I left Murchison with a paddling course and a number of rivers under my belt – including the mighty Granity run on the Buller. I had a thirst for more as we headed for the West Coast and beyond.
First stop Buller Earthquake with the infamous Gunslinger rapid. The team consisted of Gunslinger ol’ pros Duncan ‘follow my line’ McEwan, Jon ‘that’s not a hole’ Parker and Scott the Canadian.
Well, after all the advice I’d received on Gunslinger I had a shaky start, nerves trembling: • Walk it • Take the right • Down the middle • Shit – walk it first
The run starts with easy flat water before proceeding to easy class II or III. We were soon passed by a couple of pasty looking DR pros, and before long we were showing tricks to a raft full of tourists. Finally we swept around a corner to be confronted with the roar and horizon line of Gunslinger. My pleas to view the rapid from the bank were unheeded by Duncan – “it will take ages and will not change the river! Take the right side, it’s the easy line, if you swim there’s a big pool at the bottom.”
So to the right I ferried before crashing through the run of class III water. I was surprised not to find the mayhem of rocks, holes and drops I was expecting. In all to short a time I had survived Gunslinger and had another yarn to spin.
The remainder of the trip included some nice play waves, easy rapids and flat water. Another great trip under the belt.
The team (JP, Nat, Nic and ABC) departed Greymouth at a leisurely hour in honoured VUCC tradition for the unknown of the Grey River ‘Gentle Annie’ gorge run. The shuttle must surely be the crux of this beautiful run at 49km and almost all on gravel through beautiful native bush.
After some quick advice from a local raft guide, Nat lead us down the creek and into the Grey proper for our 15km, class III run. The top half of the run consists of long stretches of perfect rapids for eddy hopping practice, ferry gliding and a little surfing. I found my roll to be working fine and can recommend the river for you fisher friends! Nat did spot a large eel at one stage.
JP continued to guide us down through numerous rapids of easy class II+ grade as Nat and I busily hopped from eddy to eddy like whio ducklings following mother. Native bush to the river’s edge, views of the mountains to the east and the remoteness of this run had me buzzing the whole way down.
The lower section of the river flows through steep sided gorges – the entry to one (big buffer wave) giving Nat a chance to test her roll. Generally this section provides scenic class II paddling through native bush to rough farmland and the end of our trip where we found our intrepid shuttle driver parked on a river terrace, after testing mud hole depths with a stick! No trip like this would happen without the support of a ‘shuttle bunny’. Thanks Nic.
A shuffle of gear and rearranging of cars and we were off for the mighty Shotover river, McLeods run. Again the team comprised JP, Nat, Nic and ABC. Also joining us was local Queenstown bridge swing expert and retired raft guide Chris. The drive into this run involved around 45 – 50km along the spectacular Skippers gorge.
The run is quoted as the most scenic run in NZ, and it proved to be one of the most scenic I’ve done with huge schist faces and deep gorges. Wild goats and long past gold mining batteries and sluice channels gave us a dose of history. The run itself does not relent with constant class II – II+ rapids for the full length and the most play waves you’ll ever find on a 7.5km run.
A great 2hrs, and Nic’s first ‘no swim’ trip.
A great night at the Skippers Bridge camp site exploring the old gold mining history, and we just had to paddle it again – spending 3-4 hrs this time.
In fine VUCC style a 4pm start on the mighty Kawerau river, Dog Leg run for JP and I. This run is class III+ at 100 – 400 cumecs. With class III+ being at my limit and the river running at 325 cumecs I was showing a little more apprehension than JP who preceded the run with a bit of sunbathing and a Corona. After reading the guidebook – “an ominous roar heralds your arrival at the top of Smiths falls … if your life insurance policy is up to date catch a ride in the BIG hole … waves big enough for four”, and local advice that if I miss the get out eddy (at the end of the crux rapid) I’ll be a Nevis Bluff veteran, I spent my final hour as a Dog Leg virgin sitting on the long drop!
Well the run started as a non-event albeit with wonderful scenery. Smiths falls were washed out and passed without incident. We avoided the bungy jumpers, and I followed JP’s line to ‘Do little do nothing’ rapid. It was in ‘do nothing’ mode today with fine large waves we could not stay on.
No paddling was required as 325 cumecs pushed us down the river – never more than 30m wide with high rock outcrops and wild goats giving a real Otago flavour to the run.
All to soon plumes of white water were spotted on the horizon line accompanying an ominous roar. “To the beach on river left” instructs JP. We’re soon scouting the biggest rapid l’ve ever had the pleasure of considering running. A line is discussed and agreed, and I’m instructed to watch the ol’ pro before gutzing it myself when he’s safely at the bottom.
Well JP ran it with ease, although looked like he was about to backflip in his tiny S6X as he fought his way down then up huge waves with ugly large holes on his right. He soon disappeared around the corner heralding my number!
With a chant of “I do not f**king swim” I headed out into the main flow (happy for my hour on the long drop). I was soon flying down the green tongue and dropping unbelievably fast before paddling up the first of a number of large waves. By the time I was halfway down waves were hitting me from the right and the front. I was in heaven – and still breathing. All too soon I was spinning into an eddy on river left to find it empty! Looking around I was stunned to see no flat water, just continuous class III wave trains disappearing out of sight – bugger. JP soon appeared in a small eddy just below, “Let’s go”. “I survived” I grinned, and off we went with maybe 300m of beautiful class III water before it eased off and we pulled into the get out eddy – not one to be missed.
Nat and Nic were waiting with smiles to celebrate our success on my best run yet. We camped at the get out, cooking steak and chops on an open fire. A great end to a great day.
“Wanna do it again?”, “Yep”, “Right, let’s go”. This time JP and I teamed up with a Pom named Ian for a re-run of yesterday’s magic. This time I had the courage to run a better line a little further right and was pleased to not require a roll or swim (thought yesterday was just good luck). The smile was soon wiped from my face as I ya-hooed down the final wave train and saw Ian scoot to the right. No time for me as I realised I was about to begin a relationship with the biggest hole I’ve ever been near – “ I do not f**king swim, I do not f**king swim” was my mantra as I got a working. All too soon I was rolling onto another of the great waves on this section and again pulling into the get out eddy.
This time the Roaring Meg run, just down river of Nevis Bluff, 5km of boily class III fun. JP, Nat, Ian the Pom and I were quickly on the water. Boily water, 325 cumecs and a narrow river gorge makes for few eddies and a quick run. Nat tried scouting for trout as her boat disappeared into a whirly hole, only to reappear seconds later smiling and still attached to her boat. Stern squirting was the order of the day and with no effort on my part my RPM was standing vertical and turning in all sorts of ways!
A stranded Aussie, with boat and paddle downstream held us up for a bit, but with no enticing him into the drink (“swim cobber, swim”) we soon left him to his country men. This very enjoyable but short run was soon over. The Aussies were 1 – 1.5 hours behind us, confirming the no swim rule on this otherwise easy run.
Teaming up with Ian ‘The Pom’ this time, we were crossing the wire swing bridge by noon to the dismay of the on-looking anglers.
The Hurunui is a class III run at less than 100 cumecs. It was flowing at around 30 cumecs and more closely resembled a North Island river with rocks aplenty. The first 10km is great class II+ water with views of dry matagouri clad hills.
The final 2.5 kms was through Maori Gully, the reason for the class III grade this run has. Maori Gully provided plenty of obstacles, shutes and drops, and passed without incident and all too quickly.
A great beginner run with exits available until the beginning of Maori Gully.
With the Hurunui taken care of by 2pm we headed to the Waiau River ‘Lower Run’. This 14km run starts just below Hanmer and runs east towards Culverden. After quick instructions to Nic (our trusty shuttle driver today) on getting the 4x4 back across the Hanmer River, we were off. Avoiding bungy jumpers proved to be easier than the Dog Leg run where we suffered abuse a week earlier.
The real crux of this class II+ run was avoiding the monstrous commercial jet boat. The driver and passengers were all smiles as Ian and I scurried to river bank eddies at the first sound of the approaching beast – three times over the 14km.
The final 7km of this run provided odd moments of joy as we spotted and angled towards rare spots of white water and maneuvered through ‘Shark’s Fin’.
The lower run will certainly only be paddled once by me, but would suit you DR maniacs as a training run.
… and they all lived happily ever after. The end.
ABC
