The Perpetual Flow: New Zealand summer paddling and a slice of life...

Curt Joyce - Curtain Call - Arahura

photo by: Rachel Curtis

The rain continued to fall my first week in Hokitika, so we got on a few more of the runs around here that need rain. These were all either hike-ins or drive in runs, so costs have been low, which is nice.

Hiking into the Styx

First rapid on the Styx

We hiked into to the Styx and put on around trap #36 ( about 4km hike). The rain from the last couple of days insured good medium-high flows. This provided some excellent continuous grade 4+ action where scouting was difficult because it was essentially one big rapid, and swimming was not an option. Sam, Marlow and Aja decided to put on a bit lower, so I ran the upper 300 meters twice while they were scouting/getting geared up. The top section could be described as a combination of the East Fork of the Hood and the NF of the Payette – steeper and bigger than the Hood, but not as big and fast as the North Fork. But the action all too quickly mellows in the hike in section to fun class 3 boogie allowing for the chance to take in the scenery and beautiful day. You can fly in much further up adding some more continuous grade 4+ action and one steep grade 5 gorge.

The following day saw more clear weather so we rested from the hiking the day before and did an afternoon trip to the Kakapotahi, this time hoping to get on the Upper section. Upon arriving we received positive beta from another crew that it was a good medium-high flow and the standard epic portage around a double sieve was now runnable! Game on!

Then, the rains came again, and it came hard. While sheltering from the storm in the Hokitika Holiday Park kitchen we were trying to get a crew and make some plans. Barney showed up with a crew ready to paddle. With this much rain, the only semi-sensible option would be a high-water run on the Totara. Finding the road flooded by the overflow channel of the river set us back about 45 mins b/c we couldn’t get to the put-in road. After the police let traffic cross the still flooded main rain, there were a few sketchy stream, crossings and then we got on. It was a fun, fast and brown river with one nice gorge that made for some big waves and holes and fun moves.

Always a good thing to see on the way to the put-in.

Still trying to get to the put-in...

Good flows on the Totara

With yet another front moving into Hokitika, the weather on the West Coast was not cooperating well with our paddling plans so after getting in a few more good hike or drive-in runs we high-tailed it out of town for a few days to dry out and go to her folks place in the Marlborough Sounds. We spent one day catching Cod (plus 2 sharks and 2 Parrotfish) and another morning getting scallops and eating them for lunch, yum!

The Marlborough Sounds

Measuring scallops for the keepers

A few days later found us back in the Hokitika Holiday park making more plans for paddling. I got in a few more laps of the super fun and classic Upper Kakapotahi. The guidebook description is right-on for this one: "The beautiful upper Kakapotahi is a fantastic kayak run, one of those places kayaks were just made for. It has seven drops, all of which are difficult to scout and have some consequences for blowing the line." It is a great run to follow someone who knows the lines so you don't have to scout and can just bomb through the beautiful granite gorge.

Warren at Postmans - Upper Kakapotahi

Curt Joyce - Air Mail - Upper Kakapotahi

photo by: Warren

The weather has been awesome for the last week almost, opening up options for the Heli runs. Heli-kayaking is all about a fine balance of prior planning and flexibility. The more people flying to the same put in the cheaper the flight is going to be. And the further away and smaller the crew or any odd numbers makes the flights much more expensive. We fortunately had a solid crew of 4 (including one German, which is always good to have along) and found a popular day for trips up the West Coast classic: the Arahura. The guidebook description says it all: “One of the most sought after and enjoyed runs in New Zealand. The Arahura rates as one of the great kayaking runs in the world.“ 15 kms of fun basically. Its all good to go except for one mandatory portage - Dent Falls, used to be a classic, but the shifting of boulders just made it a huge sieve. The Arahura offers steep continuous boulder gardens, crystal clear drinkable waters, and the best ending to any kayak run ever: The Cesspit and Cesspit gorge. Formerly rated a Grade VI rapid, there is a line and some big air and a fine line around a nasty pocket. Then an eddy to catch your breath and 200 meter gorge with big holes and sweet boofs. Amazing! I’ll let the pictures tell the rest.