Quick Update

Here's the quick and dirty since I last posted. . .

Wednesday - drove to Hokitika, explored town a little, camped at nearby Lake Mahinapua;
Thursday - explored paths around the lake, went back into town to get some supplies for the weekend river trip, drove down the coast, had a walk on the beach in Okarito (home of novelist, Keri Hulme, The Bone People), had dinner in Franz Josef, camped in Okura;

Friday - drove to the Waiatoto air strip, met the group (15 rafters, 3 raft guides, and 12 kayakers), helicoptered (in shifts) to the put-in, hiked around a little, ate dinner in the shadow of Mt. Aspiring, and camped at the put-in;
Saturday - guided a raft of 6 people (and their gear) down the first 20k of the 40k stretch of the Waiatoto River. We started with quite a bit of flatwater, but then navigated a number of Class 3-4 rapids. The rapids were mostly shaped by very large boulders. Some were big mazes of boulders and others were narrow, but steep, drops that were formed by boulders. The size of the boulders (blocking our view) made it hard to boat scout at times, so we did a lot of scouting from shore. We (the rafts) portaged one drop, but ran the rest of the rapids.
Sunday - finished with another 20k stretch. There were a couple more big boulder gardens and a huge rapid that brought the whitewater to a big finish. After that we had about 10k of flatwater. That wouldn't have been such a big deal, but we had some pretty burly weather kick in towards the last few rapids - driving rain, howling wind (upstream of course), and a little bit of hail here and there. Eventually we got back to where we started. Once off the river, we threw all of our soaking gear and our soaked selves into vehicles and headed to the Haast Pub. A group of us then proceeded to the town of Wanaka, where we stayed inside a warm dry "backpacker's" hostel for the night. Yay, a bed!

Monday - took a lazy drive to Queenstown with two folks from the trip.
Tuesday - regrouped. Kayaked the "Roaring Meg" stretch of the Kawarua River with the local paddling clubs.
Wednesday - drove to Te Anua, considered the gateway to the Fiordlands.
Thursday - took a tour of Milford Sound. Camped at Lake Manapouri.
Friday - drove to Invercargill, found a computer, and typed this update.

Like I said, the quick and dirty. Those are the bare essentials. I'll try to give more detail when I'm able to upload some pictures, but that'll have to wait until I find a computer that will do so. Let's just say, my recent travels have made me feel as if I could fly home tomorrow and already have had the trip of a lifetime: amazing scenery, challenging whitewater, great people, great conversations, great fun, and a ride in a helicopter. . . who could ask for more.

I woke up this morning with the question of - What next? Why am I here? I went about my morning routine with that question in mind. As I was leaving the campground, a Maori gentleman stopped me. The only other time our paths had crossed was for a brief conversation last night in the kitchen. I was ready to get on the road, but he looked intent on having another conversation with me. I didn't know how to take it at first, but then he told me that, during his morning prayers, "The Great One" asked him to talk to me. He wanted to let me know that, after seeing the "outside of New Zealand," I should learn more about the "inside" of New Zealand, i.e the medicine, food, culture and spirituality of the Maori people. I was touched my his belief that he had a message for me, and I hope to be able to absorb some of the wisdom of New Zealand.

Greymouth

I made it to Greymouth on Sunday.  I left Murchison late in the morning, had a lovely lunch with a family from the UK at a remote cafe, walked on beach, 

took a picture of my new favorite road sign,

and stopped in Punakaiki to check out the Pancake Rocks.

I had planned to stay in Punakaiki to check out some of the hikes there, but it was cold and raining like crazy, so I drove all the way into Greymouth.  Once there, I went straight to the grocery store (priorities) to set myself up for the evening, and ran into one of my classmates from the kayak class in Murchison, Mike.  He lives and works in Greymouth, so it wasn't too much of a surprise, but it was fortuitous because I didn't have his phone number and I'd emailed that I wouldn't be there until Monday.  We set up kayaking plans for the next day, and I was on my way to the campground (here they call them "motorparks"), when I ran into the owner of a local rafting company.  I had the chance to pick his brain a little about my upcoming trip on the Waiatoto and he was able to give me some great advice about the river rescue course that I have coming up at the end of the month.  What great timing!

Monday, Mike and I paddled the Arnold River, a local Greymouth run, 

and then I took yesterday to regroup a little. . . took a look around town and walked along the ocean.

Today I'm heading down to Hokitika, which is heli-boating central.  It's also well-known for its "greenstone" (jade) that's found and carved here on the West Coast of the South Island.

Before I headed out of Murchison, I kayaked a couple new runs towards the end of last week.  I ran the Owen's Pub and the Doctor's Creek sections of the Buller (bigger, wider, more open river), and did another run down the Lower Matakitaki.  I'm hanging back a little on the kayaking this week, but am enjoying being near the ocean.

Moving on. . .

It's time to move on from the relative comfort of Murchison to start exploring some other parts of the South Island. I've been here in Murchison for three weeks, and have settled in a little. I could easily spend my whole trip kayaking the rivers in this area, but I want to see other areas as well.

The travel plans are starting to take shape. The van is packed and I'm heading towards the "West Coast" tomorrow. The West Coast is known for it's steep rivers that require helicopter access. There are plenty of rivers that have road access and/or trail access (i.e. hiking in), so I'm going to take a look at some of those. Next weekend, I've been invited to join a multi-day rafting/kayaking trip on the Waiatoto River, Class 3 (with one Class 4 rapid), helicopter access. It will be my first ride in a helicopter. . . a bit nervous about that part. After that trip, I'll probably hang around the West Coast for a week or so, and then head back towards the East Coast for a River Rescue Training on the Rangitata River. When that's over, I'm hoping to check out the rivers in Queenstown and the southern part of the island.

Those are my plans are at this point, but as we all know - "Things may change." I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when I go kayaking, but I am working on that. Will try to take lots of pictures from now on. Take Care!

Paddler Musings

Who are these people with whom I'm paddling? Good question. I've been doing quite a bit of my paddling with the NZ Kayak School staff. The staff seem to be the most consistent paddlers around here right now.

On the weekends, there's an influx of paddlers from all over. I'm staying at the campground that's a central meeting point for the paddlers who come in from out of town. People stay here, or drive through on their way to paddle. Paddling with an array of random folks is different for me. I'm used to paddling with certain people who I know and trust. Paddling, with unfamiliar paddlers, creates some additional variables when on the river, so I'm trying to save the unfamiliar and/or more difficult runs for paddling with more familiar people.

Paddling with new people, however, is forcing me to face something about my paddling: complacency. I've had a tendency to trust and follow the technique and lines of more experienced paddlers. While that might be a good learning style, when paddling with people of various experience levels, I have to be more discerning about how I make my decisions on the river. Faced with the uncertainty of the other paddlers' skills, I have to be a more self-reliant paddler. For example, in the past, when I've run something that was outside of my comfort zone, I've tended to feel more secure when I was paddling with folks who I knew could help me effectively if anything went wrong. Now, however, when thinking about my ability to run a particular run, my decision is based more on whether I can be in responsible charge of myself and my equipment on that whole stretch of river. Pretty basic, I know, but it's amazing how much I was relying on specific people's presence to determine my comfort level.

All in all, my experience here is making me really appreciate all of the paddlers who were willing to paddle with me in the early stages of my paddling. Thank you! It also makes me appreciate the honesty of the paddlers who weren't willing to have me paddle with them on stretches that were beyond my ability level at the time. I hope to have that same generosity and ability to be candid with developing paddlers.

Reading and Paddling (not at the same time)

In addition to doing some kayaking on this trip, I've also been doing some reading. . . ok, lots of reading. Quite a few years ago, my mom gave me a book called "How to be an Adult." I very gratiously shelved the book and, while I kept meaning to read it, it remained on the shelf. That book and a few others that have been on the I'm-going-to-get-to-that-someday shelf have accompanied me on this trip. I've now completed "How to be an Adult," and wish I would have read it awhile ago. Some of the things that I've learned the hard way were right there in print. . . dang it! It did, however, feel somewhat validating that I've reached some of the same conclusions. I must be becoming an adult after all - who knew?! Maybe a few of you should think about reading it. . . I won't name names or point any fingers, but you know who you are! (Just kidding - kind of.)

Overview since I last posted:

Friday - Paddled the Lower Matakitaki (3+) with Mick Hopkinson. I made most of my lines, and had a great run. Mick (director of the NZ Kayak School) had a few suggestions on how to improve my paddling - always appreciated.

Saturday - Rained like crazy from dawn to dusk. I decided to read instead of kayak. Read the entire book, "The Fox Boy," about the land wars between the Europeans (predominately British) and the Maoris during the late 1800s. The book was generously given to me by Mary Kay Turner prior to my departure from Jackson, WY. Thank you, Mrs. Turner! It's good to know some of the history of this country.

Sunday - Back on track. . . was up bright and early and ready in time to go kayaking with some folks up here from Christchurch. We paddled the Mangles River [2+ (3)] in the morning and then the Lower Matakitaki (3+) in the afternoon, which (as you can probably tell from some of my previous posts) is a popular run around here - apparently great preparation for the more difficult runs on the West Coast of the South Island.
[Boater side note - I'm feeling a little in the dark on the flows around here, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. They measure the flow down here in "Cumecs" (not "CFS"), so even when there is a flow report, I have to do some math. Many of the runs are visually gauged based on suggestions like - runnable when the river is tea brown; or run when muddy; or only run when running clear; or (my recent favorite) best to run when the river is out of it's banks, but not quite up to the road.]

Monday - Ran the Middle Matakitaki (2+) with a couple of kayak instructors who were visiting from other areas. This is the same stretch of river that I ran the very first weekend I was here in Murchison. I had a much better run this time because I now have a boat that fits me well.

[Another boater side note - Their river rating system is a bit on the less forgiving side of things. They don't say Class 3 until they mean really solid and serious Class 3. It's making me very curious to see what they consider to be Class 4. . .]

Tuesday - Finally transcribed my notes from my ACA Instructor Training Course that I took in Jackson.

Wednesday - Ran the Matiri River (Class 3 at low flows, Class 3+/4- at flood stages) with Shannon, Spanna, and Mick from the NZ Kayak School. There was some question as to whether it was really flooding today. Mick said that he's seen it a lot higher. I believe him. To me, the river was running high on the banks (in some of the low lying brush and up to the lower branches of some of the trees), it was brown, muddy, pushy and creating all sorts of crazy boils and funny water. . . we'll call it on the low end of flooding. The rivers here are really rain reactive. They shoot up like crazy and then drop back down. This is one of the rivers that people try to catch at flood stage for the "romping, stomping" waves. It was cold, raining, and slightly stressful, but fun. I finished with a sense of accomplishment.