Date:    4/09/16
River:    Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ
River Conditions:   43 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2-3, water clear.
Weather Conditions:  Cool and overcast, with light winds and rare rainy spells.
Number on Trip:    13 kayakers with 7 paddling Maori Gully.
Time on River:  3.75 hours.
Comments:   This was the first WWCC trip of season and my first time in my kayak since May. I was a little worried that I might be a little rusty and a tad unfit. Kevin, who was joining us after 15 year break from kayaking was also a little nervous about being a little rusty. We put in at the Jollie Brook swing bridge, with a couple walking up to the top of the rapid for the “complete” experience and after a good long reorientation paddle around, headed off down stream.

Still plenty of snow on the mountains but not too cold for a great day on the river.

Johns H chose to swim early on in the Jollie Brook section so no one else had to feel nervous about taking the first swim of the season.

Watch out for the rock.

We played our way down the river, spending a bit of time at all the usual features. Despite the cool air temperature and the water that might have recently been snow, I was feeling pretty warm. It was nice to be on the Hurunui with little or no wind, as the frequent strong Nor-westers can really mess with your paddling enjoyment. A minor curse meant that due to the lack of wind and the overcast conditions, swarms of sandflies were everywhere, even on the river and it was a real relief when you lost then in a surge of white water.

Happiness is a goal achieved. In this case catching the small elevated eddy on the face of the bluff above the South Branch confluence.

Catching the bluff eddy just above the South Branch confluence was a bit of a challenge and certainly brought a smile to the faces of several successful paddlers. As we worked our way down to Devils Fang Falls, most of the group decided to paddle the rapid and using a variety of different lines along the right hand side, all managed to successfully navigate the drop. I tipped over in the run out at the bottom but managed to roll up on my second attempt. I then decided to have a bit of a play around in the foaming mass below the drop and found myself upside down again, this time, after three roll attempts I pulled the deck and had my first swim of the season. Clutching my drink bottle, paddle and kayak, I kicked my way back to shore. After emptying out my kayak, I wasn’t feeling quite so warm and the water was pretty frigid. Still I was dressed warmly, with plenty of layers so it wasn’t too bad, especially when we got moving again.

Breaking out and surfing the wave.

More play as we worked out way down to Seawards, where we paused for a time and part of our group got out to run the shuttle, while we ran Maori Gully. We were joined on the river by a group from UCCC before we our groups diverged again.

We had a bit of a play at the Magic Roundabout and then Matt dropped in to Simon’s Hole for a brief “play”, something I had never seen anyone do before. While it wasn’t particularly dramatic, it didn’t look like something I was interested in trying. The next couple of rapids were fun with no dramas but Cheese Grater had everyone feeling at least a little nervous. Fortunately at this flow it was pretty straight forward, with a big drop down then up a large wave, which looked quite daunting from the top.

Running Cheese Grater can be exciting, but no dramas today, just a wet slap in the face.

The next couple of rapids were all good but the corner rapid, the last grade 3 rapid in the Gully, seems to have got a lot more boisterous and the run out was a bit messy, though that might just have been the flow. From then on we kept moving, as cold and fatigue were starting to be felt. We had a brief play at the Pop Up Spot, as some of the newer kayakers tried some moves, and then on to the get out, where the rest of the team, the cars and our dry gear were waiting.

We headed back to town via the Copper Road Cafe for a beer and a “debrief”. It had been a good trip and a great way to start the season.