Date:   2/10/2021
River:    Ashley River, Canterbury, NZ
River Conditions:   13.2 cumecs at Ashley Gorge. Water discoloured and cool. Grade 2/3.
Weather Conditions:   Sunny but cool, Light NE winds..
Number on Trip:  6, with 2 doing top section only.
Time on River:  5 hours.
Comments:  With the main trip for the weekend being the Tekapo Whitewater Course, Tom was responsible for organising a smaller grade 2 local trip on Saturday. As the trip neared, an leader was required to lead the trip on the river, so after checking with Lauri, I volunteered. It has been one of the advantages of “working” from home due to COVID-19, as I’m home most of the time, I’m able to take time off at the weekend to go kayaking without feeling like I’m abandoning Lauri.

I did my usually rush to get out the door, making sure everyone got fed, the kitchen got tidied up & Katniss’s litterbox emptied, arriving at the Belfast Tavern carpark just before 9am. Boats were loaded up and we were away shortly after 9am, no messing about here. We drove through to the Lees Valley and got changed into our paddling gear, then waited while the shuttle was run. Took a few photos of the wire fencing hazard attached below the bridge. Definitely a real danger to anyone paddling under the bridge, so beware if you are planning to do this.

After we had a brief safety meeting, we launched into the river, with the water sparkling in the sunshine. It was nice to be back on the Ashley for the third time this season. We bounced down the first section before the Townsend River added a bit more water to the flow.

We had a bit of a play around on one of the early rapids that forms an entertaining play spot to practice your skills without too much drama.

A little further down, I looked back upstream to see a pair of kayaks that weren’t part of our group. Brian & Ross had arrived at the put in just as we were launching, though I hadn’t recognised the boats on the car roof, and they had caught up with our group not far into the trip. We paddled together for a short way before they disappeared into the distance. It was good to see both of them back on the river, as they had apparently been focusing more on sea kayaking lately.

We took our time and enjoyed the river, since we only planned run the upper section, there was no real rush. The sun was shining and it was a real pleasure to be out in nature.

The upper section is reasonably entertaining for grade 2 paddlers and offers some different challenges to the Hurunui, with some tighter, more technical rapids but nothing that should be too challenging.

Polly had inquired about the grade 2 put in on Facebook for a planned trip and so it was nice to see her rafting party paddle past, enjoying a beautiful sunny day. The upper section makes a fun outing and not too far from the city.

At some stage Jacko mentioned that Kris was keen for a first trip through the grade 3 section, so our short, relaxing paddle with getting home early sort of evaporated at this point. We carried on down the river, avoiding the various trees in the flow when the river valley widened in the kilometer above the middle bridge. At the middle bridge, Alex & Tom got out to run the shuttle, and Jacko persuaded Dave to paddle the lower section as it would be safer with 4 paddlers. We also helped out with Polly’s rafting party’s shuttle by taking their driver back up to the put in.

The remaining four paddlers carried on downstream, keeping up a good pace, as we were aware it was now after 2pm and we had a couple of hours paddle ahead. It was nice to get another run down the grade 3 section, to better get reacquainted with the rapids and try to remember what had changed.

I was feeling a bit more confidant in my paddling ability on this run, having a few kayaking trips under my belt for the season, and I made more conscious decisions picking my lines, instead of just bouncing down rapids. I’d taken the tail end Charlie position in the group, with Jacko taking the lead and providing some guidance to the others, so I watched the lines that those in front took and hung back a little in case I needed to rescue anyone, fortunately there were no dramas. As we were moving along without much playing or dawdling, there wasn’t much opportunity to take photos, though I did get the occasional one when I had the chance or saw something that looked good.

Much of the gorge was fairly similar , if not slightly easier than it used to be. I didn’t notice the few features that surprised me on the previous run, possible due to picking better lines and not just blundering into holes or over drops. The main drop is definitely less dramatic and everyone ran it without issue, though Kris tipped in the eddy below it and failed to roll as he has being pushed against the bank. He bailed, but we got him to shore, rescued his boat and he was quickly back on the water.

As we neared 3 Trick rapid, I spotted the rock fall scar, eddied out while Jacko led the other two down the right hand line (to the left of the central boulder in the picture above). I followed their initial line but cut across above the boulder and bounced down the left hand line (to the right of the central boulder). It was a bit rocky & bumpy, and at some stage I smacked my elbow on a rock somehow. I still haven’t worked out what is the best line, but hopefully we’ll get it sorted after a few more runs. I did manage to eddy out at the bottom and capture the view up the rapid, this time with a clear lens.

On down to the last grade 3 rapid, which has changed somewhat since the floods. I watched the others go down a line that ran quite close to the big rock in the middle and that looked a little exciting, so I thought I try going a little further to the river right. This was ok but there seemed to be a few rocks in the approach and it was just a little bouncy. The whole approach seems to be not quite as clean as it used to be, so may take a few more runs to relearn the rapid.

From here we bombed down the remaining grade 2 rapids, aware of the time and my fatigue levels (this definitely felt like exercise and not just the cruisy grade 2 trip I’d offered to help out with). The first section is about 11km to the middle bridge with about 12km further to the highway bridge, making it a fairly long trip. My arms were feeling quite tired when the river gauge tower appeared, marking that the end was almost in sight. We paddled past the campground, which was still closed, and took out under the bridge. I was nice to get changed into some warm, dry clothes. From here, we headed in to Oxford for a drink at a café but that was closed, so we ended up at the Black Beech Wine Bar. I appreciated the Bundaberg ginger beer after a thirsty paddle, but it still feels a little awkward & uncomfortable masking up and going out into public spaces, even though we don’t currently have COVID-19 in the South Island, I’ll definitely be glad when things get back to normal (whatever that is). After a good chat, we drove back to town and I picked up takeaways from Burger Station for dinner on the way home, feeling somewhat exhausted but pleased after a fun day on the river.