Huka Falls
Date: 31/1/2013
Location: Waikato river, Huka Falls
Weather: Fine
Group: Greg Lee and Myself
Grade: 4+/5
Duration: 15 min
Flow: 75-80 CMS
After finishing a big school trip on the Whanganui river with Greg, talk came up of running Huka. We checked the flow phone 80 CMS forecasted outflow. We both had only seen it at super high flows and were unsure what it would be like. Nervous we loaded up the cars and made the drive up there. We instantly knew the flow was lower with far less noise than usual pulling into the car park. sprinting to the bridge to get a glimpse of the gorge we were pleasantly surprised to see it at what looked to be a manageable flow. scouting from the lip to the top we decided to fire it up. winning paper, scissors, rock I opted to go first. dropping in the first rapid I caught a wave which flipped me over. I rolled back up super nervous as that was the small part still I kept charging both of us having a good line through the weir. with Greg right behind me dropped into pencil sharpener. I was quickly pushed into the eddy where I had to quickly turn around and ferry out straight into the lip. As I approached the lip I was the most scared I have ever been while kayaking but once I left the lip and felt the impact at the bottom I was so stoked i quickly turned to see Greg have a sick line off the falls. He flew well clear of the base landing over flat. We celebrated in the pool before making the climb back to the car park. What a sick piece of water! Gave myself a good scare today cant wait till Huka flows again.
Central Plateau Kayaking Weekend
Date: 12-13/01/2013
Location: Manganui a te ao river, Tawhai Falls and Waihahonu river
Weather: fine
Group: Alice Payn, Rebecca Reidie, Greg Lee, Sara Dwyer and Myself
Grade: 2/3, 2, 3/4
Duration: 2 days
Flow: Low water
Greg was over in Ohakune after a trip we did on the Whanganui river so we decided to have a paddling weekend. Alice also made the drive down and we went out for a fun day on the Manganui a te ao. We bounced our way down the river taking few photos and playing around on some small waves as we went great to get out in a kayak again.
The next morning we stopped of at Tawhai Falls a 7m drop on the Whakapapa-nui river a nice easy lead into a big deep pool. Greg and I each had a few goes having a mixture of good and not so good lines. Was a good laugh watching each other going off the lip, will be keen to head here again.
Once done at Tawhai we carried on to Turangi where we met up with the Rafting New Zealand crew who recommended the Waihahonu river. The original plan was to have a look at Waikato falls. But we were easily convinced to change our plans forcing Sara to come along we made the short drive. Just above the normal put in was two great small drops which Greg and I were keen to hit up with Sara behind the camera we did two laps before continuing on down. Reading in the guide book it mentions of the portage this kept us on our toes the whole way down, once there we clearly saw why we were doing so. The entire river went into a narrow gap with two nasty looking hydraulics about 20 m apart. Unfortunately for me as I was trying to climb along the bank and my feet began to slip. Looking where I was going I quickly decided my best option was to try and jump out to the far side where it looked to be flushing out slightly more and ditch my boat. This payed off as I landed I managed to line myself up and tried body boofing the hole. I was sucked down and popped up under my boat. I pushed off, finding my paddle trying to paddle out I felt myself getting sucked back in just as Greg got a bag to me and pulled me out cheers bro! once out my boat was still in the hole getting a good beat down. once we got that we carried on portaging around the next hole with extra care. Then continued the rest of the run smoothly as we crused on down
Kaituna Enduro Race
Date: 25/11/2012
Location: Kaituna river
Weather: fine
Group: Jake Willett, Ashleigh Macdonald and Myself
Grade: 3-4
Duration: 6 hours!
Flow: 500
Early on in the season we saw an add for the Kaituna Enduro race. As it got closer to the time we realised we all had time off. With a day to go our original team member Taylor had three laps on the run first run he had a swim on abyss second run snapped a paddle and third run snapped a brand new Obey paddle. At the end of the day he decided he was done and Jake stepped up and took his place. I started for our team, the first lap was hectic! coming through the Power House Rapid there were four boats in the weir getting looped. it was interesting dropping in and landing on top of another boat. The thing i was worried about the most was Tutea falls and someone dropping off right behind me and taking me out. but during the briefing that issue came up and a agreement was made that there is no passing after last chance eddy. Once at the falls people held back and gave each other enough space to go off safely. We each managed to get 7 laps in the 6 hours without any carnage, giving us the grand total of 21 laps which placed us in 7th. stoked to be done we stopped in at the Okere store for a well earned Beer.
Kaituna
Date: 25/11/2012
Location: Kaituna River, Okere Falls
Weather: Fine
Group: Greg Lee, Ashleigh Macdonald, Jake Willett and Myself
Grade: 3-4
Duration: 2 hours
Flow: 500
So our long paddling weekend was not over there on the way back stopped in at Okere at the Kaituna. This was so different to any river i have ever paddled. The first lap Greg showed us the way down talking us through the lines. every one had good lines and we decided to do another. Putting on we started to feel the effects of the long 3 days and took it nice and slow Jake had an interesting line off the falls, getting worked but it flushed him out quickly. Another great river and a good way to finish off the weekend. stoked to finally see what the north has to offer
Wairoa
Date: 25/11/2012
Location: Wairoa Riverk, put in below McLaren falls
Weather: Fine
Group: Greg Lee, Ashleigh Macdonald, Jake Willett and Myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: 14 cms
The final day of the long paddling weekend started off with a few hour drive to the Wairoa river. After seeing footage of Phil and Rata paddling it last season we were all amped. Jake met us there and the four of us set off scouting Mothers nightmare, Water fall and Roller Coaster the first run all had clean lines. The second run Ash drove shuttle and we had a boys run. Once at Mothers Nightmare Jake had a bad line off the bottom drop ending up against the wall very close to the weir. He ended up swimming out and his boat stayed pinned against the wall. Greg and I paper, scissor, rocked for jumping in. I won and jumped in and pulled off the boat. once he was back in we carried on down with good lines for the rest of the run. Such a sick river and I cant wait to make the trip up again for the next release.
Mohaka
Date: 24/11/2012
Location: Mohaka river
Weather: Fine
Group: Dan Morgan, Ashleigh Macdonald and Myself. Along with Mohaka rafting
Grade: 3
Duration: 4 hours
Flow: unknown
Next stop was Mohaka Greg jumped in a raft and Ash joined up with us. An awesome section with some great grade 3 water. sweet to see the rafting section and another sweet day on the river.
Rangitikei
Date: 23/11/2012
Location: Rangitikei river
Weather: Fine
Group: Dan Morgan, Greg Lee, Kaylee and Myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 2 hours
Flow: 18 Cms
Decided to go for a North Island paddling mission with the free weekend. The first stop was the Rangetikei. Greg and Kaylee another guide at Mohaka also made the drive over and we met Dan there. on the drive up Dan decided to tell me all the horror stories and managed to scare me pretty good. Once on I felt pretty nervous but after the first few rapids i felt good and we all had an awesome day out with good lines all around.
Tongariro
Date: 17/11/2012
Location: Tongariro river access 10
Weather: raining
Group: Ruben, Rebecca Reid and myself
Grade: 3
Duration: 2 and a half hours
Flow: 17 cumecs
the first time in a boat since my swim decided to go down the same section for a bit of redemption. ruben took a rpm this time. but he is slightly to big for it so he subbed out in every wave and needed to avoid shallow rocks. Rebecca did well running everything and styling most of it. a good day on the river glad to have done it again more successfully than the last time.
Tongariro
Date: 31/10/2012
Location: Tongariro river access 10
Weather: fine
Group: Grace Slee, Tammy, Ruben and myself
Grade: 3
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: 16 cumecs
Incidents: I had a swim up against a wall
First time in a boat in the North Island didn't go so well. The day started off well. but when i decided to play on a buffer on the wall things went bad. I ended up hitting the wall and flipping in a bad spot with my paddle stuck across my deck and my back on rocks. I freaked out and as soon as I could I got out of my boat. disappointed I got back in my boat and carried on down the river.
Hurunui
Date: 22/10/2012
Location: Hurunui river, salmon farm to Maori gully
Weather: Hail and Rain
Group: Eric van den Broeke, Nick 'Smaegol' Bishop, Ashley Mcdonald, Sam and Myself
Grade: 3 - 4
Duration: 4 hours
Flow:260 cumecs, Flood
first day back in christchurch I promised my brother i would take him kayaking so off we went to the hururnui river like the coast everything on the east was flooded running 6 times its normal flow we went down salmon farm it was just a series of big waves and big boiling eddys. Eric did well he rolled a few times but came straight back up. there was one incident where Eric and I nearly drifted in to a 3 - 4 m high hole that had formed but we narrowly missed it. paddling down heavy hail started and you could not look downstream so we were kayaking blind for about 20 minuets. once at the gully eric got out and we carried on down. not knowing what to expect at this flow we were slightly nervous. but once in there it was almost washed only 2-3 m wave trains and the odd big hole and many boily eddys. but it always had a clean line and there was no carnage. A sweet day on the river hope to be back in my boat again soon.
Arnold
Date: 20/10/2012
Location: Arnold river
Weather: sunny
Group: 40+ people
Grade: 2
Duration: 2 hours
Flow: High
on the Saturday of our graduation there was also celebrations for 21 years of outdoor recreation. where there was a mass Arnold decent. once at the put in all the rafters left and kayakers began to put in. I hung at the back and was going to get in last. next thing i hear is Reefton one of our raft tutors yelling and three whistle blasts. i grab my bag and run down the bank to see a boat pinned up against the trees with someone in it three of the first years were already there trying to pull her out i ran over to help. the kayaker was very lucky she had her head out of the water and managed to get out of her boat with some help. unfortunatly there was a few thing that were very messy with this rescue. firstly there was a rope floating around in the river and a number of people still on the bank. this rescue i feel could have gone much better and i want to keep working on it because you can always be better at rescues and is something happens i want to be able to save my friends.
Mokihinui
Date: 15/10/2012 - 16/10/2012
Location: Mokihinui river north branch
Weather: clear
Group: Greg Lee, Rata Lovell-Smith, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Chris Harvey, Sara Dwyer, Tui Krall, Jacob Schrama, Jake Willet, Zak Shaw and Myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 2 days
Flow: Medium - High
Incidents: one swim from Tui one from Sara and two from Jacob
The trip of the year! all year we have been talking about finishing the year on the Mokihinui i have been looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. Flying out early on Monday morning and putting on around 10 am. the first few rapids were slightly spaced out which gave us a little time to warm up before things tightened up and got bigger. taking our time and looking at some things before we hit them. One drop had a lead in where you crossed over a nasty drop unfortunately Tui missed her line and went down and was worked in between a hole and a rock she eventually swam and caught her ankle on the way out. later on we found out there was ligament damage. we carried on and at one rapid jacob got worked in a large hydraulic and after about 2 minuets he swam out very disappointed. once at the hut we set up and light a fire on the bank. drank some whiskey and wine with our back country meals before getting some much needed sleep. day two started with a large rapid with a huge curler. running blind i dropped in and the curler ate me and looped me and i rolled up in the pool below. Jacob had the same fate only he couldn't manage to roll back up and swam again. the second day had much more flat water and there was lots of paddling to do with the odd grade 3 rapid thrown in and one more grade 4 where Sara rolled and ended up on the chompy side of the rapid and swam out the bottom. once at the take out we were very stoked with the two days we had just done. What a way to finish our two years together on the coast.
9 mile
Date: 14/10/2012
Location: 9 Mile Creek
Weather: raining
Group: Rata Lovell-smith, Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Jake Willet, Jacob Schrama, Dan Morgan and myself
Grade: 3
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: flood
After two years of trying to catch nine mile slide at a good flow we finally got it in the last week of living on the coast. After a bunch of debating whether or not it would be going we loaded up boats and had a look. we were stoked to see it going at a great flow. gearing up as fast as we could in the torrential rain and putting on. the first run was slightly chaotic. minimal eddys and unknown where the large slides where with some solid class three through the rest of the run made for some fun. the first slide was a hard one to style. it went down in to a large hole which loved to back loop everyone who didn't get in that late right boof. the second slide came up almost directly after. this one was the big one about 100 m long dropping roughly 30 m in to a rock ledge which caused a giant kicker of water it was intimidating to say the least. We each had our turn and once at the bottom we raced up and ran it again and again and again. A great run to get something different in and look forward to trying it again some time.
An video I made from some of the footage from the day. Thanks to Owen and Jake for the footage
http://vimeo.com/51592629
Cesspool
Date: 13/10/2012
Location: Arahura river, Cesspool gorge
Weather: Raining
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith and myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 30 min
Flow: Flood
Finally have my redemption in the gorge at a solid flow. After slamming in to the wall at high water and going down the rest upside down. I had the opportunity to run it at a higher level for the first time. Once at the top we decided that there was no good sized eddys so truck and trailer was how we wanted to do it. Greg went first then me, Rata and Phil. we all came off the cave drop cleanly and rolled straight into the next part Greg made this look easy like he usually does. Next thing I know im upside down scraping down my back on a shallow shelf and roll up through the big hole at the bottom. The next thing I see as I look up is Phil and Rata both getting surfed in the same hole, they were in there for about a Minuet before it decided to spit them out we carried on down laughing and cheering making very quick work of the lower section not a bad way to have our last run of the gorge.
Toaroha
Date: 12/10/2012
Location: Toaroha
Weather: rain
Group: Greg Lee, Jacob Schrama, Dan Morgan and myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: Flood
Went for one last walk up the toaroha for the year. As a huge system hit we were getting ready to go out. once there we walked up to the last of the grade four rapids a long continuous rapid. Which usually has a number of small drops and huge boulders scattered around. not this time we showed up seeing huge drops with large hydraulics and some scary looking places which we really wanted to avoid. Greg and I put in close to the top on different sides and we made our way down the first drop. meeting Jacob half way down and finishing the rest of the rapid. once we made it to the pool we picked up Dan and carried on down the normal grade 3+ run finding large holes and waves everywhere the lower section took around 20 min to complete. A sick day out, this river will be missed.
Kakapotahi
Date: 02/10/2012
Location: Kakapotahi River
Weather: Clear
Group: Jacob Schrama, Jess Bailey, Ben Searle and Myself
Grade: 4-3
Duration: 2 hours
Flow: Low
Went on a trip down the Kakas today. we were expecting slightly more water but still had a fun day and no carnage is always a bonus
Toaroha Waterfall
Date: 30/09/2012
Location: Toaroha River
Weather: clear turning to rain later on
Group: Watson Green, Jake Willett and Myself
Grade: 4
Duartion: 4 hour walk 2.5 hour paddle
Flow: Low
Incidents: Watson went into the falls to passively drifting to far left and not putting in a boof stroke. he was back looped and sucked back into the falls and worked eventually swimming out.
Decided it was time to go back up to the falls at the exit of the canyon again. But this time with two of the first years. Once again it was a long walk up there but once there we were ready to fire it up. Deciding that we didn't need safety I ran first. I paddled in hard and boofed slightly late but still landed flat. This is the biggest drop I have flat landed and it felt strange landing so hard of a drop. Next up was Watson his passive entrance to the drop saw him to far left and he pinned it. He then resurfaced and immediately got back looped and worked violently for about 10 seconds before swimming. Next up was Jake after seeing Watson he knew he needed speed and a good boof stroke. He had a great line but landed slightly to far on edge and rolled on landing he sat on the boil line for a few seconds before he rolled and paddled out. From there we carried on down to the car boat scouting everything and moving quickly many of the rapids were very shallow and I hit my elbows many times on the way down so I'm going to pick up some elbow pads for the future. Over all an awesome day on the river cant wait till next time we hit the Toaroha Falls.
Tech Adventure Boating week (TPP)
Date: 24/09/2012 - 28/09/2012
Location: Arnold River, Arahura River Cesspool Gorge, Totara river, Kakapotahi river and Lake Brunner
Weather: Heavy rain on Tuesday night and some of Wednesday otherwise fine.
Group: Phil Palzer, Greg Lee, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Daniel Morgan, Tui Krall, Ben Searle, Chris Harvey and Myself as students and Zak Shaw, Keith Riley, Dave Ritchie and Phil Johnston where our tutors.
Grade: 2/4/3/4/2
Duration: 5 days
Flow: Low we were on Low level flood runs like the Totara and Kakapotahi after the rain
Incidents: Dan injured his back on the first day on the Arnold and was out for the next three days. One swim from Ben on the Totara.
A Perfect week to finish off our time at TPP. We have been looking forward to this for the whole year and it did not disappoint. day one Rata, Phil, Greg and I went over our rescues on a Kayak 1 level will Phil Johnston to see how we stacked up. it was clear that we still needed a lot of work on the them to be up to the standard. Day two we went down to Hokitika and based ourselves at the Ruatapu Kayak School (AKA Keiths house). We spent the day on the Arahura walking to the half way point of Cesspool Gorge. From there we abseiled down with all our gear and put on at the end of the first rapid. paddling out we worked on our timing of strokes and boofing hitting as many drops as we could on the way down. after a night of rain we got up and headed off the the Totara River. I had only been there once at a very low flow before and it was quite different much pushier and bigger very sweet day on the river. day four we put on the lower Kakapotahi Jacob and Tui ran the main drop for the first time they both had good lines. today we were with Dave and he went over rescues and role modeling good technique throughout the day. on Friday we were back in Greymouth and spent the morning at lake Brunner completing our all in rescue and a few teaching progressions. the afternoon was all about rescue from assisted ferry glides to unconscious swimmers to throw bagging. along with just having a paddle around. A great way to spend the last day off our TPP time.
Arahura, Cesspool Gorge
Date: 22/09/2012
Location: Arahura River, Cesspool gorge
Weather: Clear
Group: Jake Willett and Myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 1 hour
Flow: Medium - High
A Sweet run down the gorge with Jake it was his first run down there and it was a great flow for it. Thinking it would be low from crossing the bridge we were pleasantly surprised when we made it there to see cave drop a go. we quickly geared up and launched in we managed to make all the moves easily even with the pushy water. we were both stoked at the bottom and made our way down the grade 3 with the rest of the crew.
Styx (P)
Date:06/09/2012
Location: Styx River
Weather: Clear
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Jacob Scharma, Rata Lovell-Smith, Taylor, Sara Dwyer, Astraea Miller, Grace Slee and Myself.
Grade: 4+/ 5
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: Medium
Incidents: Missed my line on the main drop and went up against a undercut rock. I managed to get out of it still in my boat. Dan missed his line and flipped over on a shallow area got scraped and ended up on a bank upside down holding himself up he had to get out of his boat with assistance. On a rapid in the lower section Grace and Astraea both flipped in the shallows and swam quick clean up.
After the sick day on the Styx last week decided it would be awesome to head back up there. Zak Shaw had warned us that week of the carnage that occurs on that river.Unfortunately he was right. on the top rapid i came off the third drop and by boat was instantly swept left, trying to avoid the wall i rode up hard onto the rock and slid into the hole. I was back looped and my boat pressed up against the undercut side of the rock. I tried to roll up but failed a few rolls before finally flushing off the rock and rolled back up. as we carried on down Dan and I ran a long continuous grade 4 rapid with a few nasty sections both of us missing our lines but Dan went upside down and scraped down the rapid stopping upside down on a gravel bank. Quickly we all ran to help with a huge dive into a difficult swim from Greg and Phil sprinting across the river. they both managed to get to him and get him out of his boat. we spent some time at the next drop running it 4 or 5 times each the next rapid consisted of two smaller drops. I went first and nailed my line but on the last drop i hit a rock solidly on take off and put a nasty 15 cm crack under the seat which wasn't noticed until later. once we met up with Astraea and Grace we set off down the first rapid the two both flipped and swam but we cleaned it up quickly and they were back in their boats quick. There was a lot of learning taken from today and next time we are up there we will be more aware.
Thanks to Rata Lovell-Smith for the photos.
Phil taking the Right Line.
Me in a bad place.
Dan on the Buffer drop.
Greg Going for the Boof.
Toaroha (P)
Date: 08/09/2012
Location: Toaroha River
Weather: Rain to clearing
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith, Sara Dwyer, Taylor, Jacob Schrama,
Grade: 3+
Duration: 1 hour
Flow: High
A sick flow on the Toaroha it was the highest I have run it and most of the rapids were super fun with all that water. Great to get on the Toaroha again always a great day out.
Styx (P)
Date:06/09/2012
Location: Styx River
Weather: Rain, overcast
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Dan Morgan, Jacob Scharma, Sara Dwyer, Astraea Miller and Myself.
Grade: 4+/ 5
Duration: 3 hours
Flow: Medium
After paddling all year on just a few rivers. We decided to go for a walk up the Styx after a quick 1 and a half hour walk we found ourself at the top of some nice looking class 4 drops. keen to get into it Greg Phil and I geared up and ran the top drop which was a lead in of a few holes and a large boof to finish it off. everything went well, everyone had good lines. Met up with Dan and Jake just downstream. We set off finding plenty of clean drops and had the time of our lives running this new river. further down we met up with Sara and Astraea and carried on down to the take out. Today was a sick day and cant wait for more rain.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the Photos.
Me on the First Drop
Phil Styling his Boof
Date: 23/08/2012
Location: Arahura River
Weather: Clear
Group: Ben Searle, Jacob Schrama and myself
Grade: 4
Duration: 2 hours
Flow: Very low
Incidents: Ben had a swim out of a sticky hole and had to swim the rest of the gorge
Decided to take Ben and Jake into the Cesspool gorge for the first time. After looking at the lines to make sure they were passable with the little water, we launched in. cave drop was a no go so we portaged and ran from there. The first section where the buffer is went smoothly with every one hitting there line perfect. The second part with the sticky hole went not so well. Ben entered the rapid slightly to far right and rolled on a rock entering the hole up side down with no speed. He was sucked back where he was worked for a g 40 seconds before swimming out. we took our time paddling down and left the boat for now. once through the rest of the grade four we managed to catch the boat and get Ben back in.
Arahura (P)
Date: 29/06/12
Location: Arahura, Cesspit
Group: Greg Lee, Rata Lovell-Smith, Brad, Fin
Grade: 4
Duration: 1 hour
Flow: Medium
A sick run down the Arahura. Good to get back into cesspit again but with a twist. walking up there was snow on the ground and as we got down to the river all the rock was iced up and very slippery. Fin ran the Falls which was cool to see someone actually run it.
Kakapotahi (P)
Date: 29/05/12
Location: Lower Kakapothai
Group: Rata Lovell-Smith, Phil Palzer, Chris Harvey, Dave Rutland, Ben Searle, Sara Dwyer and myself
Grade: 4/3
Flow: Low
Duration: 2 hours
Incidents: Rata got surfed in a hole and ended up getting bagged the rope wrapped around her and she ended up swimming all gear was recovered.
A bunch of us had the day off and headed down to the kakas far a run we had a few less experienced paddlers so made for an interesting trip Ben ran his first grade 4 rapid today in the gorge which he styled stoked to see him getting into it and making it look good. the rest of the way down we eddy hopped our way down and we reached a long rapid with a few sticky looking holes in there i ran first and waited at the bottom and Phil and Rata eddyed out half way down and covered from there after every one had come down Rata headed down but got stuck in one of the holes she tried to stay up but used her paddle to push off the bottom then things started getting worse Phil threw her a bag and she got pulled out and flipped then drifted into some shallow rocks were she swam i chased her paddle and got it just before the next rapid and the others helped her get out. she got back in and made our way down to the take out. a fun day on the kakas cool to see Ben stepping it up and cant wait to run it with more water again.
Thanks to Phil Palzer for the photos.
Ben Dropping his 1st grade 4.
Me in the Kakas gorge rapid.
Arahura, Cesspit (P)
Date: 12/05/12
Location: Aruhura river
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith, Logan Froriep and myself.
Grade: 4
Flow: low
Duration: 50 min walk, 2 hours kayaking
Incidents: None.
Decided it was finally time to get back in the Gorge this time the flow was alot lower and i was feeling much more confident so we dropped in. we portaged the cave drop and then came the buffer it was looking particularly tight today and after seeing Phil getting stuck in there the nerves started up. i went for it and punched through it then we work our way down. stoked when we made it down to finally redeem myself in there cant wait to hit it up again.
Thanks to Greg lee for the photo
Coming down the last rapid of the gorge
Kayak Client Days (I)
Date: 08/05/12- 11/05/12
Location: Grey high pool, Dilmans Dam, Grey River, Lake Brunner, Arahura River
Group: Rata Lovell-Smith, Jacob Scharma, Chris Harvey, Grace Slee and myself instructing the tutors where Keith Riley and Keven England.
Clients: year 10 Greymouth High School students and year 12 John Paul II students.
Grade: 1, 2
Flow: Low
Duration: 4 days
Incidents: some students being scared not wanting to continue on the Arahura required some persuasion managed to convince them to raft up with either Keith or myself.
was dreading this week for a while but it came out being my favorite week so far the first two days we had the year 10 students from Greymouth high school these guys were hard work they weren't motivated to learn and some put in minimal effort and we all struggled to get them enthused. i think everyone managed the situation well and in the end most students had the skills to pass the unit. the next two days we had a cool group of kids from John Paul II high these guys had done 2 days in the pool with us during the teach to teach week and they were much more motivated and were interested in learning so the first day went well we worked on them rolling and most of them picked it up quickly then on Friday we decided to go to the Arahura this was where things got interesting we split in to two groups by confidence one group of of 5 and one of 7 Chris, Grace and I took the group of 7 we practiced exiting and entering eddys on an easy water but Caitlin flipped and swam she became very upset and Grace jumped out and talked to her and got her back in the boat we then went down the next rapid but Caitlin didn't want to run the next rapid so she walked she got to the point where she didn't want to continue at all. i went and talked to her and told her about rafting up and assisted ferries and how you cant tip while in these and i convinced her to let me do so but Keith took her to speed up time. over the next hour or two she came to me to raft up down every ripple and she slowly became more confident and started paddling some rapids then at the end she ran one of the bigger rapids alone which was awesome to see. Another girl Ashley was not confident and scared at the start and towards the end she started to enjoy it running all the rapids and she smiled down the rapids rather than the usual terror face. this day was by far the most enjoyable day for me just to see the progression over the day and see them enjoying it all.
Toaroha (P)
Date: 15/04/12
Location: Toaroha
Group: Greg Lee, Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith
Grade: 4/3
Flow: Very low
Duration: 2.5 hours of walking and 2 hours of kayaking
Incidents: One cracked boat
Woke up early this morning ready for a big walk in to the Toaroha. After hearing rumors of a water fall higher up the Toaroha we were all keen to find it so we quickly reached the normal put in and continued on until we reached a gorged out section. after a difficult portage we finally spotted spray billowing out from around the corner and we quickly got our boats up there and set up to run it. Phil ran it first followed by me and then Greg and Rata had to made a quick decision weather or not they were going to run it due to the amount of light we had left but they didn't want to leave it so they ran up and threw them selves off the falls and then we scraped our way down the rest of the run. About half way down Greg landed hard on a rock and put a 20 cm crack down the side of his boat. We tried to paddle it out but it filled to quickly so we left it at the normal put in and he walked out. the rest of us managed to make it out the normal section in about 30 minutes and headed to Hoki for some much needed fish and chips.
Me hucking the waterfall.
Kakapotahi (P)
Date: 12/04/12
Location: Lower Kakapotahi
Group: Greg Lee, John, Rhys, Tim and Myself
Grade: 4
Flow: Low
Duration: 3 hours
After a night of rain me and Greg headed out from Grey and meet up with three of the Aoraki crew at the put in to the lower Kakas. once we got to the river it was clear that it was super low and it would be a scrape down. we set off and slowly made our way to the George. the main drop was really low and now had to enter on the hard left. Greg jumped out and took photos while we ran it then carried on down. things became interesting in some of the rapids when it got really shallow and we ended up walking around one of the more manky looking rapids. after all the pushing our boats over all the shallow rapids i decided that next time i would defiantly wait for more rain.
Thanks Greg Lee for the photos.
Super low Kakas
Murchison (TPP)
Date: 27/03/12 - 30/03/12
Location: O'Sullys to Aoriki, doctors creek, Earthquake and Lower Matakitaki.
Group: 16 DOIG students, 4 tutors Keith Riley, Jess Matherson Dave Ritchie and Phil Johnston
Grade: 3,2,3,3+
Flow: Very low
Duration: 4 days
Incidents: flipped in a very boney rapid and scraped down getting stuck in a few places my paddle was fully pinned under water and was rescued at the bottom when i finally came out the bottom. once my paddle was found it came free quickly but unfortunately there was a small crack in the shaft.
This week was super helpful but i defiantly struggled and felt like my paddling had deteriorated with my scraping down the Matakitaki leaving me feeling bad about my paddling. Then on the last day things started to feel better and i started feeling it again and had some fun. this week was good for me it defiantly increased my skill even though it didn't feel like it at the start.
Kakapotahi (P)
Date: 25/03/12
Location: Lower Kakapotahi
Group: Greg lee, Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith, Sara Dwyer, Dan Morgan, Jake Scharma and myself
Grade: 4
Flow: Medium
Duration: 3 hours
Incidents: 2 swims from Sara
I have wanted to go up the kakapotahi for a while now and after all the rain that just passed through it was the perfect opportunity to so we set off with a group of 7 we got to the put in and made our way down stream i wasn't felling to confident straight away and as we approached the George i wasn't sure i wanted to run the entry but with a bit of encouragement i decided i should give it a go sitting at the top of the rapid i was super nervous. i was third to go once it was my turn the nerves had gone and i made my way down i was stoked when i came out and that i wasn't getting worked in the hole. we met up with the 3 that walked it and carried on down some busy grade 3 boulder gardens. we came to a rapid that had a few drops and Sara dropped over one and all i saw was the nose of her boat go up in the air as she got looped Greg was in there quick as and got her back in her boat. further down Sara missed her roll and hit a rock and swam as we approached the next rapid Greg got her out and Phil and i grabbed her gear and managed to get it to an eddy just before the next rapid. from there we had only a few big rapids to go before it died down to Grade 2 so we stuck close together and carried on. It was an awesome day out and it has to be my favourite run so far. I cant wait for the next rain fall.
Thank you to Jake Scharma for the video.
Arahura (P)
Date: 3rd March
Location: Cess pit George, Arahura
Group: Phil Palzer, Greg Lee, Rata Lovell-Smith, Watson Green, Jake Scharma, Grace Slee, Sara Dwyer, Chris Harvey, Luke Wilson, Kerian Chandeler, Logan and myself
Grade: 4/3
Flow: High
Duration: 1 hour walk 3 hours kayak
Incidents: flipped above the buffer hitting my head solidly on the wall and went down the rest of the rapid up side down rolling up near the bottom.
Decided i wanted to step up today and dropped into cesspit George it was higher than Phil or Greg had done it and nerves were running high at the top. i launched in and waited in the eddy up top once it was time to go Phil went first followed by Greg then me. the cave drop went well. but the two eddys below were only big enough for the other two so i kept going. i found myself to far right so i went to move across and as i did so i flipped in a hole and hit my head on the wall i managed to roll up for a second before being flipped over again and carried on down until i finally rolled up and paddled out the rest of the rapid. we had a few Minuit's to relax while the others walked down and we set off down the grade 3.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the Photos.
Phils Stoked.
The crew at the Grade 3 put in.
The carnage.
Arahura (P)Date: 26th February
Location: Arahura
Weather: Overcast
Group: Sara Dwyer, Tui Kraal, Greg Lee and myself
Grade: 3
Flow: Medium
Duration: 1 hour walk, 2 hour paddle
Incidents: 1 swim from Sara
Decided to walk up the Arahura today for a paddle. we put in at the grade 3 and made our way down unfortunately Sara flipped in an awkward spot and went off a drop on a funny angle and swam. we managed to get her back in her boat but her paddle went down stream with Greg closely behind. once he got it he quickly walked back up and we ran the last bit of the rapid and carried on to the car.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the photos.
Crossing the swing bridge.
Sara looking upstream.
Toaroha (P)
Date: 25th February
Location: Toaroha River
Weather: Fine
Group: Sara Dwyer, Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith, Greg Lee and Myself
Grade: 3/3+
Flow: High
Duration: 40 min walk, 2 hour paddle
After all the rain from the previous week it was time to go paddling again. So we loaded the boats and headed for the Toaroha, picking Saras new boat up along the way. the river was much higher than i have paddled before and moves required much more power than usual i really enjoyed this flow and cant wait for the next trip.
Dobson wave (P)
Date: 24th February
Location: Dobson, Grey river
Weather: Clear
Group: Chris Harvey and Myself
Grade: 2
Flow: 2300 cumecs.
Duration: 2 hours
Key Learning: Spins and whippys
On Friday Chris had the idea to go and check out dobson so we went for a look it was only a small wave about 1-2 foot but we had a play anyway. I managed to sort out my spins and worked on whippys a sweet 2 hours. cant wait for the next flood needs a bit more water
Tech Teach to Teach (TPP)
Date: 14th - 17th February
Location: Greymouth High pool, Dilmans Dam, Grey River
Weather: Clear
Group: 16 DOIG students, Dave Ritchie, peter Kettering, Phil Johnston, Reefton
Grade: flat water, 1
Duration: 4 days
Key Learning: breaking up skills and passing them on to others like rolling, different strokes, moving around the river
A cool week learning to teach kayaking. The first day we learnt to teach rolling in the Greymouth High pool it was interesting to see all the different techniques used to fix bad rolls. we got to then try them out on real students on Wednesday and Thursday morning i managed to get the girl i was teaching to roll with little support from me but wasn't able to finish and step out completely. on Friday we took some kids from John Paul II High school down the grey for flat water and a intro to flat water we each had our own section to teach on the water. overall the week went well there was lots of learning but i still have alot to work on over the next client days.
Toaroha (P)
Date: 12/02/12
Location: Toaroha river
Weather: clear and warm
Group: Phil Palzer, Rata Lovell-Smith, Greg Lee, Ari, Logan, Watson and Myself
Grade: 3/3+
Flow: Low
Duration: 40 min walk, 2 hour paddle out
Key Learning: moving around a very shallow river
Incidents: Rata dropped her new paddle and it got pinned on a wall found and recovered it in about 10 Minuit's
The lowest flow i have seen on the Toaroha. Most of the rapids were hard to negotiate due to all the rocks but it was still cool. We really didn't want to roll in rapids your face would have been grated for sure but everyone stayed upright in shallow areas and it was a great day out with some of the first year students.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the photos.
Me on the 3+.
Scouting the last rapid.
Toaroha (P)
Date: 05/02/12
Location: Toaroha river
Weather: cloudy and hot
Group: Greg Lee, Rata Lovell-Smith, Phil Palzer, James Sadler, Luke Wilson, Jake Scharma, Grace slee, Sara Dywer, Scott Parfit.
Grade: 3/3+
Flow: Medium
Duration: 40 min walk 2 hour paddle
Key learning: Boof Stroke
Incidents: none
A sweet paddle on the Toaroha ten of us decided to walk up on our first weekend back and had an awesome time paddling out we stopped at the main 3+ rapid and walked back up and ran it again and took some photos. i tested out my new camera but unfortunately it fogged up and only got a small bit of footage that was ok and will start experiment with editing films in the future. i had heaps of fun on the river today and cant wait to go back up there.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the photos
The crew.
Phil on the main drop.
Greg on the last grade 3
Maori Gully (P)
Date: 15th January
Location: Hurunui river
Weather: rain with clear spells
Group: Grace Slee, Ben Searl, Nick 'Smegol' Bishop and myself
Grade: 3
Duration: 1.5 hours
Key Learning: going over boils
Incidents: none
The day before i ran into Grace at a shop in Christchurch and we decided to go for a paddle the next day so the four of us set off to the Hurunui. We headed down but boils kept throwing me around the place and tipping me over it took a few times to get used to kayaking on boils. it was cool to kayak with Smegol and grace again.
Murchison (P)
Date: 14th - 15th January
Location: Doctors creek, Middle Matakitaki, Granity, Maruia falls
Weather: Clear
Group: Kelly Donnelly, Alice Woodward and myself
Grade: 2, 2, 2/3, 2
Duration: 2 Days
Key Learning: Getting out of holes, going off water falls
Incidents: None
A great weekend out of Christchurch with Kelly and Alice drove up to murch on Friday night and stayed at River view. We went on some easy runs and just chilled out for the weekend. on Sunday night i wanted to run Maruia falls so me and Alice went and she ran safety from the bottom, i checked my line and walked up, once up there i couldn't see my guides but ran it any way. I ended up to far left and went into a fold and got swallowed by the waterfall then popped up a few seconds later down river.
Ashley Gorge (P)
Date: 17th December
Location: Ashley river
Weather: overcast and rain
Group: Ben Searl and myself
Grade: 3+
Duration: 2 hours
Key learning: getting used to my new boat and boat scouting
Incidents: none
Great to get into a new boat and back onto the river after 6 weeks of being home. so me and Ben decided to head up the Ashley rater than Maori gully due to the rain that had just passed through. the Ashley was running around 30 cumec when we set off. we put on and practised a few rolls and made our way down i found the river to be reasonably easy for a 3+ run. i thoroughly enjoyed getting back on to the river and am looking forward to more missions on the east coast this summer.
Toaroha (P)
Date: 7th October
Location: Toaroaha
Weather: Rain
Group: Greg Lee and me
Grade: 3/3+
Duration: 2 hours
Key Learning: not getting spun out by small Eddy's
Incidents: got pinned on a rock with my head just out of the water for a few seconds then got pushed under and came free
An awesome day paddling on the Toaroha after planning to do it for ages i finally went and did it with Greg it was a 40 min walk in and just over an hour paddle out i was quite nervous getting in my boat but after the first rapid i was feeling better and had heaps of fun i decided to run the grade 3+ rapid my first attempt i got spun out on an eddy line just above the drop and had to get out and walk back up but second attempt went well but my boof stroke wasn't very good but i got away with it but next time i will try and do it better. on one of the last rapids i ended up hitting a rock just after it and got pinned for a few seconds with my head up and slowly started sinking once my head went under i came free and rolled up. it was an awesome day an i will defiantly be going back up there.
Thanks to Greg Lee for the photos.
Getting ready.
Dropping the grade 3+
The 3+
Arnold (P)
Date: 14th August
Location: Arnold River
Weather: Fine
Group: Rata, Phil and me
Grade: 2
Duration: 1.5 hours
Key learning: nose stalls/ front loops, Whippys
Incidents: None
A cool day i borrowed Andys Liquidlogic V56 which is a playboat and i really enjoyed it i tryed some nose stalls then phil told me to try it when exiting out of the top of an Eddy and i stuck my nose in and almost front looped landing on the tail of my kayak and then going up side down I also Practised my whippys but i dint make much progres but still kept trying. towards the end of the trip my roll started to go down hill and it failed a few times so i need to go and fix it at a pool session
Arnold (P)
Date: 11th August
Location: Arnold River
Weather: Fine
Group: Greg, Chris T, Kelly and Me
Grade: 2
Duration: 1.5 hours
Key Learning: Whippys
Incidents: 1 Swim from Kelly
It was good to get back into a white water kayak after 10 straight days in a sea kayak we all started laughing as soon as we got in the boats felt so responsive and so easy to paddle it took a few S turns to get used to it again but once we were heading down the river i was feeling confident and greg was helping me with my Whippys which got a bit better towards the end.
Rolling Session (P)
Date: 25th July
Location: Grey High Pool
Group: Phil, Greg, Rata, Adrian, Damion, Chris H, Richard, Dan and Me
Duration: 1 hour
Key Learning: Front Deck roll, Rodeo roll
Incidents: None
Chris Harvey organised a hour each Monday for us to use the Grey High School pool For kayaking. So we all went and had some practice rolling i lernt how to Front Deck Roll and Tryed to Rodeo Roll but i couldent get it. towards the end we played some half court kayak polo whigh just ended up in us pushing eachother over.
Totara (P)
Date: 9th July
Location: Totara river
Weather: Raining overcast
Group: Greg, Rata, Phil, two Aoraki students and me
Grade: 3
Duration: 2 hours
Key learning: Boat scouting, new river signals, staying on waves
Incidents: None
A sick day kayaking i was really nervous waiting for the guys to get back from shuttle because i thought it was going to be a 3+ river. Once they finally got back we headed down the first few rapids were really boney and i was super nervous so i wasn't paddling that great and as soon as we got into the grade 3 section it was deeper and i felt so much more relaxed and loved it. It was great to be paddling with really confident people they push me more and help with your technique it was a great day on a new river and will definitly be going down the Totara again.
Thanks to Greg for the photos.
Phil going down a boney rapid
Blue duck on the Totara
Me Breaking through a wave.
Kayak polo (P)
Date: 7th July
Location: Greymouth pool
Duration: 30 min
Incidents: none
A cool game. i was playing against Rata and Greg so i got shoved over numerous times and every time i went for a shot i tipped unfortunatly i didnt get any goals tonight but we tied leaving team 3 in first place.
Cobden Surf (P)
Date: 4th July.
Location: Cobden Beach.
Weather: Fine.
Group: Jake, Kelly (surfboard) and me.
Duration: 1 hour.
Key learning: spinning on a wave.
Incidents: Jacob swam once.
A cool day on the surf it was really small but was still fun tried to spin while surfing and surprisingly i managed to get a few spins down.
Murchison (P)
Date: 2nd-3rd July
Location: Buller Granity
Weather: overcast, COLD
Group: Jimmy, Grace, Chris H, Kalam, Kristy, Scott, Jesse, Gretchen, Kelly and Me
Grade: 2/3
Duration: 4 hours
Key learning: how to use a cows tail had to tow 2 boats.
Incidents: 4 swimmers on Granity rapid (grade 3) grace got recirculated in a big hole, Jesse flushed quickly, Chris and Kristy swam but were not caught by the hole.
we set off from Greymouth on Friday night hoping to get back on Sunday with another 4 rivers under our belt, but we were unaware of the super low temperature of the water and the events of the day to follow. Saturday morning we awoke at 9.00 am and set up to go amped for a sweet grade 3 mission we jumped in and started warming up with some eddy turns and quickly found out that the water was freezing so most of us decided that practising a roll wouldn't be a wise choice everything went super smoothly until we hit Granity rapid. We jumped out had a quick look and made the decision if we wanted to run it or not in the end 8 of 10 were keen so Kelly and Gretchen set up safety just above the middle eddy the first group to run the rapid consisted of Jimmy, Jesse, Grace and then me. we were all confident running the rapid so we headed down but grace flipped at the top and floated the whole rapid upside down as i tried to get to her, she finally rolled back up just in time to catch the middle eddy. Jimmy walked back to the top and guided the less confident 4 down everything went smoothly until they hit the buffer. From there it all happened in a flash Chris and Scott dropped into a big hole and went over Scott rolled back up Chris swam followed by Kristy who clipped a big hole and also swam so me and grace quickly jumped out of the eddy to help Chris jumped on Graces stern just before the big hole at the bottom resulting in grace getting thrown directly into the biggest part of the hole upside down and she ended up swimming and getting recirculated in there for a long time she finally flushed out at the same time Jesse had jumped back in his boat and started coming down he dropped over the hole and it pulled him back into it and he ended up swimming to. while this was going on me and Kalam were rounding up all the boats and paddles that were floating down river. once it was all over everyone was fine but shaken up headed down and everything was OK after that point we decided to call that the day and headed to the pub for a well needed beer and hot chips. the next morning we woke up to find every thing frozen solid including all our thermals and wetsuits and to top it all off i felt really sick and ended up throwing up. so that was the end of our epic weekend in Murch with a total of 1 river 2 days.
Thanks to Kristy and Kelly for the photos.
Camp for the two nights
Scouting Granity
Me chasing Grace
Were things started to go wrong
Oh SHIT !!!
Arnold (P)
Date: 28th June
Location: Arnold River
Weather: Foggy
Group: Me, Chris H
Grade: 2
Duration: 1.5 Hours
Key learning: I worked on my S turns an ferries and made it as difficult as i could
Incidents: None
Another cool after tech trip to the Arnold but this time only me and Chris wanted to go so we quickly packed up and left we decided to get in at the lower put in because it was realy low but we practiced moving around rocks and ferrie gliding out and around them and boofing rocks and holes.
Crooked (P)
Date: 24th June
Location: Crooked river
Weather: Overcast
Group: Me, Grace, Kristy, Chris H and Tui
Grade: 3+/2+
Duration: 4 hours
Key Learning: when in doubt. Scout!
Incidents: Two swims From Kristy and three people flipped over in rock garden leaving only me and Chris upright to help out. Kristy got pinned in one of the upper rapids but swam out fine
A sweet day on the Crooked, love the top section it is amazing, cool rapids in a beautiful gorge. the first rapid the 3+ went smoothly i ran it first followed by grace and Kristy. Kristy went over but Grace quickly got her up right then Chris ran it with a awkward boof into his line but managed to recover and style the rest of the rapid the next few rapids were cool but Kristy got pinned upside down between her boat and a rock and couldn't reach her tab so drove her knees through her deck and swam over the drop once we got her back in the boat we carried on and had to portage the last grade 3 rapid because it was to low. Once we hit the rock garden Grace went first flipped then Kristy went over and then Tui went over. In The end Grace rolled back up Tui got T rescued and Kristy swam down. that was the last of the carnage the rest of the trip went smoothly.
Thanks to Kristy for the photos.
Kristy on the walk in
looking down from the 3+ rapid
The grade 3 section
Chris comming out of the 3+ rapid
Kayak Polo (P)
Date: 23rd June
Location: Greymouth public pool
Duration: 30 min
Incidents: None
A cool game i managed to score a few goals for my team but i was the only one from my team that showed up so we had heaps of others jump in instead.
Thanks to Kristy for the photos.
Passing the ball
Arnold (P)Date: 23rd June
Location: Arnold River
Weather: Cloudy
Group: Me, Chris H, Jake, Scott.
Grade: 2
Duration: 2 hours
Incidents: None
Another cool day on the Arnold had a few goes in the good waves and practiced my whipys again but i struggled with them we had a few goes on the seal launch and also had a go on the rope swing which was awesome but you had to swim really hard to get back into the eddy.
Arnold (P)
Date: 22nd June
Location: Arnold river
Weather: cloudy
Group: Me, Greg, Phil, Rata, Chris H, Kelly
Grade: 2
Duration: 2 hours
Key Learning: Greg and Rata gave me heaps of help with whippys and moving around the river.
Incidents: Two swims from kelly
A cool day on the arnold the waves were much bigger than normal but the boat i had was kind of difficult to stay on the waves but the boat was awsome for whipys and got a few good ones. overall a good trip on the arnold again.
Kayak Polo (P)
Date: 16th June
Location: Greymouth public pool
Incidents: None
a good game managed to score twice and also got a ball to the face when Owen blocked one of my shots it didn't feel so good but we ended up winning the game.
Taipo (P)
Date: 12th June
Location: Taipo river
Weather: Clear with some cloud cover
Group: Me, Robbie and Chris H
Grade: 2+
Duration: 3 hours
Incidents: Our van got flooded and the gearbox cracked
A cool trip on the Taipo haven't done it since the second week of tech kayaking it was way different then i remember much smaller.
I was up at 8.00 ready to go but no one else was up so i knocked on a few doors and people started coming out in the end only the three of us headed off in Chris's old 1300 cc Sunny Datson van even though every one said there was no way it would get up there we managed to get it to the normal put in fine but we decided to go further up the river. That's when it got difficult and we started having problems we came to a small river crossing which was about knee deep at the deepest point but it was to much for the van and it only just got out the other side so me and Robbie pushed it right out we continued about 200m then stopped and walked up to the river. The river was as cold as i remember but the features were way smaller the river was at a slightly higher flow and there were smaller waves then last time but it was still cool running it with more experience and had fun boofing some of the bigger rocks when we got to the take out we hid our boats and ran shuttle when we got there we turned the van around then it stopped and didn't start again so i had to run back to the road to the farmers house and called around to get Adam to come and help us just as i went and sat at the start of the 4wd track i hear the van coming down the track and Robbie had managed to start it and get it out so we set back off to greymouth driving only in 1st 2nd and 4th gear 3rd and reverse were not there due to them getting it stuck on the way out and cracking it. we saw Adam just before kumara and he turned and followed us back to Greymouth.
Kayak Polo (P)
Date: 9th June
Location: Greymouth public pool
Duration: 30 min
Incidents: none
Really cool to play kayak polo it is great fun our team won and im looking forward to the next game.
Thanks to Kristy for the Photos.
Arahura, Milltown gorge (P)
Date: 6th June
Location: Arahura river, Milltown gorge section
Weather: Fine started raining on shuttle
Group: Me, Jake, Todd, Chris H, Chris E, Robbie, Grace.
Grade: 2+
Duration: 5 hours
Incidents: Me and Todd ran shuttle at 3:30 but we did'nt know the way so we got lost and it got dark so we decided to head back at 6:00 got back to the others at 7:40.
a cool day on the river good to do a new river again i really enjoyed it we set off from greymouth at about 11 made a few wrong turns getting from the take out to the put in ended doing a huge loop and coming back to the take out when we finally got in we quickly got in to it we scouted the first big rapid and lined up the boof which was really fun unfortunately Chris E swam on it once he was back in we kept on moving the next few rapids were cool filled with heaps of small boofs we got to a really cool hole that was great for side surfing which loved to tip you over we spent some time there getting some photos then moved on once we got to the 5 km paddle out me and Toddy went on ahead and started the shuttle we were out of our boats at 3:30 and started running and turned into the first forestry road and struggled to find which road went the right way many led to large burn off areas on the top of hills so we would make our own way to the next road finally we made it to the top only to see that the next valley was still ages away at this point it was starting to get dark we had to make a decision fast i wanted to push on but Todd wanted to go back so we ended up heading back in the dark we ran most of the way Todd pushing it the whole time. we managed to take about half the time getting back. we were super relived to see the road and slowly walked back down to where we had taken out our boats to find two of the others boats there but the other 3 were not there so we continued down to where we left the dry gear as we arrived so did Dan and Jimmy and Robbie was about to contact the police so we arrived at the perfect time. we were really happy to see the others they ran shuttle and we were back in greymouth by 9:30 the longest day out paddling so far.
Me side surfing the hole
Robbie having a surf
Arnold to Greymouth (P)
Date: 28th May
Location: Arnold river and the Grey river
Weather: Fine to windy and rain
Group: Me, Jimmy, Grace, Greg, Zack, Adam, Anthony, Jesse, Gretchen on the Arnold. Me, Adam, Zack and Greg paddled back to greymouthGrade: 1/2
Duration: 4 hours
Incidents: we reached a fork in the river we thought it would join right back up so Greg took the left fork and Me, Zach and Adam took the middle fork but they didn't join back up so we were all a bit worried because there were alot of strainers around finally they joined back up about 3 km later and Greg was sitting on the bank waiting for us.
a cool mission we had a great time on the Arnold it was quite calm with the odd rapid on the way down by the time we had found Greg we were pretty much at the grey and just as we got there there was an injured duck which Greg quickly caught and killed. the next hour was very slow going down the grey because you could see everything that was coming up the last few corners were really weird the Eddy's had waves going in all directions which were very unpredictable and sent you all over the place. Then you would suddenly be in a whorl pool which flipped me very quickly by the time we had gotten through all this we were close to the end then the wind picked up so the last 200 m was intensely difficult it felt like you were going no where we finally reached the railway bridge and got out of our kayaks and walked back about 1 km to the motels super relieved to be back.
Cobden Surf (P)
Date: 24th May
Location: Cobden Beach
Weather: Fine
Group: Me, Greg, Robbie, Rata, Phil, Sara, Grace
Duration: 2 hours
Incidents: None
an awsome day surfing it started off crap but about 30 min in it picked up and was awsome it was realy calm then a big set would come in just as you got back out i realy enjoyed it and another day in the surf without swimming.
Cobden Surf (P)
Date: 23rd May
Location: Cobden Beach
Weather: Fine
Group: Me, Greg, Kelly, Chris E and Dan helped push us out
Duration: 1 hour
Incidents: Lots of swimmers!!!
Not such a good day on the surf it was realy dumpy it fliped you as soon as it broke i had one swim and Kelly and Chris had heaps but it was cool to see kelly get more combat rolls she was stoked.
Lake Brunner (P)
Date: 15th May
Location: Lake Brunner
Weather: Rain
Group: Me, Kelly and Kristy
Duration: 2 hours
Incidents: Deck implosion
Decided to have a look at the Arnold the day before but it was way to height so decided not to run it. on Sunday we had a look at the surf it was super messy so went and had a look at Dobson wave but that also looked messy so we decided to go have a flat water session at Brunner i spotted Kelly and Kristy for the first 20 min then jumped in to gave a rodeo roll a try but i didn't know what i was doing. we also seal launched off the bridge but my deck imploded as soon as i hit the water so i had to paddle to the shore with my boat under water, which amusement two tourists walking over the bridge at the time.
Cobden Surf (P)
Date: 11th May
Location: Cobden Beach
Weather: Overcast, Rain
Group: Me, Gretchen, Zack, Greg, Robbie
Duration: 1.5 Hours
Incidents: 2 Deck implosions
A big day in the surf me, Gretchen and Zack jumped in at the railway bridge over the grey and paddled out to the point and around it once we got there the wind picked up and it started raining we spent about 1 hour before we got a ride back with Greg because it was pissing down at this point and the wind was intense
Cobden Surf (P)
Date: 10th May
Location: Cobden Beach
Weather: Overcast
Group: Me, Phil, Rata, Greg
Duration: 2 hours
Incidents: None
A great day on the surf my first day out i haven't swum.
Cobden Surf (P)
Date: 9th May
Location: Cobden
Weather: Rain
Group: Me, Phill, Rata, Greg, Dan
Duration: 1.5 hours
Incidents: 1 Swim
A fun day surfing but the waves were massive it was really difficult to get out but the waves were awesome once you caught them
Crooked (P)
Date: 8th May
Location: Crooked
Weather: overcast
Group: Me, Greg, Grace, Jimmy, Gretchen and Smeagil
Grade: 3+/2+
Duration: 4 hours
Incidents: None
Awesome day on the crooked i was really nervous sitting at the top rapid but as soon as i started i was fine.
Crooked (P)
Date: 30th April
Location: Crooked
Weather: Clear
Group: Me, Grace, Jimmy, Kelly, Christy, Sam, Tom Graces brother
Grade: 2/2+
Duration: 3.5 hours
Incidents: none
great fun on the crooked it was at low flow again. my roll was way better i had lots of combat rolls and only needed one rescue. we had a number of jumps off the gorge again. After 3 jumps i couldn't feel my arse.
Hurrinui (P)
Date: 18th April
Location: Maori Gully, Hurrinui
Weather: Overcast
Group: Me, Andy and Eric my little brother
Grade: 2+
Duration: 3 hours
Incidents: My brother swam he was back in his boat soon after
Great day. Good to do a new section on the Hurrinui was more challenging than any other river we had done. Enjoyed taking my brother out on the river a slower moving part of water. he hadent ever kayaked on a river only had pool sessions but he didn't like taking instructions from me.
Blaketown Surf (P)
Date: 15th April
Location: Blaketown Beach
Weather: light rain
Group: Me, Jimmy, Grace, Callum
Duration: 45 min
Incidents: Swam once got flipped end over end my paddle got ripped out of my hand and my deck imploded
Great time at the surf but it was big and messy
Cobden Surf (P)
Date: 5th April
Location: Cobden beach
Weather: fine
Group: Me, Phill, Rata, Robbie, Adam, Ben, Dan and Jacob
Duration: 2 hours
Incidents: I swam once and Rata X rescued me
First Trip out in the surf it was Really fun Unfortunatly i ended up swimming once but managed to catch heaps of sick waves.
Assesment Week Kayak (TPP)
Date: 5-6th April
Location: brunner and the arnold
weather: fine
Group: Orec group 1
Grade: 2
Duration: 14 hours
Incidents: none
had a flat water session on tuesday morning and were assesed on flat water skills and spent the afternoon on the arnold assessing paddling skills the second day we were assesed on rescue skills
Arnold (P)
Date: 2nd April
Location: Arnold
Weather: Overcast
Group: Me, Chris H, Rata, Tui, Phil, Anthony, Robbie, Christy and Zak
Grade: 2
Duration: 2 hours
Incidents: I swam on Buffer rock
An ok Day on the Arnold wasn't as confident in my paddling that day.
Crooked (P)
Date: 27th March
Location: Crooked River
Weather: overcast
Group: Me, Andy, Gretchen, Tui, Jacob
Grade: 2/2+
Duration: 3 hours
Incidents: River was low i rolled over a pour over and hit my head on a rock and dropped my paddle and i was 'T' rescued
Great new river alot colder than any other river i have paddled the gorge was amazing relay cool cliff that me and Tui jumped off. heaps of challenging rapids.
Arnold (P)
Date: 26th March
Location: Arnold river
Weather: clear
Group: Me, Adrien, Owen, Phill, Rata, Tui, Zac, Astria, Todd.
Grade: 2
Duration: 3 hours
Key learning: staying on waves without flipping
Incidents: none
Great day on the Arnold got to paddle with people from group 2 so that was fun but the river was very low up the top so some places were difficult to get through
Kayak Week Two (TPP)
Date: 29th March - 1st April
Location: Lake Brunner, Arnold river, Grey district public pool, Taipo river.
Weather: clear all week Friday slight overcast cleared up in the afternoon
Group: outdoor rec group 1
Grade: 2
Duration: 32 hours
Key learning: Throw bagging, deep water rescue, rescuing a paddle or boat and stern deck carry
incidents: none
spent Tuesday on the lake practicing strokes and rolls for the assessments then the afternoon in the Arnold. Wednesday we fixed up our rolls in the pool and spent the afternoon in the Arnold again. Thursday we spent all day in the Arnold learning rescues and Friday we went down the Taipo.
The Arnold river
Dilmans Dam (P)
Date: 14th March
Location: Dilmans Dam
Weather: Fine
Group: Me, Jarred, Chris E, Dan, Greg, Astria, Alice, Luke
Duration: 3 hours
Key Learning: Practiced rolling and strokes
Incidents: None
A group of us went to Dillmans Dam for a lake session to practice our strokes and rolls my rolls didnt improve because i was still punching out and lifting my head but my strokes were much better after this session
Kayak Week one Tech (TPP)
Date: 22nd February - 25th February
Location: Greymouth high school pool, Dilmans Dam, Greymouth district public pool, Grey river, Arahura river, Lake Brunner and the Arnold river.
Weather: Fine.
Group: Outdoor rec group 1
Grade: 1/2
Duration: 33 hours
Incidents: None
on the 22nd of February we started our first week of kayaking we started by having a session in the Greymouth high school pool learning to stay calm when being upside down, wet exits, T rescues and started rolling after lunch we packed up and traveled to Dilmansdam and learnt strokes on the lake. on the second day we spent the morning in the Greymouth public pool learning to roll and practice our T rescues. That afternoon we did our first river the Grey we were taught about Eddy's and how to move around in the current and practiced our rolls on moving water. on Thursday we had our last pool session in the morning at the grey public pool. In the afternoon we went down the arahura river this was our first grade 2 river. Friday we had a session on lake Brunner in the morning and ran the Arnold in the afternoon which was grade 2. over all it was a great week lots of learning and lots of fun once i became comfortable in the water.
Dan T rescuing Me in the Pool
