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It flows south from its sources to the northeast of Whangamomona in the King Country to reach the Whanganui River. Forgotten World Adventures offers the ultimate way to explore rural New Zealand. In a self driven Rail Cart or on our new Rail Bike, travel along a decommissioned railway line through tunnels and over bridges to townships that have faded into the past. A new railway line was ordered by the Government in Taranaki needed to hook up with the main trunk line that strode down the centre of the island.
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The most direct route was from Stratford through Whangamomona, joining up with the Main Trunk at Okahukura near Taumaranui. Several operators offer jet boat adventures to remember. These are operated from Taumaranui. Please enquire for more information and we will happily arrange this for you. Whangamomona is famous for its rich frontier history. The famous Republic Day is held biennially in January, and is enjoyed by thousands of visitors. Gazza was the master of whoopees and James learnt to do cartwheels in the Luv machine. Andrew successfully paddled Granity's rapid forward while Toni chose to roll in the middle of it.
The water had dropped and the wave below Granity's had disappeared. At the end of the trip we decided to practice throw bagging and other rescue techniques that hope fully we would not need on the challenging west coast rivers. It was Christophs first experience of whitewater, so he capsized a number of times. His patience was excellent as he managed to stay in his boat until Tonille and Gazza could upright him.
Andrew, Toni and James were enjoying a beer at the Murchison Pub when there was a knock at the window. We had forgotten that Gazza's dry clothes were in our car. Retrieving the key off us, Gazza in true paddling style undressed in the middle of town to the delight? It has more rain and is surrounded by rainforests, glaciers and the Southern Alps. Due to the mountain ranges, the rivers on the West Coast are steeper and much more technical with less volume.
Access is very difficult requiring helicopter or long walks to access put ins and take outs. After researching the range of rivers on the West Coast that suited our group's ability, we decided to paddle the Wanganui River. The Wanganui River flows down from the Southern Alps and the only access to the put in point is via helicopter.
Therefore the trip required a lot of preparation to ensure we had the correct rescue gear in case of misadventure. On day six we headed to Hokitika, via the Maruia Hot Springs, where the group enjoyed a warm bath. Once we got used to the sulphur smell, the springs were very relaxing. We stopped in Greymouth to stock up on supplies, such as knives, food, emergency chocolate and baby air mattresses to give additional flotation to our kayaks.
We set off early at 5. James and Tonille were the first passengers in the three person helicopter which looked like an overgrown sandfly. After strapping the kayaks to the helicopter, they asked the pilot, Bruce Dando, to fly low over the river so they could scout the rapids. The size of the rapids were deceiving from the helicopter, as the river looked quite low and easy to paddle from 30 metres in the air. The pilot scared James by landing on a cliff at the end of the trip. Toni and Ruth enjoyed the flight and scouted the hot springs which were 2km from the take out point.
The clouds on the surrounding mountains cleared for us to see majestic snow-capped mountains and glaciers. The river was a blue-milky colour, due to the glacial flour found in rivers of melted ice that flow off glaciers from the suspension of finely ground rocks. The river was also very cold! The first few kilometres turned out to be relatively easy, the river flowing through gravel banks with large boulders and rapids up to class III. A domino effect almost occurred on one rapid.
NZ Lifestyle Camping magazine Winter 12222
Ruth was being worked over in a particularly bad hole at the bottom of a drop. Tonille was so fascinated by her performance, she lapsed concentration and was forced to role just above the hole, narrowly escaping a similar fate to Ruth. After a couple of rolls in the hole and some impressive side surfing, Ruth pulled the pin and swam out of the rapid while her boat continued the acrobatic display for some time. The Wanganui river provided some large standing waves, rocks and holes to contend with, before flattening out near the junction of another river which was the landmark for the hot springs.
After a short walk, we came across the natural hot springs. Once adjusting to the hot water and removing the algae blooms, we relaxed while Andrew served the emergency chocolate. We were pleasantly surprised when we returned to our kayaks to discover that the sand of the beach had been warmed from the hot springs.
The water in the eddy was also warm which made the transition from the warmth to the freezing waters of the Wanganui easier to bear. We soon completed the trip and arrived at the cars, relieved that the trip had been injury free. After 6.
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That evening, we decided to wash all of our thermals, as wearing them for a week and swimming in hot springs had made them almost unbearable. The others chose to paddle the trip, even though the water level was just slightly above the minimum. The river ran through a breathtaking gorge with ferns on the walls and required technical skills to keep the boat straight and to avoid getting pinned on one of the numerous rocks. Close to the take out point, we carefully scouted the last major rapid and decided to keep right of four rocks aligned in the centre-left part of the river.
However, while Gerd was running the rapid, he was unable to distinguish the correct line and got pinned in a spectacular position with the tail of his boat halfway up the rock wall. Even though Andrew was prepared for a throw-bag rescue, he decided to delay the actual rescue for a photo of the victim! The West Coast is renowned for its rain and day nine of our trip was no exception.
We elected to do the Taipo River with a couple of other paddlers staying at our campsite. The water was rising at an alarming rate due to the heavy rains, so most of the rapids were washed out, but there were still some great waves to surf. The trip was over within two hours and we all waited in the pouring rain for the car shuttle. We played cards, read books, wrote postcards, drank bowls of moccacinos and ate scones and pizza.
Sooty Love rejoined the group at the pub that night, which is a regular stop for the Kiwi Experience Bus. As it had been raining for three days, we assumed the Totara River would be a good level to paddle on day ten. This river is known for its technical and steep descent and contains tea-coloured water from the trees. Unfortunately, the river was too low and after Tonille was dangerously pinned at the top of a rocky rapid, the group decided to climb out. We put our rescue skills into practice for the second time that day, by climbing out a meter embankment and lifting our boats to the top using throw bags.
As the morning trip had been a little disappointing, Sooty, Tonille and Gerd were still keen to explore another West Coast River.
They were able to hook up with some experienced paddlers to conquer the Kakapotahi. This trip was the most exciting trip they had done with big drops, waterfalls and scenic gorges. Most of the trip was class IV and challenged each paddler to the limit. It was essential to hit the right line and every eddy to avoid disaster.