Date: 13/04/2025
River: Waiau Uwha River, North Canterbury, New Zealand.
River Conditions:  41 cumecs at Marble Point. Water clear. Grade 2.
Weather Conditions: Sunny & warm, with light NE winds..
Number on Trip: 6 people.
Time on River: 4.5 Hours.
Comments: After someone asked if the club still ran the Waiau, I was considering running a trip. Fortunately John H beat me to it and organised this trip. He also managed to organise a reasonable flow and some great weather.

Six of us met at the Peg and we loaded the boats on to two vehicles, including John’s modern mini. The idea of going on a trip in a Mini conjured up memories of childhood holidays when my parent’s loaded up our orange Mini Clubman Estate with our large 3 bedroom, kitchen & dining room frame tent, table, chairs, kitchen setup, air mattresses etc and crammed their three boys in the back seat, and headed up to Opoutama Beach near Mahia Peninsula. The modern Mini’s are definitely larger and significantly more comfortable, so there wasn’t much cramming and it was quite an enjoyable drive up to the put in beside the Hanmer River.

John and Heather ran the shuttle, while the rest of us enjoyed the sunshine and scenery. When John and Heather returned, we ran a quick safety briefing, though we completely forgot to mention all the jetboats. Instead of carrying our boats we floated down the Hanmer River. Some of the stretch was a little shallow or overgrown with willow trees and so some of the group decided to walk around the tighter spots.

We regrouped once we reached the river, a group of private jetboats were heading upstream, so they wouldn’t bother us, but the larger commercial jetboat looked to be pretty busy.

Going under the Hanmer bridge and into the gorge is always impressive and this time the sunshine and light made for a nice photo.

It was a beautiful day, warm with clear blue skies, the water cool and greeny-blue. The early part of this section consists of steep walled gorges, carved through the fractured grey stone. The rapids aren’t particularly common, but there are plenty of features and eddies to catch along the side, and some of these can be deceptively boily and can lead to the odd surprise to the unwary.

Jetboats are common in the gorge section and it is definitely worth keeping your ears open and be ready to get to the side of the river as soon as the cry of “JETBOAT!” goes up. While we did get briefly confused by a plane passing overhead, generally if we thought we heard an engine, a jetboat would appear.

There are some good surf waves that are relatively easy to get on, with good eddies beside them so you can recover after being flushed out.

The jetboat operators were very good and let each other know, via radio, that we were on the river (it’s probably worth calling in to the Thrillseekers office to let them know you’ll be on there before putting on), and they were very respectful of us, but they definitely make a good wake and it’s better not to be in their way.

There are some great rock formations and the scenery makes for an almost magical experience as you float along with the current through the gorges of the early section.

As the river opens out, the rapids tend to form around chutes and boulders, with occasional outcrops of bedrock creating river carved features. There are some nice spots for a surf and we all enjoy a bit of fun making the most of them,

One of the bigger rapids, pictured below, has changed a lot over the years as floods move the gravel and rocks around, create new channels or expose different features.

There were no dramas, but with much of the water flowing through the rapid, there was no real “park & play” spot, so when we flushed out, we just had to carry on and try to catch the next feature.

Normally we stop for lunch just around the corner at Marble Point, but today we got to enjoy a little more sunshine and a slightly different perspective while we enjoyed a bite to eat (a muesli bar and some beef jerky in my case).

There were some interesting rocks at the point, the reddish-pink marble that gives the location it’s name, sculptured over time by the rivers currents, and also what appeared to be volcanic boulders of some sort, possibly basalt, that I’d never noticed before. The rocks and their sculpted forms made for some cool photos. The odd jet boat went by while we were having lunch and it is always impressive to see them race passed with the oddly shaped marble background.

Just down stream from Marble Point there was a nice surf wave and we spent some time there, catching rides between passing jetboats.

Above Shark’s Tooth, the main river flow bypasses the channel with this named rapid, so if the name scares you, you can easily skip the excitement. However if you choose to pick your way through the boulders at the top of the rapid and run down the channel that branches off to the left, you can run the “dreaded” Shark’s Tooth rapid. It’s not too much more than a fairly easy chute, but the flow does run into the rather imposing protuberance of rock that gives the rapid it’s name and forms such a distinctive feature that is visible from the road, so it is kind of cool.

Once the river opens out completely, most of the rapids are behind you and when the bridge appears, your trips is almost at an end. However it is important to take care at the take out, because the inlet to one of the major irrigation schemes is just below the bridge and getting sucked into that would be a mistake you probably wouldn’t live to regret. There is no swimming allowed around the bridge and that includes kayakers, so if you do have people in the party that aren’t 100% confidant, it is probably better to take out at one of the small beaches on the left side above the bridge.

It was a beautiful day on the river and one of my favourite parts of Waiau River trips is sitting under the pine trees at the get out, on a warm, summer’s day, waiting for the shuttle to be run. This trip didn’t disappoint and I really enjoyed myself. After the cars arrived back, we loaded up and then headed back to town, pausing only to make an important stop in Culverden for enormous ice cream cones, before heading home.