Date:    13/01/19
River:    Hurunui River, North Canterbury, NZ
River Conditions:   25 Cumecs at Mandamus. Grade 2 – 3, water swift, cool & clear.
Weather Conditions:  Overcast & cool, with strong north westerly winds.
Number on Trip:   17 kayakers (10 doing Maori Gully).
Time on River:  3.5 hours
Comments:  Although it was in the WWCC trip calendar, nothing had really been organised as there was no trip leading or meeting time. Checking Facebook brought up the details of a proposed trip and so we loaded up the car and got down to The Peg by 9am. Chris and Helen were fitting in a final New Zealand kayaking trip before heading off on a big overseas experience, and so the trip was not an official WWCC trip. I got a ride with Mike up to the Maori Gully take out, where we worked out the trip details. The wind was blowing strongly and so the original plan of putting in at Jollie Brook was changed in favour of putting in at South Branch. So it was back into the vehicles and off the South Branch, pausing only for a brief look at Devils’ Fang Falls to check the lines. We we got changed and the drivers ran the shuttle, while the rest of us enjoyed a chat and some lunch.

The wind wasn’t as strong at put in but it was still fairly cool, but once on the river we soon warmed up. The South Branch down to the confluence provided a nice practice section, to awaken skills and to remind me that I can actually paddle. From the confluence, the volume increased but at 25 cumecs, the Hurunui is still fairly cruisy, though the strong winds battered us a little. Not much in the way of major rapids in this section but we took the opportunity to practice moves whilst pondering what to do when we reached Devils’ Fang Falls at Dozy Stream. I wasn’t that keen on the normal right hand line as it was looking quite tight and any mistakes at the top might have resulted in some nasty rock interactions. I decided to take the left hand channel with everyone else, but instead of getting out to portage, I’d drop down on the far side of the rapid, coming below the main rapid. This was the theory away, instead I dropped down a little earlier than planned and found myself looking down into a narrow slot of boiling white water. As I was committed, the only way out was forward and so forward I went.

I kept a pretty straight line through the middle, with water spilling down all around me, pushing the tail down and me against the back deck. The boat went down deep, whilst remaining almost vertical, apparently disappearing completely from view for a few seconds before shooting out at the bottom of the rapid in a white maelstrom. I let out a loud “woo hoo!” and paddle out of the rapid feeling exhilarated and a little more confidant in my paddling abilities. Sergio was the only other kayaker to run the rapid, using the more usual right hand line, while the rest of the group portaged down the left hand side.

Past Dozy Stream, we stopped at the wave play spot and much playing was done. I always find this spot a little intimidating as it is just above a bluff where I’ve had the odd swim in the past, so I mainly stuck to taking a few photos. From here on, we made our way down to Seawards, generally taking it fairly easy.

At Seawards, part of the group got out to run the shuttle and the rest of us continued on through Maori Gully. The wave train down to the Magic Roundabout was nice and bouncy. A few people chose to have a play on the Magic Roundabout, bouncing between the various rocks and eddies, and riding the pillow at the base of the bluff. On past Simon’s Hole, where Chris had a bit of a surf, something I’d never seen before. Occasionally I’ve seen other kayakers flirt with the hole, playing around the margins, but Chris was having a good play without any dramas, I wasn’t keen to follow suit though.

On down through the boulder garden and then down the Bum Rock rapid, took an interesting line and slid between a couple of holes without any dramas. The Elevator was all good and then on to Cheese Grater. The odd person chose to portage on the left hand side but some people ran it right of centre without any dramas. Last time I ran it, there were quite a few rocks below the surface on the right hand side and the undercut on the left hand side, so I ran a fairly central line down the tongue, pointing to the right, with a reasonable amount of speed to punch through the wave at the bottom. All went well and I pulled into the eddy near the bottom to take photos.

The corner rapid was good and the hole at the bottom provided some great surfing opportunities for those who could get on it. We had a brief stop at the Pop Up Spot and had a little play, even I gave it a go and didn’t do too badly, while those in larger volume boats struggle to get lift off. From here it was down to the get out, a little more play at the get out before trudging up the hill and then home via the Brew Moon for a beer. Definitely need to work on my fitness as I am now pretty sore and tired.