... or Waimakariri River. In Māori,
Waimakariri has several meanings, one of which is "river of cold rushing water". The river is part of the
Coast-to-Coast multisport race that goes all the way from the Tasman Sea on the west coast to the Pacific Ocean on the east coast of the South Island. I heard it takes the winner about 10 hours to cross the island. We decided to take 3 days just to do the rafting portion :)
So finally, a week later than planned we (that is Murray, Louie, Steve and I) left on the long anticipated trip. Steve and I departed Darfield at 7AM and drove all the way up to almost Arthurs Pass (got a good look at all the ski areas on the way!) where we met up with Murray and Louie and their ginormous dory. Put in was at the
Mt. White bridge.
We blew up the raft,
.. carted the dory into the river
...and off we went!
The first section of the river was very braided and there were several shallows where we had to get out and walk the boats across some gravel. And Steve managed to break 2 blades in a single day! (He said he hadn't broken a single blade in 20 years of rafting.)
And then - NZ wild life! When I first saw them in the distance I, of course, assumed those were bears!
Some random shots from during the day:
The wind picked up quite a bit at the confluence with the Esk River but after some hard rowing we made it to the entrance of the Waimak Gorge where we ended the day:
Found a nice campsite:
... had a 'man dinner' ...
... and of course a bonfire:
We packed up in the morning (actually I think it was closer to noon - bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast does take a bit of time to make and savior)....
.. and started our journey through the canyon.
There wasn't any real white water in there but some interesting hydraulics that could turn into quite the challenge during high water.
Scouting for a campsite (Notice the NZ fall colors are in full swing!)
Found the perfect spot!
There is even an old railroad bridge across the river (and still in use as we were reminded of in the middle of the night several times):
Needed to relax after an exhausting day...
.. and then had another awesome dinner (salmon - yum!) and dessert and 'cocktails'.
And for some after dinner exercise I tried out my packraft - first on the gravel:
(Steve tried to make it look like I was actually on the water to make me feel better about not being able to paddle.)
.. but then I found an alcove off the main river and thought I should just give it a shot:
When I realized that I could actually paddle with my somewhat disabled arm I decided to give that a try the next day and left the packraft inflated. I did end up paddling for a little over an hour before the pain got too bad and I had to stop. It was magnificent!
We had another bonfire that night and initiated a new tradition: sock burning! It came about when my socks just didn't want to dry and the firewood ran out. They burn pretty well albeit a bit smelly, especially Murray's ;)
On the last day we made our way out of the canyon and onto the Canterbury Plains where we again dealt with lots of braids all the way to the take-out.
Since I had a flight to catch to Wellington we paddled furiously and got there an hour ahead of time. And here we are, 3 days later, drinking beer and cleaning up.
So finally, a week later than planned we (that is Murray, Louie, Steve and I) left on the long anticipated trip. Steve and I departed Darfield at 7AM and drove all the way up to almost Arthurs Pass (got a good look at all the ski areas on the way!) where we met up with Murray and Louie and their ginormous dory. Put in was at the Mt. White bridge.
We blew up the raft,
.. carted the dory into the river
...and off we went!
The first section of the river was very braided and there were several shallows where we had to get out and walk the boats across some gravel. And Steve managed to break 2 blades in a single day! (He said he hadn't broken a single blade in 20 years of rafting.)
And then - NZ wild life! When I first saw them in the distance I, of course, assumed those were bears!
Some random shots from during the day:
The wind picked up quite a bit at the confluence with the Esk River but after some hard rowing we made it to the entrance of the Waimak Gorge where we ended the day:
Found a nice campsite:
... had a 'man dinner' ...
... and of course a bonfire:
We packed up in the morning (actually I think it was closer to noon - bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast does take a bit of time to make and savior)....
.. and started our journey through the canyon.
There wasn't any real white water in there but some interesting hydraulics that could turn into quite the challenge during high water.
Scouting for a campsite (Notice the NZ fall colors are in full swing!)
Found the perfect spot!
There is even an old railroad bridge across the river (and still in use as we were reminded of in the middle of the night several times):
Needed to relax after an exhausting day...
.. and then had another awesome dinner (salmon - yum!) and dessert and 'cocktails'.
And for some after dinner exercise I tried out my packraft - first on the gravel:
(Steve tried to make it look like I was actually on the water to make me feel better about not being able to paddle.)
.. but then I found an alcove off the main river and thought I should just give it a shot:
When I realized that I could actually paddle with my somewhat disabled arm I decided to give that a try the next day and left the packraft inflated. I did end up paddling for a little over an hour before the pain got too bad and I had to stop. It was magnificent!
We had another bonfire that night and initiated a new tradition: sock burning! It came about when my socks just didn't want to dry and the firewood ran out. They burn pretty well albeit a bit smelly, especially Murray's ;)
On the last day we made our way out of the canyon and onto the Canterbury Plains where we again dealt with lots of braids all the way to the take-out.
Since I had a flight to catch to Wellington we paddled furiously and got there an hour ahead of time. And here we are, 3 days later, drinking beer and cleaning up.
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