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Stories
Clarence River Trip January 2002 part one
| As
always it is a privilege to be on a Clarence River Trip and
even better to have the opportunity to share it with others.
The combination of true New Zealand wilderness and
superb alpine scenery makes it one of the best multi-day trips
for kayakers. This year Maggie and Dave , both veterans of the flooded 1988 trip, and new
Clarence paddlers Jan and Duncan made the
five-day journey It was interesting for Dave and I to see how much new technology had been introduced to kayaking. Much of our planning for this trip was done by e-mail. We arrived with a variety of sophisticated dry bags and improved paddling clothes, all quite unknown in 1988. We had also monitored the Clarence River flow, using Environment Canterbury's river flow data on the web provided to them by N.I.W.A.... |
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| The trip started out very well with a relaxed Potluck Dinner in the garden of our Hanmer Springs accommodation. This provided us an opportunity to check our packing, safety arrangements and equipment. |  |
| . | |
| Rain on the Kaikoura Ranges was just enough to lift the flow from 7cmecs to 15. This, combined with the Acheron and other contributing rivers, produced approximately 40 cumecs. |  |
| .... | |
| At
no time was the Clarence or its tributaries discoloured by
rain. (A few days
later rain made the Clarence a raging torrent.
) Temperatures were mild but not really hot.
Four of the five days we had afternoon wind to push
into. Actual
paddling time over the five days was 4, 5, 5.25, 5.25 and 3
hours making a total of 22 hours 30mins.
The remainder of the time was spent exploring old
homesteads, huts and our camping areas.
For
those unsure of timing trips on the river, your pace is
dependant on when you have agreed to meet people and the state
of flow. A good guide is to make Muzzle Stream Homestead
your halfway point for the trip. This is marked river
left, by a wind sock and air strip, followed by a shed and
buildings and poplar trees, all in quick succession, and very
easy to see from the river. . |
|
| Day
One At the put
there were already in a couple of families making up a
rafting/kayak group. Small children, parents and at least one dog to get organised.
During the next five days we were fortunate to meet up
with this group and find out how they were enjoying
themselves. |
|
| Due to our small group size we decided we could head away first. We were wished good luck by our families and pushed off. |  |
| .... | |
|
Kayaks
used were, by Dave and Maggie Dancers and Jan and Duncan Sea
Kayaks. I found
that after two seasons in my little Kendo my old Dancer felt
heavy and unresponsive, not as I remembered my Dancer.
Actually it was hard to get it to fall over for a roll
and even harder to stay in it and roll up. |
|
 |
|
| Open country at the start of the first day. |  |
| Folded volcanic rock was prevelant on the first two days. |  |
| Our first night camp was on a small river flat, walking distance from Rough Creek Hut and ten minutes paddle beyond the Big Willow Eddy which is favoured by larger raft groups. |  |
| Here
Jan
cooked a fresh pasta dinner and trifle pudding. The
first of many scrummy meals. We decided Camping Dinners
could form the basis of a book to raise money for a Clarence Protection fund.
Our world was condensed to just us, the belongings
we carried in our kayaks and the river sliding by.
|
 |
| Rough Creek Hut. Dave noticed in the hut book that Piers Maclaren stayed here recently |  |
| ... | |
| ... | |
| Day Two We awoke to smell and taste of expresso coffee. What a novel treat. Comfortable familiar daily rituals quickly developed: packing up the tents and loading the kayaks and being on the water by 10am. We soon found out that Jan's kayak was the pick of the four. On the Clarence Jan mastered the 'rock splat' with ease. It looked a little precarious to start with but with practice over the next few days doing fast sprints into bluffs made it look easy. | |
| Camp on day two was just before Quail Flat, providing the perfect after dinner walk to explore and photograph early backcountry farming history. |  |
| The historic Quail Flat homestead built in about 1860 |  |
| ... | |
| We
wondered as we fell asleep listening to the trees overhead
whether the river flow is going to stay this perfect and the
weather so benign. Continue to part two |
|
