{"id":3871,"date":"2020-08-23T20:35:05","date_gmt":"2020-08-23T08:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/?p=3871"},"modified":"2020-08-26T16:21:02","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T04:21:02","slug":"23rd-august-2020-avon-river-dudley-creek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/?p=3871","title":{"rendered":"23rd August 2020: Avon River & Dudley Creek"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date: \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>23\/08\/2020
River:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Avon River, Christchurch, NZ
River Conditions:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>1.682 cumecs at Gloucester Street bridge. Water mostly clear. Grade 1.
Weather Conditions:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Cool & overcast, brief sunny spells.
Number on Trip:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>1 person.
Time on River: \u00a0<\/strong>1.5 hours (6.8km).
Comments:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>With the rain having cleared and the sun trying to poke through the clouds, a paddle down the Avon looked on the cards. I had thought of going out last weekend, but Lauri insisted on me giving her hair a trim before I went. Technically as I have a certificate in taking hair samples and have cut the hair of a number of famous and not so famous people, I am \u201cqualified\u201d to cut hair, however I don\u2019t really think it is advisable to get a geologist to cut your hair. Needless to say the results were less than satisfactory and no kayaking happened that weekend. So after making sure Lauri was comfortable settled outside with a cup of tea and Peri the cat on her lap, I got changed and carried the Blitz down to the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Blue sky and a glassy surface.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I slid off the bank and into the river, I decided to head down stream into the Red Zone as it is more peaceful because there are no busy roads bordering the river. There was a chill nor-easterly wind that was kicking up a small chop on the otherwise glassy surface. As I hadn\u2019t paddled for a while, it felt quite tiring, with little used muscles slowly remembering their previous functions. I wasn\u2019t sure exactly how far I was going to go, but as I got in to a rhythm, it felt good to be powering downstream, enjoying the exercise and watching the scenery slide past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This pukeko is the one of the residents of this Red Zoned section of Avonside Drive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was still feeling pretty good when I reached the Dudley Creek confluence so I decided to carry on down to the Gayhurst Street bridge. There were a few race boaters enjoying a Sunday afternoon paddle and plenty of others making the most of a break in the weather, jogging, walking or cycling along the tracks through the Red Zone that run beside the river. This area is a real treasure and it is great to see it being utilised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I passed a number of whitebaiters fishing from the bank on the way down stream. Eventually I reached the bridge and then looped round the bridge support to begin the return journey. Paddling upstream was a bit more difficult and my lack of paddle fitness was possibly showing, but I carried on with just an occasional breather to admire the scenery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Urban creeking, exploring Dudley Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I was approaching the confluence with Dudley Creek, \u201cadventure\u201d beckoned and I decided to have an explore and see how far up I could manage to get. Last time we paddled up the creek, we found our way blocked by a low bridge. This time, the water level was much lower and by leaning forward, I was able to paddle under it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dudley Creek runs along side Banks Avenue and prior to the earthquakes was quite a nice area, with some fairly flash houses. After the quakes, some of the houses were Red Zoned, others were left broken while others were rebuilt or repaired. Most of the houses were accessed via private bridges over the creek, fortunately most are high enough for a kayak to pass easily under. The creek itself is pretty narrow and shallow, with a muddy bottom. There were more old tyres and pieces of broken masonry than is really acceptable, but is reasonably clear and pleasant, with plenty of greenery. At times it didn’t feel like you were in the middle of a city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
As far as I got up Dudley Creek, almost to where Achillies Street joins Banks Avenue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eventually after passing under a number of bridges, the creek got too shallow and swift to continue on. I’d reached a point almost at Achillies Street, about 600m up the creek. Fortunately at this point the creek was wide enough for the 2.2m long Blitz to turn around and I headed back downstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I paddled downstream I spotted a splendid metallic blue kingfisher above one bridge, but it flew away before I could photograph it. As I paddled under one small bridge, a car passed overhead with a juddering rumble. Back on the Avon I headed for home, realising I’d been out for over an hour. I carried on, my limbs feeling a tired, passing the jetty near the site of the old WWCC boat shed, I decided the trip wouldn’t be complete unless I paddled up to the Swanns Road bridge. This completed the “circuit” and I paddled back down to my get in point and climbed out, shouldering my kayak and headed for home, feeling a little sore and tired but satisfied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Date: \u00a0 \u00a023\/08\/2020River:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Avon River, Christchurch, NZRiver Conditions:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.682 cumecs at Gloucester Street bridge. Water mostly clear. Grade 1.Weather Conditions:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cool & overcast, brief sunny spells.Number on Trip:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 person.Time on River: \u00a01.5 hours (6.8km).Comments:\u00a0\u00a0With the rain having cleared and the sun trying to poke through the clouds, a paddle down the Avon looked on the cards. I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":3874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kayaking","category-river"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3871"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3886,"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions\/3886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaprime.net.nz\/whitewater\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}