Tony Ward-Holmes and Phil Abraham all won prizes for placing in their various categories. The strong winds made navigating the gates without incurring a penalty, quite hard. My runs were pretty abysmal, I tipped coming out of gate 3 and then floated through the big hole before swimming down the rest of the course on my practice run. My first scored run I skipped a number of the upstream gates and concentrated on just running the course the right way up. On my second run, I managed to get past the gate 4 hole again but tipped whilst trying to get gate 5 and swam down the rest of the course, avoiding a throw rope from Chris that would wave pendulumed me against a rock. I got back into my boat in the large pool and ran the rest of the gates with my boat half full of water. Not highly successful at all!
Mike successfully navigates the hole at gate 4.
The hole at Gate 4 upset a number of paddlers, but Kieron has no problems on this run.
Glen boofs into the eddy to run upstream gate 9.
I had a good weekend though my paddling skills took a bit of a beating and my roll didn’t come up to scratch a lot of the time. I did however get to run three of the four drops at the bottom of the course without much drama. Getting caught in a rapidly spinning eddy on the right hand side of the third drop and having to break out across some scary looking white water didn’t make me feel like running the (possibly) harder and the definitely more rocky drop on the run out. However a number of other braver kayakers ran it, some even the right way up!
Want to know where Osama bin Slalom has been hiding?
There he is, emerging from the hole at gate 4 at Tekapo!
One of the highlights for me was my last run down the slalom course after all the gates had been packed up. I attempted to avoid the gate 4 hole again by cruising down the left hand side. This was going well until I caught a tiny eddy beside the hole and soon found myself facing up stream in a micro eddy right next to the churning mass of white water that was my nemesis, the gate 4 hole. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do, so I broke out and was surfing the hole in no time at all. Carving back and forth across the wave front was great and then with a deft flick of my paddle I spun around to back surf the hole. This was going great too. I then tried to dig my way out but was soon drawn back in to the hole, the tail eventually buried in the green face and the inevitable tail stand with the upside down landing follow by a swim (by the end of the weekend I was too exhausted to roll). Still this was a real high and as I self rescued myself and gear for the last time that weekend, I had a big smile on my face.
Kate paddling the slalom course.
However after this weekend I am going to have to work on my roll as I seemed to be having a bit of difficulty getting it to work when it counted, hence the veritable school of fish below. Mind you, I had only done about four rolls this season before this weekend as I have generally been successful in keeping my hair dry on most trips so far. Still it will be back to the pool and into the surf for more practice.
Date: 12/11/05 River: Maruia River, Lewis Pass, NZ River Conditions: Low flow. Grade 2/3, clear. Weather Conditions: Cool, overcast, intermittent rain. Number on Trip: 20 Time on River: 5 hours from Warwick River to Ruffe Creek Comments: This was quite a long trip following the Maruia River as it swings away from the road and behind Mt. Rutland. The river flows through some beautiful native bush and well away from civilisation making for a really pleasant scenic trip. The rapids are mainly grade two with some grade three ones that can easily be portaged. The river starts off relatively easily, mainly flat with just small grade two rapids and some of these were quite shallow. Plenty of small waves to surf and rocks to eddy out behind. Further down the rapids become harder, often requiring some manoeuvring to avoid rocks and holes. Most people had no problems running all the rapids and there was just the odd swimmer, who was promptly rescued. Georgie probably had the worst swim, bouncing down one of the harder rapids with Steel providing verbal support down the rapid and a prompt rescue at bottom. Georgie also managed to bang her face whilst rolling , leading to domestic violence comments. Annabel took a swim as she eddied out after successfully running a tough rapid and as everyone was looking upstream, no one noticed her fall out (actually I noticed and managed to tow her to shore). This highlights the need to watch people right through the rapid until they are safely eddied up and not just while they are doing the “hard” bits. Things eased off towards the end and we were quite glad when the get out finally appeared after spending around five hours in your kayaks. This was a really great trip and I’d be happy to repeat it again.
One of the harder rapids on the Maruia River. Photo courtesy of Chee Chang.
Another of the harder rapids on the Maruia River. Photo courtesy of Chee Chang.
Date: 11/11/05 River: Hope / Waiau Rivers, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: Hope 16 Cumecs at Glynn Wye, Waiau 36 Cumecs at Marble Point. Grade 2, clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm with strong NW wind gusts. Number on Trip: 12 Time on River: 1 hours, 45 minutes from the Waiau confluence to below Handyside Creek. Comments: This was a very quick trip down from slightly above the Waiau confluence on the Hope River to the take out just below Handyside Creek. The rivers were running pretty low and we were running short on time so decided against running the section from the Hope Bridge down which looked pretty boney. Getting down to the river proved to be a bit of a mission as someone headed off up a 4WD track that led upstream to the river on the opposite side of the valley (probably over 500m) instead of walking less 100m downstream to the river. Not really appreciated when carrying the 34kg Topo Duo! The river was pretty low until we reached the confluence of the Hope and Waiau Rivers and then the additional water kept things moving, though you still had to watch out for shallows near rapids. The low flow meant that a lot of the wave trains and rapids were smaller than the last time we paddled this run and Lauri didn’t feel it was as exciting as the Lesley Hills section, though she still enjoyed the trip. A good trip with just the odd swimmer, great for building the confidence of newer paddlers. We were all glad to reach the take out as everyone was pretty tired and it was starting to get cooler as the sun dipped behind the hills.
Date: 11/11/05 River: Boyle River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: Estimated at 10 Cumecs. Grade 2+, clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm with strong NW wind gusts. Number on Trip: 25 Time on River: 2 hours, 30 minutes from above Engineers Camp to Windy Point. Comments: This was a really good trip down the Boyle with plenty of playing so took a bit longer than the expected one and a half hours. The water was lovely and clear and there was plenty of stuff to play on.
Me in my Prijon Fly.
The gorges were “gorgeous” and the rock garden rapids provided plenty of rocks to eddy out behind and waves to surf thus taking a long time to navigate. We had the odd swimmer but these were soon rescued and back in there boats and no one had any real problems. This is a really lovely run and when worth the trip.
Colin the rapid just above the swing bridge in the final gorge. Photos courtesy of Chee Chang.
Murray on the rapid just above the swing bridge in the final gorge. Photos courtesy of Chee Chang.
Date: 6/11/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 21 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), clear. Weather Conditions: Cool, overcast, intermittent rain showers. Number on Trip: 16 Time on River: 1 hour from Dozy Stream to Seawards, 2 hours 30 minutes through Maori Gully. Comments: Designed as a rescue skills practice day, we split into two groups and did a leisurely run from Dozy Stream down to Seaward. No drama for our group and we encouraged a couple of beginners to take advantage of the low flow and try a few new things, such as going into the big eddy with the bluff that always scares me. We regrouped at Seawards, with some people not carrying on through Maori Gully. Duncan and Natalie decided to make their first descent of the gully spurred on by the low flow and the number of potential rescuers on hand, neither had any problems (just the odd roll) and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I also took advantage of the low flow and had a play in the Magic Roundabout near the start of Maori Gully, visiting the eddy on the right hand side for the first time ever. I also got to surf other features further down and had heaps of fun and really enjoyed myself. Once in Maori Gully we did some rescue scenarios and some throw bag practice. This showed up some important things to remember, such as choosing a good stable position that allows you to hold on to the rope when it is under strain and making sure you can actually throw the rope to the person in need of rescue. The elevator was quite interesting at this flow as there was no tongue the run down and it was a matter of leaning forward and paddling hard to get out of the hole at the bottom. This was a particularly fun and educational trip.
Date: 30/10/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 25 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+(3), clear. Weather Conditions: Cool, overcast, intermittent rain showers. Number on Trip: 21 Time on River: 4 hours, 15 minutes from Jollie Brook to Seawards and through Maori Gully. Comments: Graeme’s beginners trip was well attended with plenty of eager new paddlers, plus a few more experienced paddlers. We split in to two groups with me leading the first group with John acting as tail end Charlie to make sure no one got lost. We left while everyone else was sorting out the shuttle and began working our way down to Seawards. Most of the rapids we just ran straight with me showing the easiest route but as confidence increased, a number of people had a go at ferry gliding across the rapids, tried surfing and practised their rolls (often in that order). We only had one swimmer but he was soon back in his boat and keen for more. I know from personal experience that wearing a wet suit and the proper gear keeps you nice a warm, even after repeated dunkings. No decided to get out at South Branch and so we continued on down to Dozy Stream.
John about to break the blade of his paddle at Dozy Stream. Photo from PhotoChick
Suzy and John decided to run the more difficult right channel whilst I lead the rest of the group down the left channel. I had a nervous moment when Suzy appeared without John and it was some time before he came down the other channel with another group of kayakers who were also running the river (in Dancers and other retro boats, snigger). We were met here by Lorraine, who told us that the other group left almost one hour after us, as the shuttle took some time. Lorraine also took a number of photos which are available at PhotoChick.
A nice shot of me paddling the Fly on the Hurunui by PhotoChick.
Everyone was keen to carry on down to Seawards so we kept paddling, pausing only to tape up Johns’ wooden paddle which had broken on a rock at Dozy Stream. We eventually arrived at the get out, where we were rewarded with raspberry buns from Graeme. Suzy and I remained in our boats so that we could paddle Maori Gully with Bruce and Steel (Steve).
Fortunately we didn’t have to wait long, as they arrived about ten minutes later with their group. They had a few more people who were too hot and decided to have a refreshing dip in the warm waters of the Hurunui, but they still managed to almost catch up with us. After a brief stop four of us headed off for a quick paddle down the gully. With the lower water level the flow was less pushy but there were more holes and the drops were more noticeable. No problems, though Steel briefly ended up in a hole after a slight miscalculation but managed escape to be almost run down by me as I avoided the same hole. I got my hair wet after I rolled whilst trying a couple of things near the get out, but no one saw that so it doesn’t count. Climbed back up the hill and into some dry clothes before heading back to town. It was a long trip and we didn’t get back until after 7pm. Still it was a good day out and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and hopefully learned something.
Date: 23/10/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 27 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+, clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Cool, some cloud clearing to a nice sunny day. Number on Trip: 4 Time on River: 1 hours, 30 minutes from Salmon Farms to Jollie Brook). Comments: This was my second ever run down the Top Gorge, the first being a couple of years ago when I was quite as confident and the river was running at 62 cumecs. This time it was a more sedate trip and we had plenty of time to play. Bob and Colin provided plenty of coaching for Georgie, who managed to handle everything the gorge had to offer. The gorge begin just after the Sisters Stream enters the Hurunui and is a narrow rock gorge with a number of small drops to navigate and has been used for slalom competitions in the past. It offers a reasonable challenging run for beginners and is sort of like a mini Maori Gully. Definitely worth a paddle. All too soon Jollie Brook arrived and to my surprise everyone else got out and that was the end of the trip. I was still keen to do more but everyone else wanted to get back to town, so I spent the rest of the afternoon photographing the river.
Looking down from the road at the tricky eddy and drop above the Dozy Stream put in.
Close up of the tricky eddy above the Dozy Stream put in.
Maori Gully from the road above.
A couple of kayakers in Maori Gully as seem from the road above.
Looking back up Maori Gully, the closest rapid is the last major one in the Gully.
Date: 22/10/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 31 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+, clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Cool, overcast with some drizzle. Number on Trip: 20 Time on River: 2 hours in the morning, 1 hours, 30 minutes from Jollie Brook to South Branch. Comments: Spent the morning providing support for the beginners at Jollie Brook and only needed to rescue a single paddle. In the afternoon we split into groups and paddled down to the South Branch. The group I was with handled all the rapids well, with most of the people happily playing on the rapids and doing practise rolls in places I have been avoiding until recently, it was quite impressive. It was a nice trip and lots of fun was had by all.
Date: 2/10/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 45 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+ (3), clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Cool, overcast with some drizzle. Number on Trip: 16 Time on River: 3 hours, 30 minutes. Comments: Another run down from South Branch to Seawards with a Gully run for the keen. Some of the new beginners spent the night by the Hurunui and joined the trip with their minders, forming two groups of eight and meaning the more advanced paddlers could spend some time playing without holding up the beginners. Everyone had a great day out without too many problems, just the odd swim. The river was pretty pushy but there was plenty to surf and play on. Discovered that there is a nice tongue down the left hand side of the elevator, so no more getting bowled over by the hole on the right that I been previously running! As most people were still dry (relatively) by the end of the gully, Steel suggested a cliff jump in to the river so those keen enough could cool off! Apparently the water was quite cold but Sven the visiting Australian was happy to do it and he was wearing shorts!
Date: 25/9/05 River: Rangitata River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 54 cumecs at Klondyke, water cold, clear and swift. Grade 2+ Weather Conditions: Cool with intermittent drizzle. Number on Trip: 5 on grade 2 section, 4 on the grade 4 section. Time on River: 2 hours, 5 minutes. Comments: Five keen paddlers turned up at the MacDonald? in Hornby for a nice cruisy run from Klondyke down the Outdoor Pursuit Centre. Once we had our group together, we headed up to the Rangitata Rafts base and sorted out the shuttle and the get out points then settled back in the warmth whilst Mike dropped off the other half of our group above the gorge. Once he got back, we drove down to the put in and sorted our gear out. The river was relatively low so there were plenty of rocks to dodge or bounce off, but the rapids were all quite good, being more narrowly confined with the lower flow. Most of the rapids in the grade 2 section of the Rangitata from Klondyke down to Peel Forest consist of shingle chutes, often dotted with rocks near the top, with nice wave trains at the bottom. There are also a couple of play holes on some of the larger rapids that can be quite fun but with the colder weather we didn’t do much playing this trip. Lauri and I were paddling the Topo Duo and had a great time bouncing over rocks and down the wave trains without any problems. Graeme performed an excellent looking rock splat and took a little swim but was ably rescued by the rest of the team. No real problems and everyone enjoyed themselves. The rapid at the get out had a nice wave train and that made a nice ending to a fun outing. The guys who paddled the gorge arrived with the vehicles shortly after we had got off the river, then got changed and it was off to a bar in Ashburton for food and drinks.
Date: 18/9/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 33 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+ (3), clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Cold, windy with driving rain, but better than the next day when it snowed in Christchurch. Number on Trip: 10 Comments: This was my first WWCC trip of the season and I was really eager to get back on some white water and make sure I hadn’t forgotten how to kayak. We put in just below the bridge across the South Branch after a freezing wait on the river bank whilst the vehicles were shuttled. However this was way better than doing it afterwards. Thanks go out to our kind shuttle driver who ensured the was no needed for additional shuttling after the trip. We had a reasonably speedy trip with it being too cold to spend much time playing, poogees and a hot head were essential.
The party broke in to two groups above Dozy Stream, with Hugh leading an express run down to Seawards for those who were getting a bit cold. I took a roll after breaking out of the eddy behind the rock above the Dozy Stream put in. I did what Steel did, got washed up on the pillow by the bluff and tipped and then rolled up, just like Steel! It was good to know that my roll still worked as the water was too cold for swimming (no one took the opportunity to cool off with a refreshing dip for some reason). Once down to Seawards, most of us continued on for a quick trip down Maori Gully with very few stops on the way. There were some good sized waves and the Elevator seemed to extend across the river with a wall of white water at the bottom. When I reached the top of it, I couldn’t see a good way through so just decided to lean forward and power on through….. this didn’t actually work and I ended up doing a tail stand and flipping over backwards. I flushed out and rolled up without any drama, but man the water was cold! Apparently there was a narrow tongue on the hard left, I’ll have to watch out for that next time. Took another roll after shooting over a rock near the get out, apparently this is quite common as there is a reasonably strong upstream kick, another thing to remember next time. Arrived at the get out feeling quite exhilarated and reasonably warm despite three rolls, my Rasdex semi dry jacket kept the water out and my Macpac fuzzy rubber top and hat kept the warmth in. An excellent trip and a great start to the season.
Date: 11/9/05 Location: Lake Tekapo, Mackenzie Country, NZ Water Conditions: Water cold and clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 2 Comments: Lauri and I paddled out from Mt. Hay Station (after asking the local farmer for permission to cross his land) to a couple of islands in the middle of Lake Tekapo (pictured below). The islands were about 2.5km from shore and the largest one, called Motuariki Island, is covered in trees and is about 500m in diameter. The lakes’ water was crystal clear and very cold, it was also over 120 metres deep in places. Paddling out to and around the big island took almost an hour and then we spent some time wandering around and exploring the interior. Lots of interesting rocks and groves of trees and the views were spectacular, well worth a visit. It was a perfect day and we both really enjoyed ourselves, it was a shame to paddle back in and drive back to grey old, fog bound Christchurch.
Date: 17/7/05 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 70 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water swift and cloudy. Weather Conditions: Overcast, cold with some drizzle, SE winds. Number on Trip: 1 Comments: Another training run up from the bridge to the rapids, three times again. Had a bit of a surf on the rapids, with the higher flow the tree stumps were further below the surface so don’t cause an obstruction. However one still needs to be careful that your paddle doesn’t get caught in them and you certainly wouldn’t want to roll there as there is a definite danger of getting snagged. Still it is quite fun though not exactly challenging. Raced back to the car with a cold wind whipping rain into my face, was nice to get home for a cup of tea.
Date: 6/7/05 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 65 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water swift and cloudy. Weather Conditions: Overcast, cold with some drizzle, NE winds. Number on Trip: 2 Comments: Lauri and I took the Topo Duo down the Brass Monkey course to see if we could scope out any short cuts. No luck at spotting any promising leads, but we did have a fun paddle. Was pretty cool to paddle past the big diggers scooping up gravel out of the river. Was also quite neat to have a “wilderness” trip just 15 minutes from town, as the upper part of the trip was pretty free from human intrusions.
Date: 3/7/05 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 53 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water clear but slightly cloudy. Weather Conditions: Overcast but warm, NW winds. Number on Trip: 1 Comments: This was another Brass Monkey training run. Again put in at the South Branch confluence just above the State Highway one bridge and paddled upstream to the first set of “rapids” three times before racing Lauri back to the car (she won again). Lauri provided plenty of encouragement, in the form of small chocolate fish skewered on the end of a stick. Felt pretty good afterward so must be getting fitter.
Date: 19/6/05 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 58 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water clear but slightly cloudy. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm, an almost perfect winters day. Number on Trip: 1 Comments: This was the week before the first race and Lauri had me paddle up to the rapids, three times in a row. I didn’t think I could do the last one but felt pretty good afterwards. Lauri also took some good photos as well as providing encouragement from the bank.
Training on the Waimak, heading upstream. Photos by Lauri.
Training on the Waimak, playing on the “rapid”. Photos by Lauri.
Date: 12/6/05 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 58 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water clear but slightly cloudy. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cold. Number on Trip: 1 Comments: This was my second Brass Monkey training run. Again put in at the South Branch confluence just above the State Highway one bridge and paddled upstream for a play on the first set of “rapids”. Attempted to get as far upstream as possible before heading back downstream. Lauri provided plenty of encouragement, in the form of small chocolate fish skewered on the end of a stick. Felt better after this paddle than last time.
Date: 5/6/05 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 60 cumecs at Old Highway Bridge. Water clear but slightly cloudy. Weather Conditions: Overcast and cold. Number on Trip: 1 Comments: My first Brass Monkey training run. Put in at the South Branch confluence just above the State Highway one bridge and paddled upstream to the first set of “rapids” (about 1km above the bridge). Played on the small waves formed by the underwater tree stumps before heading downstream, arrived back at the car feeling exhausted. Lauri rewarded me with a chocolate fish on the way home.
Date: 29/5/05 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 50 Cumecs at Marble Point. Grade 2, brown and swift. Weather Conditions: Cool, drizzle clearing to be a nice sunny day. Number on Trip: 2 (plus about 32 competitors and 10 other safety boaters) Comments: This was the inaugural Mighty Waiau River Race and seemed to be a great success, with plenty of thrills and spills (see photos below, taken at the Forks/Screamer Rapid ). The race started with a Le Mans style start with all the competitors running for their boats at the same time. Steve Gurney was the fastest and managed to complete the race in a time of 56 minutes and 49 seconds, 10 seconds in front of Dick Brunton. Steve apparently took his race boat down through Sharks Tooth, which gave him a bit of a lead over the less daring competition. All the competitors finished the race in under an hour and a half, so it was a pretty quick race. We had to get up early and meet at the Belfast Tavern at 6am, to be on the river by 8:30am as the race started at 9am. Once on the river, most of the safety boaters had to paddle pretty hard to be in position before the competitors went by. Matt and I were looking after the fence line rapid, a place where the river has eroded a paddock about 1km above Marble Point. There is some fence in the river and another fence about 50cm above the river but both hazards are easily avoided. We directed boats over to the right hand side of the rapid and no one seemed to have any problems, with most boats avoiding the worst of the rapids. After the tail end Charlie’s went by, Matt and I paddled out to the finish line instead of getting out at Marble Point, to make the most of the last paddle of the season. An interesting footnote is that although the race was run at about 50 cumecs, the river rose to around 180 cumecs in the afternoon as a result of rain in the headwaters, so it was lucky that the race finished early.
Punching through the hole. Photo by PhotoChick.
Good, strong brace. Photo by PhotoChick.
Avoid or push through the hole? Photo by PhotoChick.
Avoid, punch through, brace? What to do? Oops… Photo by PhotoChick.
Date: 22/5/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 26 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+ (3), clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Cool, no wind and slightly overcast (but way better than in town). Number on Trip: 13 Comments: This was my last WWCC kayaking trip of the season last weekend so no more trips until next spring (not entirely true as I’m safety boating a race this weekend and I plan to enter the Brass Monkey races again this year). Paddled from South Branch down through Maori Gully, with some people getting out at Seawards. Paddled in two groups (we left while the others were driving the shuttle) and also net up with Glen and some friends at Seawards, where they were just starting their second trip down the Gully for the day. The flow was good on the Hurunui and I was feeling pretty good, had a bit of a surf on a few waves and also went in a couple of eddies I normally avoid with out any problems (on the last two trips I only got my hair wet once and definitely kept my feet dry). One rapid (just above Dozy Stream put in) involves catching a small eddy behind a large rock (I normally assist any beginners down the left-hand channel) and then running a 1m drop through a gap of about 2m between the rock and a large bluff and looks pretty scary. The other one is an eddy on the outside of a corner where the river runs into a bluff, beginners (myself included) normally get swept into the bluff, capsize, bail out then get swept into the eddy to go round and round until fished out and put back into their boat to repeat the process again. This is the spot on the river where I have had the most swims and I usually avoid it by running the rapid down the right hand side, but the last couple of times I just dropped into the eddy and then ferry glided out and across the face of the bluff with out too much problems. The grade three section in Maori Gully was also quite fun but I’m still not brave enough to try anything tricky in there. Took a roll on one of the later major drops, the lower flow exposed a few more rocks and these were a little off putting as I went over the lip. A couple of paddlers took there first or second trips through Maori Gully and there were a few swims as well as some good rolls, but no problems and plenty of smiles. A really enjoyable trip.
Date: 15/5/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 25 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+ (3), clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Fine and sunny, westerly winds (weather was really grey in town). Number on Trip: 11 Comments: A nice late season trip down the Hurunui from the South Branch down through Maori Gully, the weather was good but the river was still pretty cold. Everything went well and I got to run a couple of the hard eddies that I normally avoid which was really great and boosted my confidence no end. 25 cumecs is a really nice flow and makes for a really cruisy trip, ferry gliding is no problems and surfing is pretty easy to do without being swept off and the drops in Maori Gully are well defined but not too pushy. There were a couple of nasty swims / rolls at the big eddy down from Dozy Stream but no real problems and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
Date: 1/5/05 River: Boyle, Hope and Waiau Rivers, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: Boyle 15 cumecs, Hope 23 cumecs and Waiau 50 cumecs . Grade 2, clear. Weather Conditions: NW winds, some strong gusts. Fine but cool. Number on Trip: 11 Comments: This was a great trip and really worth doing, it is great to do something new and paddle sections previously only seen in part from the road. The following report is from Hugh Canard (thanks, hope you don’t mind me using it)… 11 members turned up, some old, some new. A good bunch of hardy souls. 3 cars to the Boyle put in about 15 cumecs clear and cold. Weather clear and sunny with a N wind building. Good forecast. Paddled to Windy Point get out by about 12.30pm. Graham swam a few times and others (Suzy and Jason) rolled, much to their delight.
We put in on the Hope at the State Highway 7 bridge about 1-45pm with considerably more water from the Hope. I don’t believe the gauge is accurate (reads way low) and the river had gone from gauge 20 to 100 and back again overnight. We could smell the hot springs for about 2-4 km but ground searches failed to find the springs themselves. There was amazing bird song in the gorges. Graham took a few more swims but I had anticipated this and Richard and I had placed his car about 6 km into the trip at the Waiau confluence, so he got off at this point. Richard took great care of him all day on the water. By now the Waiau added more water and the flow was about 40 + cumecs. The river gets better as you progress and we agreed it was harder than the Hanmer to Leslie Hills section with far more obstacles, although the river is wide enough for one to cruise on grade 1-2 or choose some tasty play spots. There are a few bluff corners and some 1m wave trains. Good surfing in warmer weather. The trip is 20 km to a good get out at Halliwai Stream just where the State Highway 7 starts to climb away from the valley.
We were away about 5:15pm to the Hurunui pub, which has some really excellent game pies; venison, rabbit, etc. I think this Hope to Waiau section would be a good step up from Hanmer to Leslie Hills and pretty safe even in a bit of a flow. Although there are longer stretches of grade 1 the flow is relentless and there are big boulders in the flow to play about on and practice catching eddies. There is some nasty steel river protection right at the end. You could shorten the trip by putting in just below the Waiau confluence. The shuttles are real quick. I think a good paddler would find enough to fool around on and beginner/intermediates would have a great day. There is a really good rock splat spot too. A good beginners Grade 2 weekend would be to do the Leslie Hills section on the Saturday – stay at Hanmer – and do this on the Sunday. The early start possible on the Sunday would provide more daylight safety margin. If anyone is looking for Torana parts I can tell them where there is a good source. You’ll need a boat.
Date: 2/4/05 River: Rai River, Marlborough, NZ River Conditions: 5 Cumecs. Grade 2, clear. Weather Conditions: Fine but cool, plenty of stars. Number on Trip: 1 Comments: It was around 5pm on our last night at Pelorus Bridge and I still hadn’t paddled the Rai properly this trip. Finally after some prolonged humming and ha-ing, I got my gear on and grabbed my boat and trotted across the bridge to paddled down to the confluence of the Rai and Pelorus and then up the Rai, portaging the rapids, all the way up to the chicken run. By the time I reached the top of the Chicken Run it was 6pm and getting dark, so there was nothing to it but head down and tail up for some Brass Monkey training. No problems on the Rai Falls but rolled on the second of the two chutes where the water runs into the rocks, it was now pretty dark. By the time I reached the Pelorus the stars were out, so a quick paddle up to the bridge and then out for a hot shower and dinner. Great fun, but a little scary on my own and in the dark.
Date: 31/3/05 River: Pelorus River, Marlborough, NZ River Conditions: 13 Cumecs. Grade 2, clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Fine and warm to overcast and some drizzle later. Number on Trip: 3 Comments: This was a run down the Pelorus River from the Tinline River down to Pelorus Bridge with Phil (surfing in the photo below), an Outward Bound instructor and his partner (whose name escapes me at the moment, sorry), who I had met earlier in the day. It was a nice fine day when we started, putting in at the Tinline bridge and bouncing down until we met the Pelorus River. The scenery was superb and the water crystal clear. The rapids were reasonably easy and Outward Bound often use this run for students, so it is a very good run for beginners. Played on a number of rapids and took a roll on one particular boily section. The upper section was a bit shallow in places, generally in the wider stretches. No problems with trees or other obstructions. Enjoyed paddling it, thanks guys for a great trip.
All good. Thumbs up to surfing.
Date: 31/2/05 River: Pelorus & Rai Rivers, Marlborough, NZ River Conditions: 13 Cumecs (Pelorus) / 6.5 Cumecs (Rai). Grade 2, clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Fine and warm. Number on Trip: 2 Comments: Lauri and I had a relaxing paddle around on the Pelorus and Rai Rivers. We brought the canoe polo ball along and had some fun passing it between us. I get a bit sulky after taking a lob that I didn’t see (my helmet visor obscured it), full in the face. I had a brief play on the hole above the bridge until I tipped over and got a bit of a thrashing against the bluff before rolling up again. As we were packing up the gear, a van with a couple of kayaks pulled up. I had a chat to them to see if they were interested in doing a run down the Pelorus River and they were…….
Date: 29/3/05 River: Pelorus & Rai Rivers, Marlborough, NZ River Conditions: 20 Cumecs (Pelorus) / 6 Cumecs (Rai). Grade 2, clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Overcast with a slight drizzle. Number on Trip: 1 Comments: I put in at the top of the Pelorus Bridge camp site and had a bit of a paddle down the river, playing on anything that caught my eye. This is a really beautiful river and quite fun to paddle, nothing really difficult, mainly just holes where the river flows over rocks. There is a quite boily eddy just above the bridge and is fun to play on but it has a relatively shallow rock at the top which I find a little unnerving. Paddled a short way up the Rai and then home for tea after picking up the car.
Date: 13/3/05 River: Waiau River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 62 Cumecs at Marble Point. Grade 2, discoloured and swift. Weather Conditions: Fine and warm with light NE winds. Number on Trip: 21 Comments: Wow, a Waiau trip that wasn’t cancelled or diverted, despite flows of almost 400 cumecs on Friday. Fortunately the flow dropped as quickly as it rose and we had a lovely sunny day to boot. The river level was good with lots of spots to have a play on. We put in at the Hanmer River confluence and paddled down to Marble Point for lunch. A number of the group shuttled all the vehicles from here (ah the joy of not having to do a shuttle after a trip), whilst the remainder paddled down to the Lesley Hills Bridge. Erosion of the left hand bank about 1km above Marble Point has left a wire fence hanging over the river and another wire fence trailing into the river, we had no problems here but there is definitely a hazard for the unprepared or any swimmers. I managed to keep my hair dry for most of the trip, but ended up briefly upside-down in one particularly boily bit whilst watching to see weather Stephen H managed to get the club’s 240 pinned in a very tight set of rocks whist attempting an “alternative” line on one of the lower rapids, somewhere below Shark’s Tooth. Shark’s Tooth was pretty tame with about half the river volume now avoiding this rapid altogether. We had a really enjoyable trip, the river and scenery was excellent, I really like paddling the Waiau and should probably do it more often as it is nice and cruisy and really good for beginners.
Making moves while those waiting their turn watch on.
Date: 27/2/05 River: Waimakariri River, Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 42 Cumecs at State Highway One Bridge. Grade 2, clear. Weather Conditions: Cloud clearing, warm with light NW winds. Number on Trip: 2 Comments: This was the last kayak stage of the Mt. Cook to Christchurch race. The river was pretty low compared with the Brass Monkey Races, we put in at the top of MacLeans Island and paddled down. We ended up directing kayakers away from a spot where the current flowed into some willows that may have been a problem if some one swam. Towards the end of the race we made a dash down to the Pylons to help with extracting a boat. from the willows. As it turns out, we must have been doing a great job where we were as shortly after we left there was the first swim at our previous location resulting in a boat stuck in the trees. The get in for the Brass Monkey Races is now completely different with the main channel of the river flowing directly in to the bank forming a bit of a bluff with the out flow running through the willows along the bank. I had my only rescue of the day at this location, with one of the tail end Charlie’s testing our rescue readiness by tipping out of his boat and heading for the willows. Fortunately he was able to kick himself away from the trees and I was able to tow him to shore before he went to far down stream. Unfortunately he did this in front of a number of safety kayakers and so received a fair amount of ribbing.
Date: 26/2/05 River: Avon River, Christchurch, NZ River Conditions: Clear. Weather Conditions: Warm with light NW winds. Number on Trip: 20-30 Comments: This was the inaugural Gurneygears Glow, Glow, Glow your Boat event. This was a great night out and a hole heap of fun (even if there was no white water). Lauri spent all day decorating her kayak with glow sticks, flashing lights, fluoro tape, CDs and other accoutrements and it looked really great and she won the prize for the best decorated kayak. I merely added some lights inside my orange Fly so it glowed and added a road cone with a flashing light inside (purchased not obtained by the “traditional” method). We arrived late due to me being late back from the Rangitata (see below, it was a very busy day) and missed the rubbish pick up a long the banks of the Avon. We had a barbecue thanks to the Mad Butcher (not the best cooked sausages and where was our Watties sauce!) and then put the boats in to the river after it got dark. There was a real variety of water craft ranging from Steve Gurney in his double race boat, race boats, white water kayaks, a Canadian canoe and a dinghy. The boats looked fabulous and there was a reasonable turnout considering the short notice of the event (we only found out on Wednesday) and a number of other events on that weekend. It would be really great to see a bigger turnout next year as the event was lots of fun and raises the profile of our sport. We paddled through the centre of town singing and carrying on, with a brief stop by the town hall to pose for photos and some impromptu “play boating” in the fountain. Then we carried on down the river and took out by the fire station, just round the corner from our place.
Two decorated Flys.
Date: 26/2/05 River: Rangitata River, South Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 81 Cumecs at Klondyke. Grade 2+, clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Number on Trip: 2 Comments: This was the second kayak stage of the Mt. Cook to Christchurch race. We put in near the camp ground and protected a couple of rapids that swept into a couple of strainers. No problems, with only one paddler needing to be towed to shore before going down the second rapid with the strainer. There was a nice wave in my rapid and I spent a bit of time carving across it in the Invader when not watching for “customers”. A nice day out, but pretty tiring even though we got out where we put in.
Date: 20/2/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 55 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+ (3), clear and swift. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm with light NW winds. Number on Trip: 15 Comments: Another run down the Hurunui from Jollie Brook. A beautiful day for a beautiful river, unfortunately the flow levels were a bit high for the planned Rangitata Gorge trip (120 cumecs at Klondyke, less that 95 cumecs is preferred) so there was no Klondyke trip either, which was a shame as it would have been a good flow. Had a great trip with out any problems (a surprise roll just after the Dozy Stream put in and another in Maori Gully too). Maori Gully was good at this flow with lots of holes to avoid and was quite a bit more pushy than the previous trip.
Date: 30/1/05 River: Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ River Conditions: 19 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2+ (3), clear. Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm with NE winds. Number on Trip: 31 Comments: My first river trip of the year and there seemed to be lots of people keen to get back on the Hurunui. We had planned to do a safety focus trip but with over 30 paddlers we abandoned this idea and split into three groups (one group specifically for play boaters, the other two composed of a lot of newer paddlers with a few experience kayakers to keep an eye on them) for a leisurely paddle down the river. Hugh also took his small cataraft, which sparked a certain amount of interest, especially whilst running the drops in Maori Gully. We paddled down from Jollie Brook to Seawards, with at least half of the group running Maori Gully as well. The flow was 19 cumecs, the lowest I’ve paddled it in a while and the upper half of the Jollie Brook to South Branch section was a bit boney but the rest of it was quite nice. The drops in Maori Gully were more pronounced, with some “new” rocks appearing unexpectedly but with the lower flow it was less pushy so it was easier to play on things without getting washed off. Buffer waves etc were quite a bit smaller. I think most people really enjoyed themselves and the last people were off the river by around 5pm (with a 9am start from the Belfast Tavern).
